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.
The Cow Turd Blues
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I am blessed to be on that short list
We’re out here in the real world
Not that feel good media swirl
And we’ve something for you, read our lips
They’ve made a huge miscalculation
About the mood of this nation
Then they saw one of their own
Get mistreated and dumped on
They were standin’ behind him, he’s not alone
I wanna dedicate this song to Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood
And the first man that sent this, president Harry Truman
Never kick the cow turd on a hot day
Or you might get some poo on your pants’ legs
Thought they were gonna have some fun
Kickin’ around with old Hank’s son
But America had my back all the way, woo
Remember never kick the cow turd on a hot day
Never pick up a rattle snake the wrong way
Never ever kick, would’ve been much smarter to just let it sip
Never kick the turd, shoulda let the man just be here
Never kick the cow turd on a hot day
Yee haw!
Absolutely beautiful
The lyrics in Hank Williams Jr.'s song "The Cow Turd Blues" have a deeper meaning beyond the title. Hank begins by saying that there are some things in the country that one shouldn't mess with, and he knows that he's blessed to be on that shortlist. He then takes a jab at the media, saying that they're in a "feel good media swirl" and that they're disconnected from the real world, which is where he and his people are. In the second verse, he talks about how people are fed up with being wrong, mistreated, and dumped on, and when they saw someone from their own community go through this, they decided to stand behind him. He then dedicates the song to Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, and President Harry Truman.
Overall, the song is a commentary on people's frustration with the establishment and the media that doesn't represent them. Hank celebrates the fact that people are taking action and standing up for themselves and others in their communities.
Line by Line Meaning
There’s some things in this country you don’t mess with
There are certain things in America that you just don't mess with.
And I am blessed to be on that short list
Luckily, I'm on the list of things that should not be messed with.
We’re out here in the real world
We're not part of the fake, feel-good media.
Not that feel good media swirl
We're not part of the fake, feel-good media.
And we’ve something for you, read our lips
We have a message for you, and we want you to listen closely.
They’ve made a huge miscalculation
The people in power have severely underestimated the mood of the nation.
About the mood of this nation
The people in power have severely underestimated the mood of the nation.
Good workin’ people done got tired of bein’ wrong
Hard-working people have grown tired of being treated unfairly.
Then they saw one of their own
When they saw someone they could relate to.
Get mistreated and dumped on
Being mistreated and disrespected.
They were standin’ behind him, he’s not alone
Those people stood up for him and supported him, letting him know he wasn't alone.
I wanna dedicate this song to Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood
I want to dedicate this song to Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood as a gesture of appreciation and respect.
And the first man that sent this, president Harry Truman
I also want to acknowledge President Harry Truman as an influential figure.
Never kick the cow turd on a hot day
Don't mess with things you shouldn't mess with, like kicking a cow turd on a hot day.
Or you might get some poo on your pants’ legs
It might have negative consequences if you do mess with things you shouldn't mess with.
Thought they were gonna have some fun
People thought it would be fun to mess with Hank Williams Jr.
Kickin’ around with old Hank’s son
People thought it would be fun to mess with Hank Williams Jr.
But America had my back all the way, woo
But the American people supported me wholeheartedly.
Remember never kick the cow turd on a hot day
Again, the message is to not mess with things you shouldn't mess with.
Never pick up a rattle snake the wrong way
Don't mess with things that can be dangerous, like picking up a rattlesnake the wrong way.
Never ever kick, would’ve been much smarter to just let it sip
It would have been much wiser to leave things alone and not provoke them.
Never kick the turd, shoulda let the man just be here
Again, it would have been better to not mess with things, and just let Hank Williams Jr. be.
Never kick the cow turd on a hot day
Again, the message is to not mess with things you shouldn't mess with.
Yee haw!
Celebrating the support and unity of the American people.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Mo-ge6uq
Nice to know while we are on the edge of chaos and collapse, we have Hank Wiliams Jr. Thats a great song
@clintwalls5217
Will always dearly love HankWilliams ❤️!!
@robertprata9451
never kick a cow turd on a hot day
@georgeelijahjr5350
We got your back Hank
@williamjordan3997
No by dont
@Mo-ge6uq
dame just love that song
@agbass1
love it brother. got your back. DON'T TREAD ON ME
@samuelottosen590
good old country boy hell ya !!!
@jeffreydaugherty7104
We got your back
@mainaccount4456
Best song ever