In the world of classical music, the anniversaries of the births and deaths of composers are often marked by a whole year of activities and celebrations.
This would be a big year for singer-songwriter and musician Hank Williams. It's been 90 years since he was born on Sept. 17, in Mount Olive, Ala., and 60 years since his passing. Williams is one of the most important country music artists of all time. He was a man who knew how to write about the heart, good and bad.
This Wednesday, CBC Music will release five new videos recorded by Jill Barber and the Black Hens in honour of Williams.
In preparation, here are some things you might not know about Williams.
1. Hank was not his real name. Williams gave it to himself, as he thought it a better fit with his country music career. He was born Hiram King Walker, which it appeared as "Hiriam" on his birth certificate. Early on, Williams was nicknamed “Harm” by his family, and “Poots” and “Herky” by his friends.
2. During his short career, Williams was also known as Luke the Drifter, Lovesick, the Lovesick Blues Boy, Hank, Sr. and the Hillbilly Shakespeare.
3. Where Williams got his first guitar is unclear, as are a number of things in his life, but it was not until the family moved to Georgiana, Ala., that Williams met Rufus "Tee-Tot" Payne. Payne was a bluesman and street performer who gave Williams guitar lessons in exchange for meals and a little money. Williams famously said in an interview, "I learned to play the guitar from an old coloured man…. I'd give him 15 cents, or whatever I could get a hold of for the lesson." Payne influenced Williams as he developed his unique style, which eventually crossed racial barriers.
4. At 14 years old, in 1937, Williams won the first prize of $15 in a talent show at the Empire Theater in Montgomery. He won singing his first song, "WPA Blues," with original lyrics and borrowing the tune from Sonny Boy Williamson's "Dissatisfied." This led to Williams being hired as "the singing kid"for a weekly radio show on WSFA, and launched his country music career.
5. “Move It On Over” reached number four on country singles charts in 1947, and was Williams's first country hit. The song paved the stylistic way for later rock 'n' roll. It has been covered my many artists since, including George Thorogood and the Destroyers.
6. Williams recorded 11 number one songs between 1948 and 1953. He placed a total of 35 singles (five posthumously) in the Top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart.
7. Backstage at one of his concerts, Williams met his idol, Grand Ole Opry star Roy Acuff. Acuff is reported to have warned Williams of the dangers of alcohol, saying: "You've got a million-dollar talent, son, but a ten-cent brain."
8. Williams was born with a mild undiagnosed case of spina bifida, which caused him pain all his life, and likely contributing to his abuse of alcohol and drugs, and later to his death.
9. Williams died suddenly, and under mysterious, even bizarre circumstances, in his Cadillac in the early morning hours of New Year's Day in 1953 at the age of 29. It is commonly thought that he died from heart failure, after two shots of vitamin B12, a shot of morphine and a bottle of whiskey.
“Now you're lookin' at a man that's gettin' kinda mad,
I had lots of luck but it's all been bad.
No matter how I struggle and strive,
I'll never get out of this world alive.“
10. Written by Fred Rose and Williams and intended to be humorous, "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive" turned out to be darkly prophetic. Out in late December 1952, it was the last single to be released during Williams's lifetime. It reached number one on the country charts after his death in January of '53.
11. Singer-songwriter and author Steve Earle gave the title I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive to his 2011 album and novel, about a doctor haunted by the ghost of Williams.
12. The Academy of Country Music in the U.S. has announced that Williams will receive the Poet's Award on April 7, for his outstanding musical and lyrical contributions to country music.
Related:
Hank Williams's songwriting legacy