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Hank was born Hiram Williams, in Mount Olive, Alabama, on September 17, 1923. He learned gospel music from his Baptist-church organist mother and blues and pop from a black street musician. By age 16, he’d formed the first version of his legendary Drifting Cowboys and was playing on a local radio station. The early Forties found him performing one-nighters at roadhouses across Alabama. He moved to Nashville in 1946, where he signed with the famed Acuff-Rose publishing company and landed a recording contract with MGM the following year. His initial MGM release, Move It On Over, was a rocking country blues hit made popular all over again in the 70's by George Thorogood. In 1949, his Lovesick Blues topped the C&W chart and then remained in the Top 15 for ten months. His debut on the Grand Ol’ Opry that same year earned him six encores, and he became a regular cast member. Lovesick Blues was the first of 11 million-selling singles for Hank over the next four years. All totaled, he cracked the C&W Top Ten 36 times. His best-known songs, Your Cheatin’ Heart, Hey, Good Lookin’, Cold, Cold Heart, and I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry endure as American classics. He also recorded some gospel-style material under the name Luke the Drifter. At the height of his career, he virtually reinvented the country music, paving the way for a new breed of songwriter. The outlaw school of country singer-songwriters who followed in Williams’ wake - including Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and his own son, Hank Williams Jr. - would have been inconceivable without his rough-cut artistry. Increasing problems with drugs and alcohol led to his premature death by heart attack at age 29 while on the way to a show. In 1961, Hank was the first artist elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame, a tribute indicative of his impact.
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hank
williams
country
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Added: 17th September 2007
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Posted By: Naomi |
 
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