# Hank Williams SR. Or Hank Williams Jr.? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 8, 2002, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322 "2002-12-08T17:23:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fishcrawford](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/85f322/32.png) [@fishcrawford](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishcrawford)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/1 "2002-12-08T17:23:44Z")
You choose? ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/2 "2002-12-08T17:49:50Z")
This is a joke, right? ---
**Author:** ![Witch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Witch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Witch)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/3 "2002-12-08T18:21:53Z")
It has to be. ---
**Author:** ![greenphan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c37758/32.png) [@greenphan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greenphan)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/4 "2002-12-08T18:36:29Z")
what about hank williams III? ---
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/5 "2002-12-08T19:37:41Z")
I like Hank III the best. Especially because he plays Punk/Country music. That’s whack. ---
**Author:** ![raz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@raz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raz)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/6 "2002-12-08T20:05:04Z")
I personally like Hank Jr. better. I find his music easier to listen to. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/7 "2002-12-08T20:26:50Z")
The original or the untalented coattail-rider? This has to be a joke. ---
**Author:** ![greenphan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c37758/32.png) [@greenphan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greenphan)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/8 "2002-12-08T21:10:27Z")
i think that a person’s answer depends on whether or not they’re ready for some football. personally, i go with hank williams sr. he is the quintessential country musician: lonely, drunk, and talented. –greenphan ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/9 "2002-12-08T21:16:25Z")
You might as well compare sweet Tennessee whiskey to a skunked can of Bud Light! ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/10 "2002-12-09T01:17:40Z")
Well, now, it’s tough for a kid growing up in the shadow of one of the genre’s giants, and I purely hated that he spent so much of his earlier career singin’ about his daddy, BUT, he’s turned in some credible performances over the years. I’m particularly fond of “Leave Them Boys Alone,” which featured a few lines sung by legend Ernest Tubb, “Country Boy Can Survive,” “Family Tradition,” and “All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down).” And he has had hits by the dozen and a streak of over 15 gold or platinum albums. That being said, nobody can touch Hank, Sr. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/11 "2002-12-09T01:19:18Z")
Of those two, I’d go Sr. But III is my personal favorite, as much as I respect the traditions. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/12 "2002-12-09T02:31:17Z")
Sr. all the way. Nothing against Jr., but to me this question’s easy to answer. Sr. set the standard for country music from the time of his death in '53? to the present, in both singing and songwriting. He did all this, and died at age 29. That he accomplished all that he did in just 29 years may be his most astonishing feat of all. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/13 "2002-12-09T02:52:23Z")
Hey now! Bosephus was good y’all. And he had to live down his daddy’s name and lifestyle. The Third, tho, Hank III, is almost not quite very good. Ok, bad. As to whether I want to listen to Bosephus or daddy, it depends on whether I want to drink and cry or just drink. “Hank, why do ya drink?” _To get drunk!_ “Why do you smoke dope?” _To get high!_ “Why must you live out every song that you wrote?” ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/14 "2002-12-09T03:05:33Z")
Here in NC He’s called Hank Junior. Certanly not to be confused with Dale Ernhart Jr. THATS’s who we call Junior. ---
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/15 "2002-12-09T04:59:44Z")
Hank Sr. Then Hank III. ---
**Author:** ![rmbnxs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9e5f3/32.png) [@rmbnxs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rmbnxs)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/16 "2002-12-09T19:12:43Z")
Jimmie Rodgers or Kenny Rogers? Bill Monroe or Travis Tritt? Johnny Cash or Shania Twain? A free vacation in Hawaii or a poke in the eye with a sharp stick? A new Porsche or a colonoscopy? You get the idea… ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/17 "2002-12-09T19:17:53Z")
_Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.!_ —Ooops, sorry . . . ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/18 "2002-12-09T19:24:57Z")
Noah Beery, or Noah Beery, Jr.? Alan Hale, or Alan Hale, Jr.? Lon Chaney, or Lon Chaney, Jr.? Douglas Fairbanks, or Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.? Freddie Prinze, or Freddie Prinze, Jr.? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/19 "2002-12-10T13:45:41Z")
Kinky Friedman line: You have to feel sorry for Hank Williams Jr. Someone comes up to him after every concert and says “No matter how good you play, you’ll never be as good as your daddy.” ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322/20 "2002-12-10T17:10:54Z")
SENIOR, by all that’s holy. -Ogre, Late of Montgomery, Alabama [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams-sr-or-hank-williams-jr/141322.md?page=2)