Both Loved Their Momma

"It makes the women in my house whine. More."

HANKS, Hank Sr. and Jr., June-July 2011, 3' x 4'

He could wring a person right out: goddamned lonely, lovesick, wasted and gutted.

I did my first drawing of Hank Williams Sr. in the winter of 2000. It hangs in my music room next to a small photo of Johnny Cash giving an audience The Finger. Hank's in an old frame and the glass cracked shortly after hanging. Apparently he's still kicking his way out of a bind.

HANK WILLIAMS SR. 2' x 4' Winter ,2000

The second and larger drawing was done over three weekends in July 2011. It's one of a handful of shots, taken on a sofa, apparently at home, with son Hank Jr. His wife Audrey appears in at least one. The photo I chose to reproduce is adorable: Son imitates father.  That's pretty much how Hank Jr.'s life turned out.  It's an adorable image and I have had that black and white photo framed for a decade.

"Now, it goes like this ..."

Now, I like Hank Jr. in moderation. He's an ass-kicker and a survivor. Yes, there have been a lot of rebels in country music.
But really, "There was only one Hank Williams Sr.," they say.

Luke and Hank

Actually there were two.
On most records he was Hank Williams.
On a few, however, he was Luke the Drifter.
One man was a heartsick rabble-rouser. The other man was religious and, even, death-obsessed.
Both loved their mommas. Neither was happy.
Both were probably a little sauced.

My late and great dog named Hank.

People loved the sincerity in both of "their" songs, such as:

HANK:
Cold, Cold Heart
Honkytonk Blues
Jambalaya (On The Bayou)
Move It On Over
Lovesick Blues
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
Long Gone Lonesome
Theres A Tear In My Bee
Your Cheatin' Heart
Kaw-liga


LUKE:
Beyond The Sunset
I Dreamed About Mama Last Night
Funeral
Be Careful Of Stones
Too Many Parties Too Many Pals
Help Me Understand
Men With Broken Hearts
Picture From Life's Other Side

"Bocephus"

I don't know exactly why his music appealed to me in my 40s, because by nature I'm a rocker. Baby, I'm A Rocker.
Hank had a whiny, nasally voice and the music is chuck-a-chuck-a-chuck-a-simple. It makes the women in my house whine. More.
Certainly he was no role model: Jail, women, drugs, booze.
But he sure could tell a tale.
He could wring a person right out: goddamned lonely, lovesick, wasted and gutted.
Great stuff.

This is vinyl, children. It's the best.

I set about collecting LPs, 78s, 45s -- most with a bright yellow and black label bearing a lion, symbol of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios.
I had a dog named Hank, too!

"Sit your narrow ass down."

His history is interesting, and quick.
Hank was born Hiram Williams on Sept. 17, 1923, in Butler County, Ala. and was raised primarily by his mother, Lillie. In 1937 they moved to Montgomery, and she opened a boarding house. Hank got into music and his guitar and, with the Driftin' Cowboys, wound up on WSFA radio, off and on from 1937 to 1942.
The guy's boozy personal life was a wreck. He married Audrey Sheppard in 1944 and they had a son (Hank Jr.) in 1949. Their domestic fireworks burst into many of Hank's tunes.

"What's in YOUR bottle?"

By 1947 he had a recording contract with MGM. One of Williams's earliest hits, "Move It On Over," earned him a chance to play on the Louisiana Hayride radio program in Shreveport in 1948, where he became a regular. Soon Hank recorded "Lovesick Blues," which became a national hit. This and "Wedding Bells" got him on country music's premier radio show, the Grand Ole Opry, in June 1949.
By the end of 1951, Williams had amassed 24 top 10 singles, with six reaching No. 1. His tunes remain country music staples.

On the drawing table, in the home stretch.

Still, he had demons. Luke emerged in 1950 to try and tame a few.
Many of the Luke songs today would be called "spoken word" records with musical accompaniment. Luke was apparently the simple country preacher while Hank raised hell.
By 1952 he was divorced from Audrey and fired from the Opry for absenteeism,

The original photograph

He pulled it together enough to marry another woman and had two singles ("Jambalaya" and "Settin' the Woods on Fire"). But the back problems worsened, he drank more and took more pain meds.
New Years Day 1953, Hank hired a driver to take him from Tennessee to Canton, Ohio. They say he shot up some morphine and headed north, a few cans of beer in tow. He was 29 when he died in that Cadillac.

"I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive," the Drifting Cowboy sang.
No one does, no matter how much life they've lived.

I'LL NEVER GET OUT OF THIS WORLD ALIVE
Recorded by: Hank Williams Sr.
Written by: Hank Williams and Fred Rose

Now you're lookin' at a man that's gettin' kind a mad
I had lot's of luck but it's all been bad
No matter how I struggle and strive
I'll never get out of this world alive.

My fishin' pole's broke the creek is full of sand
My woman run away with another man
No matter how I struggle and strive
I'll never get out of this world alive.

A distant uncle passed away and left me quite a batch
And I was livin'g high until that fatal day
A lawyer proved I wasn't born
I was only hatched.

Ev'rything's agin' me and it's got me down
If I jumped in the river I would prob'ly drown
No matter how I struggle and strive
I'll never get out of this world alive.

These shabby shoes I'm wearin' all the time
Are full of holes and nails
And brother if I stepped on a worn out dime
I bet a nickel I could tell you if it was heads or tails.

I'm not gonna worry wrinkles in my brow
'Cause nothin's ever gonna be alright nohow
No matter how I struggle and strive
I'll never get out of this world alive.

I could buy a Sunday suit and it would leave me broke
If it had two pair of pants I would burn the coat
No matter how I struggle and strive
I'll never get out of this world alive.

If it was rainin' gold I wouldn't stand a chance
I wouldn't have a pocket in my patched up pants
No matter how I struggle and strive
I'll never get out of this world alive.

Almost finished...

RAMBLIN' MAN
Recorded by: Hank Williams, Sr. (as Luke the Drifter)
Written by: Hank Williams, Sr.

I can settle dow-own and be doin' just fine
Til I hear an old train rollin' down the line
Then I hurry strai-aight home and pack
And if I didn't go, I believe I'd blow my stack
I love you ba-aby, but you gotta understand
When the Lord made me
He made a Ramblin' Man.

Some folks might sa-ay that I'm no good
That I wouldn't settle down if I could
But when that open ro-oad starts to callin' me
There's somethin' o'er the hill that I gotta see
Sometimes it's har-rd but you gotta understand
When the Lord made me, He made a Ra-amblin' Man.

I love to see the tow-owns a-passin' by
And to ride these rails 'neath God's blue sky
Let me travel this la-and from the mountains to the sea
'Cause that's the life I believe He meant for me
And when I'm go-one and at my grave you stand
Just say God called home your Ra-amblin' Man.

To inquire about purchasing these drawings, willstom01@gmail.com

Artwork and text, Tom Wills Productions 2011.
Song lyrics: Acuff-Rose Publishing and its successors
Had a dog named Hank, too.