7 Hank Williams 7tune that Williams parlayed into a chart-topping hit, an
invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, and
international fame. More than half of the 66 recordings he
would make under his own name (he also released a string
of religious-themed recordings under the name Luke the
Drifter) were Top Ten country and western hits, many of
them reaching number one, including “Cold, Cold Heart,”
“Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Hey, Good Lookin’,” “Jambalaya (On
the Bayou),” and “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive.”
His extraordinary “Lost Highway” peaked at number 12.
Williams, who wrote most of his songs himself, crafted
direct, emotionally honest lyrics with a poetic simplicity
that spoke not only to fans of country and western music
but to a much broader audience, as evidenced by the pop
hit crooner Tony Bennett had with his cover of “Cold,
Cold Heart” in 1951. Williams’s music itself was not espe-
cially groundbreaking, though he was a deft synthesizer
of blues, honky-tonk country, western swing, and other
genres. However, his plaintive, bluesy phrasing was unique
and became a touchstone of country music. Country music
historian Bill Malone wrote that Williams “sang with the
quality that has characterized every great hillbilly singer:
utter sincerity.” Despite Williams’s many well-known
heartbreak songs, it should also be remembered that he
was capable of writing and singing with great joy and
humour, as on, for example, “Howlin’ at the Moon.”
The last years of his life were suffused in increasing
sadness and substance abuse. He died of a heart attack in
a drug- and alcohol-induced stupor in the backseat of a
car, probably in West Virginia, while being driven from
Knoxville, Tenn., to a concert in Canton, Ohio. Red Foley,
Roy Acuff, and Ernest Tubb, among others, sang Williams’s
gospel-influenced “I Saw the Light” at his funeral, which
was attended by thousands. His son, Hank Williams, Jr., a