Williams began his career following in his famed father's footsteps, covering his father's songs and imitating his father's style. Williams' first television appearance was in a 1964 episode of ABC's The Jimmy Dean Show, in which at age fourteen he sang several songs associated with his father. Later that year, he was a guest star on Shindig!.
Williams' style evolved slowly as he struggled to find his own voice and place within country music. This was interrupted by a near-fatal fall off the side of Ajax Peak in Montana on August 8, 1975. After an extended recovery, he challenged the country music establishment with a blend of country, rock, and blues. As a multi-instrumentalist, Williams' repertoire of skills includes guitar, bass guitar, upright bass, steel guitar, banjo, dobro, piano, keyboards, saxophone, harmonica, fiddle, and drums.
From 1989 through October 2011, his song "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight", refashioned as "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night", had been used to open broadcasts of Monday Night Football until it was pulled after Williams made controversial comments comparing President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler. The song returned to open the show in 2017.
On August 12, 2020, Williams was selected to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Williams' early career was guided, some say outright dominated, by his mother Audrey Williams, who many claim was the driving force that led his father to musical superstardom during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Audrey, in many ways, wished for young Hank to be nothing more than a "Hank Williams, Sr. impersonator", sometimes going as far as to have clothes designed for him that were identical to his father's stage clothes and vocal stylings very similar to those of his father.
Although Williams' recordings earned him numerous country hits throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, he became disillusioned with his role as a 'Hank Williams clone' and severed ties with his mother in order to pursue his own musical direction and tastes. After recording the soundtrack to Your Cheatin' Heart, a biography of his father, Williams, Jr. hit the charts with one of his own compositions, "Standing in the Shadows". The song signalled a move to rock and roll and other influences as he stepped from the shadow of his father.
Also during this time, Williams had his first two No. 1 songs: "All For the Love of Sunshine" (1970, featured on the soundtrack to Kelly's Heroes) and "Eleven Roses" (1972).
By the mid-1970s, Williams had finally found the musical direction that would, eventually, make him a superstar. Williams' unique blend of traditional country with southern rock and blues earned him a devoted following, although some mainstream country radio stations wouldn't touch his new songs in this blatantly untraditional sound.
While recording a series of hit songs, Williams began abusing drugs, including alcohol and eventually tried to commit suicide in 1974. Moving to Alabama, Williams began playing music with Southern rock musicians Toy Caldwell, Marshall Tucker Band and Charlie Daniels, and others.
His last major success was "There's a Tear in My Beer", a duet with his father created using electronic dubbing techniques. The song itself was written by his father, presumably, sometime between 1950 and 1953 and was recorded with Hank Williams playing just his guitar. The music video for the song combined existing television footage of Hank Williams performing and the dubbing techniques transferred the image of Hank Jr. onto the screen, so it appeared as if he were actually playing with his father. The video was an overwhelming success, both critically and commercially. It was named Video Of The Year by both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country music. Hank Williams, Jr. would go on to win a Grammy award in 1990 for Best Country Vocal Collaboration.
Despite his slumping album sales, Hank Williams Jr. continued to be a popular concert draw during the early 1990s and continued to record, with several of his recordings during this time still managing to achieve gold status, selling 500,000 copies.
He is probably best known today as the performer of the theme song for Monday Night Football, based on "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight". The opening theme became a classic, as much a part of the show as the football itself. In 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994, Williams' opening themes for Monday Night Football would earn him four Emmy awards.
Williams opened for Super Bowl XL on February 5, 2006, on ABC and was in the stands as a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.
On April 10, 2006, CMT honored Williams with the Johnny Cash Visionary Award, presenting it to him at the 2006 CMT Music Awards.
On November 11, 2008, Williams was honored as a BMI Icon at the 56th annual BMI Country Awards. The artists and songwriters named BMI Icons have had "a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers".
In 2011, Williams was named one of "Seven Living Legends" of his native Shreveport, Louisiana, by Danny Fox (1954–2014) of KWKH radio. Others named were Bob Griffin of KSLA and KTBS-TV and James Burton. Two others cited, Claude King and Frank Page, both died in 2013.
In 2015, Hank Williams Jr. was Inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame.
Ramblin
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And be doin' just fine
'Till I hear an old freight
Rollin' down the line
Then I hurry straight
Home and pack
And if I didn't go
I believe I'd blow my stack
But you gotta understand
When the lord made me
He made a ramblin' man
Some folks might say
That I'm no good
That I wouldn't settle
Down if I could
But when that open road
Starts to callin' me
There's somethin' o'er the hill
That I gotta see
Sometimes it's hard
But you gotta understand
When the lord made me
He made a ramblin' man
I love to see the towns
A-passin' by
And to ride these rails
'Neath god's blue sky
Let me travel this land
From the mountains to the sea
'Cause that's the life I believe
He meant for me
And when I'm gone
And at my grave you stand
Just say God's called home
Your ra-amblin' man
In "Ramblin' Man," Hank Williams Jr. describes the life of a wandering man who's always on the move. He explains that he can live a settled life and be perfectly content until he hears the sound of a train. At that moment, his urge to travel and explore takes over, and he feels compelled to hit the road, packing his bags and leaving behind everything he has in life. He loves his woman, but he is a restless soul who can't resist the pull of the open road.
The song continues with his acknowledgment that some people consider him to be a "no-good" person who can't settle down. However, he feels that he is just following his destiny, and he can't help but heed the call of the road. He loves traveling and experiencing different towns, cities, and landscapes. He sees it as his purpose in life to wander and discover new horizons. Even after he is gone, he wants to be remembered as a man who followed his passion and lived the life he was meant to live.
Line by Line Meaning
I can settle down
I am capable of staying in one place for a long period of time
And be doin' just fine
I can live a contented life without the need for travel or adventure
Til I hear an old train
But when I hear the sound of a train, my spirit is lifted
Rollin' down the line
And I feel an overwhelming urge to travel once again
Then I hurry straight
I quickly make preparations
Home and pack
To leave my current location
And if I didn't go
If I didn't heed the call of the road
I believe I'd blow my stack
I would become increasingly agitated and frustrated
I love you baby
I care for you deeply
But you gotta understand
But you should know
When the lord made me
That when I was created
He made a ramblin' man
I was given the spirit of a traveler, an adventurer
Some folks might say
There are those who believe
That I'm no good
That my wandering ways make me unreliable
That I wouldn't settle
That I am incapable of remaining in one place
Down if I could
Even if I wanted to
But when that open road
But when I see the endless possibilities that the road offers
Starts to callin' me
And my spirit is moved
There's somethin' o'er the hill
There's something out there, calling me to discover it
That I gotta see
That I feel compelled to experience
Sometimes it's hard
I will admit, it can be difficult at times
But you gotta understand
But you should know
When the lord made me
That when I was created
He made a ramblin' man
I was given the spirit of a traveler, an adventurer
I love to see the towns
There is something wonderful about visiting new places
Passin' by
And watching them as they move behind me
And to ride these rails
And traveling by train
'Neath god's blue sky
Under the endless expanse of sky
Let me travel this land
Allow me to explore this vast country
From the mountains to the sea
From the highest peaks to the ocean's edge
'Cause that's the life I believe
Because I believe that this is the life for me
He meant for me
This is the life that I feel I was destined for
And when I'm gone
And when I have passed away
And at my grave you stand
And you find yourself at my final resting place
Just say God's called home
Just know that I have answered a higher calling
Your ra-amblin' man
And that is how I will best be remembered
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: SHELTON HANK III WILLIAMS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind