Remember Keith won Jett a share of the Hank Williams estate and then won full ownership of the Mother’s Best recordings for Jett Williams and Hank Williams Jr. To win these battles “The Duo” as they call themselves tackled and beat very powerful wealthy and entrenched interests aligned to protect the Hank Williams estate and the ownership of a very valuable property. The famous Mother’s Best acetates had been thrown in the trash by WSM before being rescued and preserved by an employee. In the end I think ownership was claimed by just about everybody involved, the rescuer, the radio station, recording company, publisher and of course Jett and Hank Jr. Adkinson beat them all.

Kieth Adkinson is a shrewd sharp Washington lawyer who from what I understand never gives up and is dogged and determined in pursuing any cause he decides to take on. Before undertaking the Jett Williams’ case in 1982 he had worked on a variety of legal issues,and become a prominent Washing attorney including work for Congressional Committee and the  Reagan campaign. He married Jett Williams in 1986, and now practices law in Nashville.

In the latest issue of the Jett Williams’ newsletter to fans it’s clear that Keith and Jett are really getting serious about the mysteries surrounding the death of Hank Williams on an ill conceived dangerous trip from Montgomery to Canton Ohio on the New Years’ Eve Weekend in 1952-53. According to the article Jett is using her Sirious/XM radio show to report on their findings.

Here’s the link to the newsletter which has a 4 page article called “Was Hank Williams’ Death a Homicide?” Pretty explosive stuff.

Interestingly, I have received a few comments on this blog concerning this issue, one of which comes from the son of a prominent figure mentioned in the Jett Williams’ report, as well as some from Hank Williams’ newsletter author Beecher O’Quinn.

For some reason 29 comments mostly about the death of Hank Williams including the one from Howard Surface came on this rather obscure blog post among the many I have written on the movie ‘The Last Ride’.

I am more interested in Hank Williams’ works, reputation, legacy, and his survival into future generations than details of his biography and death, about which I admit I am not well-informed.

But when this movie news started coming out I did make some comments on Hank’s last days which come about half way down this blog posting. 

Not many people have made the observations I did on that post. My feelings are based on intuition not research I guess, but I am very happy to see Keith Adkinson on this  baffling story of Hank’s tragic, sad last days on earth.

I know one thing for sure, if Keith and Jett spend the time and resources on this as they appear to be doing, I think their integrity would be enough for me to accept their conclusions, whatever they are,  and put the issue to rest, finally.

The Saturday get together starts at 3pm at the Museum. At 11:30 the group will parade to the downtown Hank Williams’ statue for a ceremony.

Then at 10am Sunday morning, the 59th anniversary of Hank Williams’s death, participants will gather at the Oakwood Cemetery gravesite for a wreath laying and memorial service. The group will return to the museum at noon for black eyed peas, a tradition.

The program will be broadcast live on WSM. The program starts at midnight.

January 1, is the 59th anniversary of Hank Williams’s death on New Years Day 1953 near Oak Hill West Virginia.

You can listen live to WSM on the internet.

The WSM home page is here; it includes a button to “listen Live”.

I was noticing after reading this article a CD of Hank Williams’ greatest hits which I also have on vinyl. It was for many years the sort of definitive Hank Williams greatest hits recording. Millions of fans probably got all their Hank from this record. This is the one with the bust of Hank Williams on the front. Amazingly in this 24 greatest hits package the producer from MGM did not include ‘I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive’.

There’s no doubt ‘I’ll Never’ was a much overlooked hank Williams song through the years. It was released in November 1952, so with Hank’s death in just a little over a month, and then the posthumous release of the massive hit ‘Your Cheatin Heart’, I’ll Never’ may have been overlooked a bit.

On the surface the song is a sort of jumble of unrelated nonsense lyrics. It almost seems in the tradition of ‘Mind Your Own Business’ and ‘Move It on Over’ but not even as coordinated and unified as the two earlier masterpieces.

But this one has a rollicking sense of humour as all the familiar silly images are rolled out. But the title brings in a dark side that seems to grow and become more disturbing as the song piles on the list of unrelated crazy images one after another.

In the end I think the contrast between the fun and the looming spectre of death begins to hit home. And Hank seems to sing it with a kind of intense seriousness which was his trademark.

Of course, if Hank Williams had lived another 40 years the poignancy of the lyric would have been lost. In his article Inman also  notes that Fred Rose lived only two years after it was recorded.

No doubt in my mind that Hank fans will enjoy the article which is right here:

Here’s the link to the American Songwriter Magazine article.

Of course, Hank Williams has to be on this record. The company has chosen ‘Move it On Over’. Scores of commentators and critics through the years have identified Hank as a founder of rock and roll, and ‘Move it on Over’ is often mentioned because Bill Haley’s seminal ‘Rock around the Clock’ sounds so much like Hank’s very inventive  witty and funny story about a man who’s locked out of his house by his wife and moves into the dog house for the night.

Readers will remember that I wrote a lengthy and I must say very thorough and quite brilliant article called ‘Hank Williams writes all time greatest rock lyric’. In that essay I argue that ‘Hey Good Lookin’ is a rock lyric and led directly to the later work of Buddy Holly, Faron Young, and  Chuck Berry. In that essay I also talk about ‘Move it on Over’ ‘Honky Tonkin’,  ’Why Don’t You Love Me’ and ‘Mind Your Own Business’.  That essay is here.

Although there are 82 tracks on this album there is only the one from Hank Williams. I would think ‘Hey good Lookin’ should have made it, and if only one Hank recordings could be included I would take ‘Hey Good Lookin’ over ‘Move it on Over’.

Here are some of the artist names from the record just to shake up your memories and curiosity:

Trixie Smith, Charlie Patton, Boswell Sisters, Benny Goodman, Robert Johnson (of course), Ella Fitzgerald, Sister Rosetta Thorpe, Bob  Wills, Big Joe Turner, The Andrew Sisters, T-bone Walker, Arther ‘Guitar Boogie’ Smith, Delmore Brothers, Pee Wee King, Muddy Waters,  Fats Domino, Les Paul and Mary Ford, Big Mama Thornton, Arthur Crudup, and Jackie Brenston (Famous for Rocket 88 considered by many the first rock record)

The last part of Disc 3 contains recordings that are already considered rock and roll by Carl Perkins, Elvis, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. The last track is ‘Heartbreak Hotel’.

The details about the record are on Amazon UK, and it will be available on Amazon US and Canada by the end of November.

Please feel free to used the comments section to submit your own ideas on the first rock and roll record, and which Hank record made the greatest contribution to rock music.

I was excited to get an email from a fellow music blogger who managed to get a long phone interview with Ray Price.

In it, Price talks at length about Hank’s last year. He attributes many of the problems Hank had during that time on the emotional turmoil caused by the separation and divorce from Audrey which Hank did not want.

Readers of this blog will know that I am somewhat obsessed by the spinal fusion surgery Hank underwent in December of 1951.

As I have said before, if that same surgery was performed in 2011 the results could not be predicted, and the outcome could go either way. That’s today. And even today the pain from that surgery would be unbearable and last for many months, and it would be months not weeks before a patient would return to work.  Even the powerful new pain drugs we have today would not totally ease the recovery.

This a long winded way of saying I wish Jason asked about the surgery. But it is till a great interview and well done to get it.

Here’s the link.

Jami Bonnette Caldwell

Greatly anticipated this movie, as I grew up w/ Mom & her family singing Hank’s great standards…. It was wonderful! Poignant, stirring…. made me laugh & made me tear up a bit. Thoroughly enjoyed recognizing a lot of the locations also, living near Benton & Little Rock. Henry Thomas as “Luke” was definitely a hit…. I actually had to remind myself that he wasn’t that sick or fragile – telling everyone to catch it. Thanks for this treasure!

Before the opening in Montgomery, the two stars Henry Thomas and Jesse James posed at the Hank Williams’ grave and memorial.

I  don’t think a final decision has been made on the future of the film. Something will happen in January; either more theatre showings, or TV, or out on DVD.

Here’s the link to the Facebook page.

A note from Paul says the book is 81/2 by 11 with a glossy cover, and chapters organized year by year and pages day by day. Paul says the book will cover:

Everything ever written on Hank and then some. Every known tour date, world tour, all radio and tv appearances, recording sessions and personnel, cars, homes, band members, health problems, personal problems, singles, albums, box sets, chart positions, sales figures.

I’ve been looking forward to a book like this.  Many of Hank’s biographers have given the impression that his life was one of total irresponsibility, debauchery, drunken binges, missed shows, a tragic genius whose accomplishments seemed almost magic or mysterious.

Not true of course.

Hank Williams did have a very serious health problems which would be debilitating even with the modern medicine of this century, and he underwent just about the most serious, dangerous open back surgery you can undergo even today in 2011.

Of course he had very serious problems with alcohol and painkillers.

But how many original songs did he write, how many songs  had he learned, how many recordings did he make, how many radio shows did he broadcast, how many live shows did he give, how many miles did he travel? Just another lazy drunk I guess.

I have written a couple of posts referring to Hank’s back surgery which I hope you will go back and read.

I haven’t seen MacPhail’s book, but I am so hopeful his use of a wide range of sources, and the day by  day format, will tell us more about Hank’s life especially in the short period after 1946.

The book has to be ordered from Paul at:

Paul MacPhail
34 Mt. Herbert Rd.
Stratford, PE
Canada  C1B 2S4

PH: 902-569-3454
E-mail:  p.macphail@hotmail.com

There are copies at the Hank Williams’ museum in Montgomery.

‘The Last Ride’ Hank Williams movie starring Henry Thomas never ceases to amaze. Just when you think it may be biting the dust, it takes on new life. At one point after it opened at the Little Rock Film Festival to mixed reviews in the spring, it looked like it might head straight to DVD for rental and store sales.

Of course films are sold online these days which changes things a lot, but normally new movies get three possible venues: Full theatrical release with lots of publicity and big publication reviews, release through TV, and direct to DVD which is the end of the line.

After playing a series of film festivals over the past few month the film makers from Arkansas have wisely sent their Hank film out on a limited run across 7 southern locations including Montgomery and Shreveport.

Along the way, the movie is picking up some good positive comments and is getting a big push from Jett Williams.

Now I notice the film has released a really impressive new website. Here it is.

This blog was churning out publicity about the movie right from start and you may recall we had a lot of input from the people of Arkansas as it was being filmed. This blog is still probably the best source and historical record of ‘The Last Ride’ info anywhere in the media.

Here’s a quick link to all the A Hank Williams Journal’s efforts on Hank Williams movies.

The first post on the subject was in February 2009.