i had to write a paper for a class. there were so many things i could have done it about but for some reason i did it on Hank Williams. here are the results of my hard thinking

Hank Williams

Hank Williams was born on September 17 1923 in Mount Olive Alabama.  Despite what people think about him he had a very eventful life, very popular back in his day, and the father of country music.  He had 33 number one hits which is more than anyone else ever has, and he managed that in just six years.  If he did that in six years, I would love to know what he could’ve done if he hadn’t takin drugs.

As previously stated Hank was born on September 17 1923 in Mount Olive Alabama as Hiram King Williams.  He was born with a mild undiagnosed case of spina bifida occulta, a disorder of the spinal column which caused him pain and later led to drug and alcohol abuse.  In 1934 their family moved to Georgiana Alabama where Hank got his first guitar and started taking lessons from “Tee Tot” Payne. Later on Williams recorded one of the songs Payne taught him “My Buckets Got a Hole In It.” 

In 1937 he changed his name informally from Hiram to Hank, a name he thought would be better for his desired career in the music field.  When several of his band members got conscripted into the military during World War II, Hank had problems with their replacements and started drinking heavily causing WSFA to fire him.  He signed a contract with MGM Records in 1947 and recorded his first of 33 number one hits, “Move It On Over”.  In 1949 his son Randall Hank Williams, AKA Hank Williams Jr., AKA Bocephus was born.  In 1950 he started recording as Luke the Drifter for his religious based recordings.  He used this alias to avoid hurting the marketability of his name, but often played these songs on stage.  In 1951 a fall during a hunting trip caused his old back pains to reactivate causing him to consume painkillers, morphine and more alcohol.

In 1952 he met Horace Marshall who claimed to be a doctor although he had already been convicted of forgery. Among other fake titles he claimed to be a Doctor of Science. He purchased the DSC title for $35 from the Chicago School of Applied Science, in the diploma, he requested that the DSC was spelled out as "Doctor of Science and Psychology".  Under the name Dr. C.W. Lemon he prescribed hank with amphetamines, seconal, chloral hydrate, and morphine.

On December 31 1952 he was scheduled to perform in Charleston West Virginia. Due to an ice storm he was unable to fly and hired a college student, Charles Carr to drive him to the concerts. They arrived at the Andrew Johnson Hotel in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Carr requested a doctor for Williams, as he was feeling the combination of the chloral hydrate and alcohol he had drunk on the way from Montgomery to Knoxville. Dr. P.H. Cardwell injected Williams with two shots of vitamin B12 that also contained a quarter-grain of morphine. Carr and Williams checked out of the hotel, the porters had to carry Williams to the car, as he was coughing and hiccupping.At around midnight on January 1, 1953, when they crossed the Tennessee state line and arrived in Bristol, Virginia, Carr stopped at a small all-night restaurant and asked Williams if he wanted to eat. Williams said he did not, and those are believed to be his last words. Carr later drove on until he stopped for fuel at a gas station in Oak Hill, West Virginia, where he realized that Williams was dead. The filling station's owner called the chief of the local police. In Williams' Cadillac the police found some empty beer cans and unfinished handwritten lyrics.

Because of his alcoholism and drug use people would say Hank was just some nobody.  I thiink those people are about ignorant because these people listen to music done by people who who use just as much if not more than Hank did. All I got to say is this, and this is direct quote from his son “ If you don’t like Hank Williams you can kiss my ass.”

That is very well written. You had my full attention from start to finish. You should write more.

Cides that, I am a big fan of Hank Williams.

Great article

Wing master

mule_tail wrote: thanks for the comments guys. i wouldve like to include more on his earlier life but i wouldve needed about 4 pages and had to condense it into five paragraphs. i actually had six but my instructor also loved it she also likes hank williams and never knew any of this about him

Feel free to go ahead and write those other 6 pages. From the responses you got, I would bet I am not the only one that would enjoy reading it.

Wing master