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On this day, January 1, 1953, Hank Williams was found dead in the back seat of a car.
Fri Jan 1, 2021: On this day, January 1, 1953, Hank Williams was found dead in the back seat of a car.
"I got a hot rod Ford and a two-dollar bill, and I know a spot right over the hill."
I think I'll wear a white Stetson all day, just out of respect.
Hat tip, and I should have remembered this without a prompt from them, This Day in Rock
Hank Williams
Hank Williams in a publicity photograph for WSM in 1951
Born: Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923; Mount Olive, Butler County, Alabama, U.S.
Died: January 1, 1953 (aged 29); Oak Hill, West Virginia, U.S.
Cause of death: Heart failure; brought about by prescription drug abuse and alcoholism
Resting place: Oakwood Annex Cemetery; Montgomery, Alabama; 32.3847°N 86.2913°W
Website: HankWilliams.com
Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, Williams recorded 35 singles (five released posthumously) that reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 11 that ranked number one (three posthumously).
{snip}
Death
Main article: Death of Hank Williams
Williams was scheduled to perform at the Municipal Auditorium in Charleston, West Virginia, on Wednesday December 31, 1952. Advance ticket sales totaled US$3,500. That day, because of an ice storm in the Nashville area, Williams could not fly, so he hired a college student, Charles Carr, to drive him to the concerts. Carr called the Charleston auditorium from Knoxville to say that Williams would not arrive on time owing to the ice storm and was ordered to drive Williams to Canton, Ohio, for the New Year's Day concert there.
They arrived at the Andrew Johnson Hotel in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Carr requested a doctor for Williams, as he was feeling the combination of the chloral hydrate and alcohol he had drunk on the way from Montgomery to Knoxville. Dr. P. H. Cardwell injected Williams with two shots of vitamin B12 that also contained a quarter-grain of morphine. Carr and Williams checked out of the hotel; the porters had to carry Williams to the car, as he was coughing and hiccuping.
At around midnight on Thursday, January 1, 1953, when they crossed the Tennessee state line and arrived in Bristol, Virginia, Carr stopped at a small all-night restaurant and asked Williams if he wanted to eat. Williams said he did not, and those are believed to be his last words. Carr later drove on until he stopped for fuel at a gas station in Oak Hill, West Virginia, where he realized that Williams was dead, and rigor mortis had already set in. The filling station's owner called the chief of the local police. In Williams' Cadillac, the police found some empty beer cans and unfinished handwritten lyrics.
Dr. Ivan Malinin performed the autopsy at the Tyree Funeral House. Malinin found hemorrhages in the heart and neck and pronounced the cause of death as "insufficiency of the right ventricle of the heart". That evening, when the announcer at Canton announced Williams' death to the gathered crowd, they started laughing, thinking that it was just another excuse. After Hawkshaw Hawkins and other performers started singing "I Saw the Light" as a tribute to Williams, the crowd, now realizing that he was indeed dead, sang along. Malinin also wrote that Williams had been severely beaten and kicked in the groin recently. Also, local magistrate Virgil F. Lyons ordered an inquest into Williams' death concerning the welt that was visible on his head.
His body was transported to Montgomery, Alabama on Friday, January 2, and placed in a silver coffin that was first shown at his mother's boarding house for two days. His funeral took place on Sunday, January 4, at the Montgomery Auditorium, with his coffin placed on the flower-covered stage. An estimated 15,000 to 25,000 people passed by the silver coffin, and the auditorium was filled with 2,750 mourners. His funeral was said to have been far larger than any ever held for any other citizen of Alabama and the largest event ever held in Montgomery. Williams' remains are interred at the Oakwood Annex in Montgomery. The president of MGM told Billboard magazine that the company got only about five requests for pictures of Williams during the weeks before his death, but over three hundred afterwards. The local record shops reportedly sold all their Williams records, and customers were asking for all records ever released by Williams.
His final single, released in November 1952 while he was still alive, was titled "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive". "Your Cheatin' Heart" was written and recorded in September 1952 but released in late January 1953 after Williams' death. The song, backed by "Kaw-Liga", was number one on the country charts for six weeks. It provided the title for the 1964 biographical film of the same name, which starred George Hamilton. "Take These Chains From My Heart" was released in April 1953 and went to number 1 on the country charts. "I Won't Be Home No More", released in July, went to number 3, and an overdubbed demo, "Weary Blues From Waitin'", written with Ray Price, went to number 7.
{snip}
Hank Williams in a publicity photograph for WSM in 1951
Born: Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923; Mount Olive, Butler County, Alabama, U.S.
Died: January 1, 1953 (aged 29); Oak Hill, West Virginia, U.S.
Cause of death: Heart failure; brought about by prescription drug abuse and alcoholism
Resting place: Oakwood Annex Cemetery; Montgomery, Alabama; 32.3847°N 86.2913°W
Website: HankWilliams.com
Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, Williams recorded 35 singles (five released posthumously) that reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 11 that ranked number one (three posthumously).
{snip}
Death
Main article: Death of Hank Williams
Williams was scheduled to perform at the Municipal Auditorium in Charleston, West Virginia, on Wednesday December 31, 1952. Advance ticket sales totaled US$3,500. That day, because of an ice storm in the Nashville area, Williams could not fly, so he hired a college student, Charles Carr, to drive him to the concerts. Carr called the Charleston auditorium from Knoxville to say that Williams would not arrive on time owing to the ice storm and was ordered to drive Williams to Canton, Ohio, for the New Year's Day concert there.
They arrived at the Andrew Johnson Hotel in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Carr requested a doctor for Williams, as he was feeling the combination of the chloral hydrate and alcohol he had drunk on the way from Montgomery to Knoxville. Dr. P. H. Cardwell injected Williams with two shots of vitamin B12 that also contained a quarter-grain of morphine. Carr and Williams checked out of the hotel; the porters had to carry Williams to the car, as he was coughing and hiccuping.
At around midnight on Thursday, January 1, 1953, when they crossed the Tennessee state line and arrived in Bristol, Virginia, Carr stopped at a small all-night restaurant and asked Williams if he wanted to eat. Williams said he did not, and those are believed to be his last words. Carr later drove on until he stopped for fuel at a gas station in Oak Hill, West Virginia, where he realized that Williams was dead, and rigor mortis had already set in. The filling station's owner called the chief of the local police. In Williams' Cadillac, the police found some empty beer cans and unfinished handwritten lyrics.
Dr. Ivan Malinin performed the autopsy at the Tyree Funeral House. Malinin found hemorrhages in the heart and neck and pronounced the cause of death as "insufficiency of the right ventricle of the heart". That evening, when the announcer at Canton announced Williams' death to the gathered crowd, they started laughing, thinking that it was just another excuse. After Hawkshaw Hawkins and other performers started singing "I Saw the Light" as a tribute to Williams, the crowd, now realizing that he was indeed dead, sang along. Malinin also wrote that Williams had been severely beaten and kicked in the groin recently. Also, local magistrate Virgil F. Lyons ordered an inquest into Williams' death concerning the welt that was visible on his head.
His body was transported to Montgomery, Alabama on Friday, January 2, and placed in a silver coffin that was first shown at his mother's boarding house for two days. His funeral took place on Sunday, January 4, at the Montgomery Auditorium, with his coffin placed on the flower-covered stage. An estimated 15,000 to 25,000 people passed by the silver coffin, and the auditorium was filled with 2,750 mourners. His funeral was said to have been far larger than any ever held for any other citizen of Alabama and the largest event ever held in Montgomery. Williams' remains are interred at the Oakwood Annex in Montgomery. The president of MGM told Billboard magazine that the company got only about five requests for pictures of Williams during the weeks before his death, but over three hundred afterwards. The local record shops reportedly sold all their Williams records, and customers were asking for all records ever released by Williams.
His final single, released in November 1952 while he was still alive, was titled "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive". "Your Cheatin' Heart" was written and recorded in September 1952 but released in late January 1953 after Williams' death. The song, backed by "Kaw-Liga", was number one on the country charts for six weeks. It provided the title for the 1964 biographical film of the same name, which starred George Hamilton. "Take These Chains From My Heart" was released in April 1953 and went to number 1 on the country charts. "I Won't Be Home No More", released in July, went to number 3, and an overdubbed demo, "Weary Blues From Waitin'", written with Ray Price, went to number 7.
{snip}
I did not, until now, know that he wrote this:
I Saw The Light-Hank Williams
2,032,181 views • Aug 14, 2008
Stephen Anderson
962 subscribers
Hank on early TV
2,032,181 views • Aug 14, 2008
Stephen Anderson
962 subscribers
Hank on early TV
Another early performance. It's amazing that there is any video evidence of him. This has been cleaned up and shortened a little. It's also an official post, so it's likely to stay posted.
Hank Williams - I Saw The Light
474,807 views • Apr 12, 2016
Hank Williams
221K subscribers
Hank Williams performing "I Saw The Light".
http://vevo.ly/SSbjBJ
474,807 views • Apr 12, 2016
Hank Williams
221K subscribers
Hank Williams performing "I Saw The Light".
http://vevo.ly/SSbjBJ
I'm looking for a video of him performing "Jambalaya." There's one on YouTube, but it's actually Hank Williams, Jr. who's performing. Here's another official post:
#HankWilliams #HeyGoodLookin #Vevo
Hank Williams - Hey Good Lookin' (Official Video)
7,168,518 views • Mar 23, 2016
Hank Williams
221K subscribers
Hank Williams performing "Hey Good Lookin' "
#HankWilliams #HeyGoodLookin #Vevo
Hank Williams - Hey Good Lookin' (Official Video)
7,168,518 views • Mar 23, 2016
Hank Williams
221K subscribers
Hank Williams performing "Hey Good Lookin' "
#HankWilliams #HeyGoodLookin #Vevo
That must be from The Kate Smith Show. That would be Don Helms on the steel guitar. From that Wikipedia article I linked to above:
{snip}
He brought together Bob McNett (guitar), Hillous Butrum (bass), Jerry Rivers (fiddle) and Don Helms (steel guitar) to form the most famous version of the Drifting Cowboys, earning an estimated US$1,000 per show (equivalent to US$10,745.5 in 2021).
{snip}
On November 14, 1951, Williams flew to New York with his steel guitar player Don Helms where he appeared on television for the first time on The Perry Como Show. There he and Perry Como sang "Hey Good Lookin'". Photos but no existing footage remain of this appearance.
{snip}
During the spring of 1952, Williams flew to New York with steel guitarist Don Helms, where he made two appearances with other Grand Ole Opry members on The Kate Smith Show. He sang "Cold, Cold Heart", "Hey Good Lookin''", "Glory Bound Train" and "I Saw the Light" with other cast members, and a duet, "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)" with Anita Carter. Footage remains of these appearances. That same year, had a brief extramarital affair with dancer Bobbie Jett, with whom he fathered a daughter, Jett Williams (born January 6, 1953, two days after his burial)
{snip}
He brought together Bob McNett (guitar), Hillous Butrum (bass), Jerry Rivers (fiddle) and Don Helms (steel guitar) to form the most famous version of the Drifting Cowboys, earning an estimated US$1,000 per show (equivalent to US$10,745.5 in 2021).
{snip}
On November 14, 1951, Williams flew to New York with his steel guitar player Don Helms where he appeared on television for the first time on The Perry Como Show. There he and Perry Como sang "Hey Good Lookin'". Photos but no existing footage remain of this appearance.
{snip}
During the spring of 1952, Williams flew to New York with steel guitarist Don Helms, where he made two appearances with other Grand Ole Opry members on The Kate Smith Show. He sang "Cold, Cold Heart", "Hey Good Lookin''", "Glory Bound Train" and "I Saw the Light" with other cast members, and a duet, "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)" with Anita Carter. Footage remains of these appearances. That same year, had a brief extramarital affair with dancer Bobbie Jett, with whom he fathered a daughter, Jett Williams (born January 6, 1953, two days after his burial)
{snip}
Here's a cover of a Hank Williams tune, performed by someone else who died too young. The Patsy Cline fans in Music Appreciation -- and you know who you are -- will really enjoy this.
Patsy Cline - Lovesick Blues
804,146 views • Jul 9, 2008
crazy4patsycline
12.8K subscribers
From "Community Jamboree" in 1960
804,146 views • Jul 9, 2008
crazy4patsycline
12.8K subscribers
From "Community Jamboree" in 1960
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
