Lovesick Blues: The Life of Hank Williams

I've read some other books about Hank Williams. To be honest, this book doesn't cover much new ground. However, it's a good introduction to the story of country music's most famous singer/songwriter. The author acknowledges the work of Colin Escott, who wrote perhaps the best Williams biography. My vote for the worst is Your Cheatin' Heart by Chet Flippo. That book is often vulgar and too graphic. Paul Hemphill includes some personal history. His father was a truck driver. The book begins with a father/son truck ride. Hank Williams was just becoming well known. His music was very popular on the jukeboxes. (This is why Fred Rose had him release recitations as Luke the Drifter.) These songs gave the two a great bond. The author's dad loved to play Hank Williams songs on the piano. This got him kicked out of a nursing home, and a recurring spot on a local TV show. You'll meet the varied cast of characters in Hank Williams' life. His mother Lillie was strong and domineering. His father Lon was often ill and more passive. An African American man nicknamed "Tee Tot" was his first music teacher. His first wife Audrey was ambitious and a poor singer. She helped push him toward stardom. Fred Rose edited his songs and tried to help him overcome alcoholism. Don "Shag" Helms was the longest serving member of the Drifting Cowboys. His steel guitar was a major component of Hank's sound. Billie Jean was Hank's second wife. She would later marry Johnny Horton. He would also die young. Bobbie Jett became pregnant with Hank's child. This daughter, born days after Hank's burial, now performs as Jett Williams. Don't forget Hank Jr. Other figures mentioned include: Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, the Carter Family, Chet Atkins, Ray Price, and Minnie Pearl. For more information, check out Colin Escott's books and the PBS American Masters special he cowrote.

Such were the circumstances in the life of the acknowledged "father of country music" Hank Williams. It is certainly hard to believe that Hank has been gone for more than half a century now. In "Lovesick Blues" author Paul Hemphill lovingly recalls the tortured life of this man and the incredible body of work he left for us to enjoy. Young Hank Williams first appeared on the scene at Montgomery radio station WSFA in 1937. Known as "The Singing Kid" the youngster who would become a country music legend impressed everyone with his vocal prowess. Young Hank was also among the first in the business to recognize the potential of the steel guitar. In fact, the very first incarnation of Hank's backup group known as the Drifting Cowboys would include that strange looking guitar of Hawaiian heritage. At a very early age Hank Williams was determined to make it in the music business. And as Paul Hemphill points out again and again it would be a very rocky road indeed. The fact of the matter is that Hank William's personal life was a mess. That's just the was it always was and the way it would always be. His father Lon disappeared from the scene when Hank was just a young whippersnapper. His mother Lillie was extremely overbearing and Hank developed a taste for liquor at an extremely young age. Unfortunately, the scourge of alcoholism would plague him for the rest of this days. In addition, he had any number of physical problems to cope with. And his marriage to Audrey certainly did not help matters. Like his mother Audrey was extremely demanding and what made matters worse was that she was also an aspiring singer. Unfortunately for Hank his wife could not sing a lick. When he refused to let her perform with him she made his life absolutely unbearable. I found it very painful just reading about all of the physical and psychological pain that Hank Williams had to endure in his life. I simply cannot imagine actually having to live through it all. Ironically, it was all of the pain and the suffering he had to face during his short time on this earth that made Hank Williams such a special songwriter and singer. Truck drivers, drug store clerks and farmers could all relate to many of the situations Hank Williams wrote about. And you could definitely hear the pain in that voice. There was no doubt that Hank Williams had been through it all. Tunes like "Your Cheatin' Heart", "Cold Cold Heart" and "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)" would go on to become country music classics. "Lovesick Blues" takes a fresh look at the life and times of Hank Williams. This is an extremely written book by a veteran writer who is quite familiar with both the country music scene and life in the South during that period. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to music lovers, history buffs and general audiences as well. Outstanding!

Back in the late 1960s, Paul Hemphill went to Nashville to write a book about country music. That book, The Nashville Sound, is one of the most important books ever written about roots music in America - it inspired, either directly or indirectly, virtually all roots music writing that has come since. Hemphill has a poet's soul and a top-flight reporter's mind; he's now 70-something, but his writing and analytical skills are at their peak. For years we Hemphill fans have been hoping he would take up pen to address Hank Williams at length. Now he's done so, and he's produced a classic personal narrative about the man who, ultimately, might be the most important musical figure in Twentieth Century America. Hemphill's writing is crisp as he deftly weaves personal remembrances with the story of Hank to illustrate why Williams is so compelling a figure. An outstanding job by one of our best writers.

I am a longtime fan of Hank Williams' music. Three of the CDs in my car's six-CD changer are the collection of his singles. I also have picked up bits and pieces of information about his life. This biography filled in many gaps. For instance, some commentators have mentioned the influence of Tee-Tot. Hemphill fleshes out Hank's relationship with that significant mentor. It's an easy read, an interesting read, provides great insights into Hank's stormy relationships with the two significant women in his life (his mother and his wife). I have one complaint: I wish it were longer.

Mr Hemphill had researched a well-written but brief biography (200+ pages) of Hank Williams. The book is short because his life was short -- he didn't even live to see his 30th year. What makes this biography different is how Mr Hemphill weaves vignettes from the impact that Hank Williams had upon his life. "Lovesick Blues" takes it title from the No. 1 hit that launched Mr. Williams into superstardom for the last five years of his life. Mr. Williams became the face of country music and paved the way for another Southern boy (Elvis Presley) to became the future face of rock and roll. Born into a vagabond, poor family that drifted from town to town, he was an alcoholic before he was an adult and had addiction & health issues for the rest of his life. Mr Hemphill debunks the worse of the mythic stories of his self-destructive choices, maintaining the truth of his illnesses, martial woes and addictions were bad enough. He lived to perform, sang about the hard life he knew personally, and died young -- all used up like his successor would be, Elvis Presley. For the reader interested in the similarities between the two singers, I recommend Peter Guralnick's definitive two volume account of Elvis Presley: "LastTrain To Memphis" (1995) and "Careless Love" (2000).