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2007-12-07 11:54 p.m.
116/78 72

Hank Williams
is a Great American Songwriter- one of the most influential musicians and songwriters of the 20th century. I've been a Hank Williams fan for as long as I can recollect.

I remember being a little kid on vacation on long car rides. What we listened to depended on where we were driving- radio varies by locale. Some tunes on the radio burned in. Peggy Lee doing "Is That All There Is?", Glen Campbell "Witchita Lineman", cool tunes like, "Big Bad John" or "Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road" were on the "kids in back" top ten.

Dad didn't really care if the radio was on or not, but he liked John Phillip Souza. Mom hated Elvis, loved classical and showtunes. Something about Hank Williams appealed: The simple arrangement, the clear as a bell voice of Hank, the hillbilly accent, made sense, even if we kids didn't "get" the story inspiring the song

Even as a Black Sabbath, Led Zepplin, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd kind of metal teen I appreciated Hank. I began collecting his recordings in college. I lived in wild wooly Athens GA, land of the awesome independent music scene, wanted to start a band to do punk Hank covers, but gathered no steam. There was so much happening with original music- Hank could wait.

Hiram "Hank" King Williams (September 17, 1923�January 1, 1953) was born with spina bifida occulta, he was in constant pain.

Hank's Aunt Alice taught him to play the guitar, then he met Rufus Payne, a black blues musician living in the nearby town. Payne, aka "Tee-Tot," became Williams' mentor and greatly influenced his musical style.

After school and on weekends, Hank sang and played his Silvertone guitar on the sidewalk in front of the WSFA radio studios. He quickly caught the attention of WSFA producers, who occasionally invited him to come inside and perform on air. Many listeners contacted the radio station asking for more of the "Singing Kid" that the producers hired him to host his own fifteen-minute show, twice a week for a weekly salary of $15.00!

1941 marked the beginning of hard times for Hank Williams. All his band members were drafted to serve in the military, and many of their replacements quit because of Hank's drinking. His idol, Grand Ole Opry star Roy Acuff warned him of the dangers of alcohol, saying "You've got a million-dollar voice, son, but a ten-cent brain."

Williams' life became unmanageable due to his success. His marriage was rapidly disintegrating, and he had a serious problem with alcohol, morphine and other painkillers attempting to ease his severe back pain.

Hank was booked to play a show in Canton, OH. The snowy weather had grounded his plane, so hired a 17 year old chauffeur to drive his new baby blue Cadillac to the gig. Before leaving Knoxville, TN, his Dr. injected him with B12 and morphine to make the long car ride more comfortable. At some point during the ride, Hank, at 29, died.

As if he knew what was going to happen, the last tune recorded before he died was titled, "I'll never get out of this world alive," and was released just 5 days after his death.