Photo: The man and his muse, and soon to be his ex-wife.
Lots of events have happened on September 17. It’s Constitution Day. The bloodiest day in American History occurred at the 1862 Battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg, but it is also a birthday. Today, 103 years ago a boy was born in southern Alabama who would go on to become one of the greatest singers of the 20th century. It wasn’t that he had a beautiful voice. Far from it. What he had was a unique way to express his feelings in a manner to which everyone who heard him could relate.
He grew up under tough circumstances. His father suffered PTSD from World War I and was in a soldier’s home, so the boy never had a substantive father influence. Instead, he was tutored in the ways of music by a local street performer, Rufus “Tee-tot” Payne. His mother was tough on him (and everybody). She encouraged his musical talent because he was undiagnosed with spina bifida and was unable to do the manual labor of most boys growing into men.
The family moved around, ending up in Montgomery, Alabama where the mom ran a boarding house (some say brothel) and the young man was cast adrift in the evenings to hear the sound of the “lonesome whippoorwill.” He will use that in his music.
During World War II he worked in the shipyards, helping to build craft for the U.S. Navy while also leading a band on a noontime radio show. During the war, he met a woman who believed in his talent and urged his songwriting. At first, the two were in harmony but increasingly his lyrics were about how hard it was to get along with her. Nevertheless, he went to Nashville and got signed as a songwriter.
He recorded his own compositions, having a moderate hit in 1946 with a song that sounded a lot like what would eventually become the rock’n’roll anthem, “Rock Around the Clock.” However, it was a cover of a song from three decades earlier that became his first hit. The tune was “Lovesick Blues” and it catapulted him to the Grand Old Opry and major stardom.
From there, he quickly became an “A list” performer. His songs, done his way as a country performer, were instant classics. Some even crossed over to the pop market and were big hits. When crooner Tony Bennett did “Cold, Cold Heart,” the writer said it “put a lot of biscuits and beans on the table” for him.
Unfortunately, his health was not good. With a grueling tour schedule which included a European Tour, he began to rely on pills and alcohol to ease the pain. By the end of 1951 his marriage was over. Though it gave him lots of experiences to write about, it sent him into a downward spiral. Because of his unreliability, the Grand Old Opry fired him and on New Years Day, 1953 he died in the back of a Cadillac somewhere on the road through West Virginia where he was booked to do a show.
But, the music. If you listen to any of his songs (including a few funny ones) he sings with an insight that few performers can claim, though many try. Happy Birthday, Hank Williams, Sr. and thanks for your music. Looking back on his short but important time as musical artist, he has been labeled “the Hillbilly Shakespeare.” And he sure was.
