# Hank Williams **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 12, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams/506137 "2009-08-12T02:49:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams/506137/1 "2009-08-12T02:49:53Z")
Did y’all **know** this? He was only 29 when he died? And by _that_ time, he was already smart enough to create an alter ego named “Luke The Drifter” to sing his religious songs, just because he thought people would not “accept” them as “Hank Williams The Honky Tonk Singer”??? At age **29**??? Sorry, but these days, the average 29 year old musician doesn’t think in those terms, _IMHO_! Yes, I LOVE Johnny Cash, but the more I read (and hear) about Hank, the more I love him too.! [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYdaR53XIi4) Thanks! Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams/506137/2 "2009-08-12T02:57:33Z")
It’s not really a competition - you can love both Hank and Cash 🙂 But I agree. Hank was from another world, and is one of those artists (I guess others would be The Velvet Underground, Miles Davis, and a few others) who I get into my head, and can’t kick them out. In other words, I can’t put any other music on once I start listening to them. I have no idea where to recommend starting with him, but I’d say spend the money for a release on a real label, not one of the public domain labels, which seem to master their discs from old cassettes. ---
**Author:** ![Jelymag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jelymag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jelymag)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams/506137/3 "2009-08-12T03:11:36Z")
Did I recently hear they are doing a movie on his life? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams/506137/4 "2009-08-12T03:20:27Z")
The man got thrown out of the Grand Ole Opry for _being too drunk_, which considering the great and sweeping history of country music is a crowning achievement. And you know, we only have one video recording of him. Imagine if you only knew Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson visually through photographs and one video? ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams/506137/5 "2009-08-12T03:23:12Z")
Hank was only famous for 4 or 5 years too. Everybody knows some of the words to at least one of his songs, probably Hey Good Lookin. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams/506137/6 "2009-08-12T03:40:45Z")
It amazes me that when the Beatles broke up, in roughly late 1969, they ranged in age from only 26-29. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams/506137/7 "2009-08-12T03:55:52Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > It amazes me that when the Beatles broke up, in roughly late 1969, they ranged in age from only 26-29. I’d certainly put most of the Beatles on a conciousnessly aware(is that even a word/phrase) par with Hank. I’ve got all his albums on vinyl. Bought my first one in 1959. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams/506137/8 "2009-08-12T04:05:57Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > And you know, we only have one video recording of him. Imagine if you only knew Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson visually through photographs and one video? Now I’m pissed. I hadn’t realized that before. When you live years listening to a performer who was one of the best in their field, you somehow find them real. You don’t need to see videos of them. But that makes me a little sadder. Funny, since it didn’t for the last 50 years. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams/506137/9 "2009-08-12T04:59:03Z")
He lived hard and died young. [This](http://gentlebear.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/hank_williams.jpg) does not look like a man in his 20’s. Poor Hank. The original victim of his own superstardom. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams/506137/10 "2009-08-12T05:04:10Z")
I **love** you guys. I truly do.🙂 Quasi ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams/506137/11 "2009-08-12T17:26:58Z")
I’ve seen his grandson Hank III in concert and he really takes after his grandpa. The show I saw the first set was a tribute, the second set was Hank III original “hellbilly”. Very talented guy and the show was big fun. On his recordings he also includes some stuff that sounds like Luke the Drifter, I don’t know if it is or just sounds like it. I don’t care at all for Hank JR. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams/506137/12 "2009-08-12T18:48:27Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Poor Hank. The original victim of his own superstardom. He was a victim of more than that. He had spina bifida, which caused him lifelong pain. If you look at that video, you’ll see how stiffly he’s standing… he often wore a back brace. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams/506137/13 "2009-08-12T20:02:57Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > He was a victim of more than that. He had spina bifida, which caused him lifelong pain. If you look at that video, you’ll see how stiffly he’s standing… he often wore a back brace. Believe me, I know. I’m from Montgomery, Alabama. It’s virtually a requirement to know everything there is to know about ol’ Hank. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hank-williams/506137/14 "2009-08-12T20:36:05Z")
An appreciation for Hank Williams is a basic requirement for music conversation in my house. You can claim to hate country, but if you don’t “get” songs like Cold, Cold Heart, Move it On Over or Jambalaya - well, why are we talking again? Same with Patsy Cline, Buck Owens, Chet Atkins - you get the idea. Good is good. Yeah - I knew he died pretty much like Bon Scott of AC/DC did - Too much alcohol + back seat of a car overnight = cold/vomit/death - yuk. But his lyrics are like Country Haiku - from I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry: > [@](#): > > The silence of a falling star > Lights up a purple sky > And as I wonder where you are > I’m so lonesome I could cry