I was very disappointed to see that the new country music movie Crazy Heart does include the Hank Williams classic recording of the Fred Rose composition in the soundtrack. Obviously the title of the movie is taken from the song.
Crazy Heart has always been one of my favorite Hank Williams recordings, although it was a ‘B’ side and did not make the charts. However I think it was one of the most popular of Hank Williams songs after his death. It was featured on many posthumous Hank Williams’ collections. ‘Crazy Heart’ was written by Fred Rose and Maurice Murray. It was recorded by Hank Williams July 25th 1951, and released as the B side of ‘I Heard That Lonesome Whistle’.
As opposed to the traditionally country and western styling of ‘Lonesome Whistle’, ‘Crazy Heart’ was a hard-driving, high energy, raw, edgy number which could have easily been an early rockabilly cover by Elvis, Jerry Lee, or Carl Perkins.
The new country music movie stars Jeff Bridges as a sort of Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson character who hasn’t had a hit for years and is reduced to playing cheap bars, using local pick up bands.
Although for some inexplicable reason the soundtrack does not include Hank Williams singing ‘Crazy Heart’ it does have a few classic country records by the original artists. The main soundtrack and the songs sung by the Jeff Bridges character were written by T-bone Burnette and Ryan Bingham. Bingham sings what looks like the film’s biggest hit a song called ‘The Weary Kind’.
The traditional Country songs on the soundtrack include: Buck Owens ‘Hello Trouble’, The Louvin Brothers’ ‘My Baby’s Gone’, ‘Searching’ by Kitty Wells, the ‘Color of the Blues’ by George Jones, and finally a great 70′s classic ‘Are You Sure Hank Done it this Way’ by Waylon Jennings.
But alas I can’t find any reference to a real Hank Williams’ classic called ‘Crazy Heart’ written by Fred Rose. I wonder if there were copyright problems or some legal issues that kept Hank off the movie. Seems very mysterious. With my limited amount of research I haven’t been able to solve it, so if you have any ideas give us a shout in the comments section below.
This movie by the way is Oscar bound. Jeff Bridges is expected to get a nomination for Best Actor.
It interesting to note that Jeff Bridges connection with Hank Williams goes back into the 60′s. As all fans know, one of Hank Williams’ greatest triumphs came in a movie about a decaying Texas town called ‘The Last Picture Show’. A very young Jeff Bridges was brilliant in the Peter Bogdanovich film which also starred Cybill Shepherd, Cloris Leachman, and Timothy Bottoms.. The soundtrack of that classic was made up almost entirely of original Hank Williams’ recordings with a few by Hank Snow and some others. But the black and white photography, the despair etched on the faces of the lead actors including Bridges, and the haunting ghostly sounds of Hank Williams in the distance made this an all time American classic.
Copyright law does not apply to a title, unless it is a brand name or association, where ”trademark” laws apply.
Perhaps there were copyright issues with the lyrics of the song which are intellectual material and thus protected under copyright law – at which I’m only guessing.
Hope this helps.
P.S. I’m not a lawyer, nor connected to this film or the Hank Williams estate.
The late Stephen Bruton also contributed contributed to the soundtrack. I’m listening to it as I write.
Crazy Heart is based on a novel of the same name, written by Thomas Cobb and slated for rerelease next month. Cobb no doubt took the name from Hank’s song.
I am so pleased someone else thinks highly of the Hank William song “Crazy Heart”, It is one of my favorites. I sing it a lot in karaoke. And it always gets people coming up saying that they did not know the song and they like it a lot. The collaboration of Fred Rose and Hank Williams is really something to read about. I, too, am disappointed that they did not include this wonderful song, which is certainly the basis of the title. It would have helped people discover Hank William’s music, especially new generations. If you don’t know the song, try it, you’ll like it.
Quite interesting, well I just wanted some songs and got your blog. Thanks for this one mate
I just loved it. An additional comment or feedback which I would like to give is that this theme is quite boring and you need to work on it but everything else I fine.
Maurice Murray, (nee Maurice Fisher) who co-wrote “Crazy Heart” with Fred Rose, was my grandfather. He passed away before I was born, when he was only 50 years old, and I have little information. I am interested in learning more about the song’s history, and whether Hank Williams ever performed it in concerts. Also, do you know whether “Crazy Heart” will be part of the soundtrack in the film that’s currently in production?
Thanks for the comment. You can sure be proud of your Grandfather on that one.
For some reason, ‘Crazy Heart’ was not a big hit at the time of release.
But I think it was a bit of a discovery for a lot of people on later albums.
It’s hard to say what role music will make in ‘The Last Ride’, but unfortunately i doubt ‘Crazy Heart’ will make it but we can always hope.
John
I’ve had people come up to me after I sang it and wanted to know more about this sad little song. It always touches someone in the audience. Why anyone would call it “boring”?
It’s melancholic, true. But life has its ups and downs.
It’s a not a “big” song , but it’s witty and easy to remember. I sing the song for 10 times in a soft voice at present. And most of hank’s songs are little “sad”, include “Crazy heart”. Wonder the story of the song, could someone tell me?
Maureen Fisher Rivkin. I’m doing rearch on your grand father.please contact me at 423 542 5543 or my email
itcmfc@charter.net.
[...] was used as the title of a country music movie. So my admiration for Rose is already on the record. Here is my post on ‘Crazy Heart’. To me that song’s forceful rhythm building on Hank’s early ‘Move it on [...]