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.
This Ain
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This is a real-life two job working family
And I ain't J.R., you ain't Suellen
We're just a man and a woman holding things together
I work every day the sun comes up from eight until five
I don't have a new Mercedes car or a chauffeur to drive
My wife ain't out shoppin' with a country club queen
This ain't Dallas and this ain't Dynasty
This is a real-life two job working family
And I ain't J.R., you ain't Suellen
We're just a man and a woman holding things together
Now we all like to watch those shows and we all like to dream
You know J.R. is making deals and Alexis is making steam
Joan and Linda, Victoria and Morgan they're a sight to see
My ole lady said, "I know what you're thinkin'"
I said, "Now honey, don't you know all of that is on TV"
And this ain't Dallas, this ain't Dynasty
This is makin' a livin' down in Tennessee
And I ain't J.R. and you ain't Suellen
Nah, we're just man and woman holding things together
No this ain't Dallas and this ain't Dynasty
This is makin' a livin' down in Tennessee
I ain't J.R. and you ain't Suellen
Nah, just man and woman holding this thing together
And we're just a man and woman holding this thing together
Honey turn off the TV
The lyrics to Hank Williams Jr.'s song "This Ain't Dallas" are an ode to the working, middle-class family. The title of the song is a reference to the popular TV shows Dallas and Dynasty which depicted the lives of wealthy, powerful families. Williams Jr. is declaring that this is not the reality for most people. Instead, they are the real-life two job working family, working hard every day just to make ends meet. The comparison to the characters J.R. and Suellen and the rest of the cast on these shows highlights the divide between the wealthy and the working class.
The first verse emphasizes the hard work that this couple puts in every day, without the luxuries that come with wealth. Williams Jr. sings about his wife not being out shopping with a country club queen, but rather she is working until she picks up the kids at three. The second verse addresses the allure of these TV shows, acknowledging that everyone likes to watch them and dream of the extravagant lifestyles that are portrayed. However, Williams Jr.'s wife reminds him that these shows are not real life, they are just entertainment.
Overall, "This Ain't Dallas" is a reminder that the majority of people do not have the luxury of living like the characters on TV shows. The song celebrates the hard work and determination of middle-class families who are just trying to make ends meet.
Line by Line Meaning
This ain't Dallas and this ain't Dynasty
Our life isn't a television show where wealthy people live glamorous lives.
This is a real-life two job working family
We're a working-class family with both partners holding down jobs to make ends meet in real life.
And I ain't J.R., you ain't Suellen
We're not like the characters in the television show Dallas who have it all; we struggle to get by.
We're just a man and a woman holding things together
We support each other and work hard to make our family function despite the challenges that come our way.
I work every day the sun comes up from eight until five
I work long hours from early in the morning until late afternoon every day.
I don't have a new Mercedes car or a chauffeur to drive
I can't afford luxury items like a fancy car or a chauffeur to drive me around.
My wife ain't out shoppin' with a country club queen
My wife doesn't have time to engage in leisure activities reserved for wealthy, upper-class people like shopping with a country club queen.
'Cause she's workin' in the morning until she picks up the kids at three
My wife has a job and works hard all day while also taking care of our children.
Now we all like to watch those shows and we all like to dream
We all like to watch television shows where characters have it all and live glamorous lives because it's fun to dream sometimes.
You know J.R. is making deals and Alexis is making steam
The characters on the television shows like Dallas and Dynasty are always making deals or causing drama, but it's not like that in real life.
Joan and Linda, Victoria and Morgan they're a sight to see
The characters on these shows are beautiful and always dressed in high fashion, which is appealing to watch.
My ole lady said, 'I know what you're thinkin''
My wife understands that I'm admiring the wealthy, attractive characters on the show.
I said, 'Now honey, don't you know all of that is on TV'
I reminded my wife that the characters and their lifestyles are just fiction and not real life.
This is makin' a livin' down in Tennessee
We live in Tennessee and work hard every day to provide for our family and make ends meet.
Nah, we're just man and woman holding things together
We're not wealthy or glamorous, just a regular couple doing their best to support their family and each other.
No this ain't Dallas and this ain't Dynasty
Our life isn't a television show where wealthy people live glamorous lives.
And we're just a man and woman holding this thing together
We support each other and work hard to make our family function despite the challenges that come our way.
Honey turn off the TV
Let's stop watching the television show and focus on the reality of our own lives.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: HANK JR. WILLIAMS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind