Hank Williams - Country Nostalgia '2022

Tracks list

Tracklist:

1. Happy Rovin' Cowboy (Theme) (01:19)
2. Sally Goodin' (Show Two) (00:52)
3. Lost Highway (03:20)
4. I Saw the Light (02:39)
5. Tramp on the Street (03:49)
6. Wedding Bells (03:47)
7. Sally Goodin' (00:53)
8. Sally Goodin' (Show Three) (01:27)
9. Old Joe Clark (00:38)
10. Lovesick Blues (03:20)
11. Happy Rovin' Cowboy (Theme) (Show Two) (01:13)
12. I'm so Lonesome I Could Cry (02:54)
13. Fire on the Mountain (00:41)
14. You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave) (03:00)
15. I'm a Long Gone Daddy (02:50)
16. (There's A) Bluebird on Your Windowsill (02:07)
17. Happy Rovin' Cowboy (Theme) (Show Three) (01:20)
18. Where the Soul of Man Never Dies (01:52)
19. Cotton Eyed Joe (00:28)
20. I'm Telling You (02:15)
21. Bill Cheatham (01:09)
22. I Want to Live and Love (02:35)
23. Bile Them Cabbage Down (00:38)
24. Happy Rovin' Cowboy (Theme) (Show Four) (01:22)
25. Sally Goodin' (Show Four) (00:34)
26. The Prodigal Son (02:34)
27. When God Comes and Gathers His Jewels (02:42)
28. Mansion on the Hill (03:12)
29. Wagner (00:36)
30. I'll Have a New Body (I'll Have a New Life) (02:40)
31. Fingers on Fire (00:40)
32. Sally Goodin' (Show Five) (01:00)
33. Happy Rovin' Cowboy (Theme) (Show Five) (01:16)
34. Lovesick Blues (Show Six) (03:29)
35. Fisherman's Hornpipe (00:32)
36. Sally Goodin' (Show Six) (00:40)
37. Happy Rovin' Cowboy (Theme) (Show Six) (01:19)
38. Thy Burdens Are Greater Than Mine (03:44)
39. There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight (03:11)
40. Wedding Bells (Show Seven) (03:58)
41. Pan American (03:06)
42. I've Just Told Mama Goodbye (02:10)
43. I Can't Get You off My Mind (01:57)
44. Arkansas Traveler (00:35)
45. Sally Goodin' (Show Seven) (00:57)
46. Happy Rovin' Cowboy (Theme) (Show Seven) (01:18)
47. Mind Your Own Business (02:57)
48. Happy Rovin' Cowboy (Theme) (Show Eight) (01:09)
49. Sally Goodin' (Show Eight) (01:35)


 Read MoreWilliams met Audrey Mae Sheppard, a farm girl from Banks, AL, in
1943 while he was playing a medicine show. The following year, the couple
married and moved into Lilly's boarding house. Audrey became Williams' manager
just before the marriage. By 1946, he was a local celebrity, but he was unable
to make much headway nationally. That year, Hank and Audrey visited Nashville
with the intent of meeting songwriter/music publisher Fred Rose, one of the
heads of Acuff-Rose Publishing. Rose liked Williams' songs and asked him to
record two sessions for Sterling Records, which resulted in two singles. Both of
the singles -- "Never Again" in December 1946 and "Honky Tonkin'" in February
1947 -- were successful and Williams signed a contract with MGM Records early in
1947. Rose became the singer's manager and record producer.

"Move It on Over," released later in 1947, became Hank's first single for MGM.
It was an immediate hit, climbing into the country Top Five. By the summer of
1948, he had joined The Louisiana Hayride, appearing both on its tours and radio
programs. "Honky Tonkin'" was released in 1948, followed by "I'm a Long Gone
Daddy." While neither song was as successful as "Move It on Over," they were
popular, with the latter peaking in the Top Ten. Early in 1949, he recorded
"Lovesick Blues," a Tin Pan Alley song initially recorded by Emmett Miller and
made popular by Rex Griffin. The single became a huge hit upon its release in
the spring of 1949, staying at number one for 16 weeks and crossing over into
the pop Top 25. Williams sang the song at the Grand Ole Opry, where he performed
an unprecedented six encores. He had become a star.

Hank and Audrey Williams had their first child, Randall Hank, in the spring of
1949. Also in the spring, Hank assembled the most famous edition of the Drifting
Cowboys, featuring guitarist Bob McNett, bassist Hillous Butrum, fiddler Jerry
Rivers, and steel guitarist Don Helms. Soon, he and the band were earning $1,000
per concert while selling out shows across the country. Williams had no fewer
than seven hits in 1949 after the success of "Lovesick Blues," including the Top
Five smashes "Wedding Bells," "Mind Your Own Business," "You're Gonna Change (Or
I'm Gonna Leave)," and "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It." A string of additional
singles followed in 1950, including the number one hits "Long Gone Lonesome
Blues," "Why Don't You Love Me," and "Moanin' the Blues," as well as the Top Ten
hits "I Just Don't Like This Kind of Livin'," "My Son Calls Another Man Daddy,"
"They'll Never Take Her Love From Me," "Why Should We Try," and "Nobody's
Lonesome for Me." That same year, Williams began recording a series of spiritual
records under the name Luke the Drifter.

Williams continued to rack up hits in 1951, beginning with the Top Ten hit "Dear
John" and its number one flip side, "Cold, Cold Heart." That same year, pop
vocalist Tony Bennett recorded his own version of "Cold, Cold Heart" to popular
acclaim, leading to a stream of covers from such mainstream artists as Jo
Stafford, Guy Mitchell, Frankie Laine, Teresa Brewer, and several others.
Williams had also begun to experience the fruits of crossover success, appearing
on the Perry Como television show and joining a package tour that also featured
Bob Hope, Jack Benny, and Minny Pearl. In addition to "Dear John" and "Cold,
Cold Heart," Williams had several other hits in 1951, including the number one
song "Hey, Good Lookin'" and "Howlin' at the Moon," "I Can't Help It (If I'm
Still in Love with You)," "Crazy Heart," "Lonesome Whistle," and "Baby, We're
Really in Love," which all charted in the Top Ten.

Though his professional career was soaring, Hank's personal life was beginning
to spin out of control. He had suffered a mild drinking problem before becoming
a star, but it had been more or less controlled during his first few years of
fame. However, as he began to earn large amounts of money and spend long times
away from home, he began to drink frequently. Furthermore, Hank's marriage to
Audrey was deteriorating. Not only were they fighting, resulting in occasional
separations, but Audrey was trying to create her own recording career without
any success. In the fall of 1951, Hank was on a hunting trip on his Tennessee
farm when he tripped and fell, re-activating a dormant back injury. Williams
began taking morphine and other painkillers for his back and quickly became
addicted.

In January of 1952, Hank and Audrey separated for a final time and he headed
back to Montgomery to live with his mother. The move had little effect on his
music career, however, with "Honky Tonk Blues" peaking at number two during the
spring. In fact, he released five additional singles in 1952 -- "Half as Much,"
"Jambalaya," "Settin' the Woods on Fire," "You Win Again," and "I'll Never Get
Out of This World Alive" -- all of which charted in the Top Ten. In spite of
such success, Hank turned completely reckless in 1952, spending nearly all of
his waking hours drunk and taking drugs. He also frequently destroyed property
and played with guns.

Williams left his mother in early spring, moving in with Ray Price in Nashville.
In May, Audrey and Hank were officially divorced. She was awarded the house and
their child, as well as half of his future royalties. Williams continued to play
a large number of concerts, but he was always drunk during the show, and he
sometimes missed the gig altogether. In August, the Grand Ole Opry fired
Williams for that very reason, explaining that he could return once he was
sober. Instead of heeding the Opry's warning, the singer just sank deeper into
his self-destructive behavior. Soon, his friends were leaving him, as the
Drifting Cowboys began working with Price and Fred Rose no longer supported him.
Williams was still playing The Louisiana Hayride, but he was performing with
local pickup bands and began earning reduced wages. That fall, he met Billie
Jean Jones Eshlimar, the 19-year-old daughter of a Louisiana policeman. By
October, they were married. Hank also signed an agreement to support the baby --
who had yet to be delivered -- of one of his other girlfriends, Bobbie Jett, in
October. By the end of the year, Williams was having heart problems and Toby
Marshall, a con man doctor, was giving him various prescription drugs to help
soothe the pain.

Hank was scheduled to play a concert in Canton, OH, on January 1, 1953. He was
scheduled to fly out of Knoxville, TN, on New Year's Eve, but the weather was so
bad that he had to hire a chauffeur to drive him to Ohio in his new Cadillac.
Before they left for Ohio, Williams was injected with two shots of vitamin B-12
and morphine by a doctor. Williams got into the backseat of the Cadillac
(allegedly with a bottle of whiskey), and the teenage chauffeur headed out for
Canton. When the driver was stopped for speeding, the policeman noticed that
Hank looked like a dead man. Williams was taken to a West Virginia hospital and
he was officially declared dead at 7:00 a.m. on January 1, 1953. He had died in
the back of the Cadillac, on his way to a concert. Ironically, the last single
released in his lifetime was "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive."

Hank was buried in Montgomery, AL, three days later. His funeral drew a record
crowd, larger than any crowd since Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the
President of the Confederacy in 1861. Dozens of country music stars attended, as
did Audrey Williams, Billie Jean Jones, and Bobbie Jett, who happened to give
birth to a daughter three days later. "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive"
reached number one immediately after his death, and it was followed by a number
of hit records throughout 1953, including the number ones "Your Cheatin' Heart,"
"Kaw-Liga," and "Take These Chains From My Heart."

After his death, MGM wanted to keep issuing Williams records, so they took some
of his original demos and overdubbed bands onto the original recording. The
first of these, "Weary Blues from Waitin'," was a hit, but the others weren't
quite as successful. In 1961, Hank was one of the first inductees to the Country
Music Hall of Fame. Throughout the '60s, Williams' records were released in
overdubbed versions featuring heavy strings, as well as reprocessed stereo. For
years, these bastardized versions were the only records in print, and only in
the '80s, when his music was released on compact disc, was his catalog restored
to its original form. Even during those years when only overdubbed versions of
his hits existed, Williams' impact never diminished. His songs have become
classics, his recordings have stood the test of time, and his life story is
legendary. It's easy to see why Hank Williams is considered by many as the
defining figure of country music. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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