Editing Hank Williams (section)

==Career==
===1930s===
[[File:HankWilliams1938-Cropped.jpg|thumb|upright|Williams performing in Montgomery in 1938]]

In July 1937, the Williams and McNeils opened a [[boarding house]] on South Perry Street in downtown Montgomery. It was at this time that Williams decided to change his name informally from Hiram to Hank.{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|pp=19-21}} During the same year, he participated in a talent show at the Empire Theater and won the first prize of US$15 ({{Inflation|US|15|1937|fmt=eq|r=-2|cursign=$}}) singing his first original song "WPA Blues". Williams wrote the lyrics and used the tune of [[Riley Puckett]]'s "Dissatisfied".{{sfn|Koon, George William|2001|p=16}}

He never learned to read music; instead he based his compositions in storytelling and personal experience.{{sfn|Rankin, Allen|1951|p=3C}}
After school and on weekends, Williams sang and played his [[Silvertone (instruments)|Silvertone]] guitar on the sidewalk in front of the [[WLWI (AM)|WSFA]] radio studio.{{sfn|Koon, George William|2001|p=28}} His recent win at the Empire Theater and the street performances caught the attention of WSFA producers who occasionally invited him to perform on air with Dad Crysel's band.{{sfn|Koon, George William|2001|pp=16-17}}

In August 1938, Elonzo Williams was temporarily released from the hospital. He showed up unannounced at the family's home in Montgomery. Lillie was unwilling to let him reclaim his position as the head of the household. Elonzo stayed to celebrate his son's birthday in September before he returned to the medical center in Louisiana.{{sfn|Hemphill, Paul|2005|p=30}}

Williams's successful radio appearances fueled his entry into a music career, and he started his own band for show dates, the [[Drifting Cowboys]]. The original members were guitarist Braxton Schuffert, fiddler Freddie Beach, and upright bass player and comedian Smith "Hezzy" Adair.{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|pp=20-21}} Originally billed as "Hank and Hezzy and the Drifting Cowboys", they frequently appeared as fill-ins at the local dancehall, Thigpen's Log Cabin, just out of Georgiana.{{sfn|Williams, Roger M.|1981|p=37}} The band traveled throughout central and southern Alabama performing in clubs and at private gatherings. Lillie Williams became the Drifting Cowboys' manager. Williams dropped out of school in October 1939 so that he and the Drifting Cowboys could work full-time. Lillie Williams began booking show dates, negotiating prices and driving them to some of their shows.{{sfn|Koon, George William|2001|pp=16-18}} Now free to travel without deference to Williams's schooling, the band could tour as far away as western Georgia and the [[Florida Panhandle]].{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|p=24}} The band started playing in theaters before [[film screening|the screening of films]] and later they played in [[honky-tonk]]s. Williams's alcohol use started to become a problem during the tours; on occasion he spent a large part of the show revenues on alcohol. Meanwhile, between tour schedules, Williams returned to Montgomery to host his radio show.{{sfn|Hemphill, Paul|2005|pp=34-37}}

===1940s===
[[File:Hank Williams Drifting Cowboys Cropped.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Williams, Sheppard, and the Drifting Cowboys band in 1951]]
The American entry into [[World War II]] in 1941 marked the beginning of hard times for Williams. While he was [[Selective Training and Service Act|medically disqualified from military service]] after falling from a bull during a [[rodeo]] in Texas and suffering a back injury, his band members were all [[Selective Training and Service Act|drafted]] to serve. Many of their replacements quit the band due to Williams's worsening alcoholism, and in August 1942 WSFA fired him for "habitual drunkenness". Backstage during one of his concerts, Williams met [[Roy Acuff]], who warned him of the dangers of alcohol, saying, "You've got a million-dollar voice, son, but a ten-cent brain."{{sfn|Hemphill, Paul|2005|pp=39-40}}

He started a job as a shipfitter's helper for the [[Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company]] at [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]] in 1942,{{sfn|Lipsitz|1994|p=26}} working there off and on for about a year and a half during the war. He also worked briefly at [[Kaiser Shipyards]] in Portland, Oregon, apparently lured by the free tickets, free accommodations, free training, and good wages offered by the company.{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|p=33}} In 1943, Williams met [[Audrey Williams|Audrey Sheppard]] at a [[medicine show]] in [[Banks, Alabama]]. According to Sheppard, she and Williams lived in a hotel in Mobile while they worked together at the shipyard for a short while.{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|pp=34-35, 38-39}} Sheppard told Williams that she wanted to help him regain his radio show, and that they should move to Montgomery and start a band. The couple were married in 1944 at a [[Texaco]] gas station in [[Andalusia, Alabama]], by a justice of the peace. The marriage was technically invalid, since Sheppard's divorce from her previous husband did not comply with the legally required 60-day reconciliation period.{{sfn|Koon, George William|2001|pp=23-24}}

In 1945, back in Montgomery, Williams returned to WSFA radio. He attempted to expand his repertoire by writing original songs,{{sfn|Williams, Roger M.|1981|p=42}} and he published his first songbook, ''Original Songs of Hank Williams'', containing "I'm Not Coming Home Anymore" and several more original songs,{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|pp=41-42}} nine in all, including one not written by him, "A Tramp on the Street".{{sfn|Williams, Hank|1945}} With Williams beginning to be recognized as a songwriter, Sheppard became his manager and occasionally sang and substituted on guitar when a band member did not make the show.{{sfn|Williams, Roger M.|1981|pp=56-57}}

On September 14, 1946, Williams auditioned for Nashville's [[Grand Ole Opry]] at the recommendation of [[Ernest Tubb]], but was rejected. After the failure of his audition, Williams and Audrey attempted to interest the recently formed music publishing firm [[Acuff-Rose Music]]. They approached [[Fred Rose (songwriter)|Fred Rose]], the president of the company, during one of his daily ping-pong games at WSM radio studios. Audrey asked Rose if her husband could sing a song for him at that moment, Rose agreed, and perceived that Williams had much promise as a songwriter.{{sfn|Williams, Roger M.|1981|pp=58-60}} Rose signed Williams to a six-song contract, and leveraged this deal to sign Williams with [[Sterling Records (US)|Sterling Records]]. On December 11, 1946, in his first recording session, Williams recorded "Wealth Won't Save Your Soul", "Calling You", "[[Never Again (Will I Knock on Your Door)]]", and "When God Comes and Gathers His Jewels", which was misprinted as "When God Comes and ''Fathers'' His Jewels".{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|pp=59-60}} The Sterling releases of Williams's songs became successful, and Rose decided to find a larger label for future releases. The producer then approached the newly formed recording division of the [[Loews Corporation]], [[MGM Records]].{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|pp=64-65}}
{{Listen |filename=Lovesick Blues Hank Williams.ogg |title=Lovesick Blues |description=A major hit for Hank Williams, "[[Lovesick Blues]]" moved him to the mainstream of country music and assured him a position in the [[Grand Ole Opry]].}}

Williams signed with MGM Records in 1947 and released "[[Move It On Over (song)|Move It on Over]]", which became a country hit.{{sfn|Williams, Roger M.|1981|pp=66-67}} In 1948, he moved to [[Shreveport, Louisiana]], and joined the ''[[Louisiana Hayride]]'', a radio show broadcast on [[KWKH]] that brought him into living rooms all over the Southeastern United States, appearing in weekend shows. As part of the arrangement, Williams got a program on the station and bookings through the ''Hayride''{{'s}} artist service to perform across western Louisiana and eastern Texas, always returning on Saturdays for the show's weekly broadcast.{{sfn|Williams, Roger M.|1981|pp=69-71}} After a few more moderate hits, in 1949 he released his version of the 1922 [[Cliff Friend]] and [[Irving Mills]] song "[[Lovesick Blues]]", made popular by [[Rex Griffin]].{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|pp=98-99}} Williams's version was a hit; the song stayed at number one on the ''Billboard'' charts for four consecutive months.{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|pp=100}} Following the success of the releases of "Lovesick Blues" and "[[Wedding Bells (Hank Williams song)|Wedding Bells]]", Williams signed a management contract with Oscar Davis. Davis then booked the singer on a ''Grand Ole Opry'' package show, and he later negotiated Williams's induction into the musical troupe.{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|pp=109, 113, 116}}

On June 11, 1949, Williams made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry, where he received six [[encore]]s.{{sfn|Koon, George William|2001|pp=41-42}} He brought together Bob McNett (guitar), [[Hillous Butrum]] ([[Double bass|bass]]), [[Jerry Rivers]] ([[fiddle]]) and [[Don Helms]] ([[steel guitar]]) to form the most famous version of the Drifting Cowboys.{{sfn|Koon, George William|2001|pp=46-50}} That year Audrey Williams gave birth to Randall Hank Williams ([[Hank Williams Jr.]]).{{sfn|Koon, George William|2001|p=43}} During 1949, he joined the Grand Ole Opry's first European tour, performing in military bases in Germany and Austria.{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|p=131}} Williams had five songs that ranked in the top five ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles that year including: "Wedding Bells", "[[Mind Your Own Business]]", "[[You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave)]]", "[[My Bucket's Got a Hole in It]]", and "Lovesick Blues", which reached No. 1.{{sfn|Young, William H.|Young, Nancy K.|2010|p=235}}

===1950s===
By 1950, Williams earned an estimated $1,000 per show ({{Inflation|US|1000|1950|fmt=eq|r=-2|cursign=$}}).{{sfn|Koon, George William|2001|p=50}} That year, he began recording as "Luke the Drifter" for his moral-themed songs, many of which are recitations rather than singing. Fred Rose had been concerned how it would affect the jukebox operators who serviced the machines at the honky-tonks where William's songs were most commonly played if a customer punched a "Hank Williams" selection on a jukebox and heard a sermon rather than the music expected. It was he who requested that Hank use a pseudonym for these recitations to avoid leading people astray.{{sfn|Hemphill, Paul|2005|pp=117-118}} Although the real identity of Luke the Drifter was supposed to be unknown, Williams often performed part of the recorded material on stage. Most of the material was written by Williams himself, although Fred Rose wrote at least one piece, and others, according to his son [[Wesley Rose|Wesley]], were collaborations between Williams, Rose, and himself.{{sfn|Williams, Roger M.|1981|p=129}} The songs depicted Luke the Drifter traveling around from place to place, narrating stories of different characters{{sfn|Hurd, Mary G.|2015|p=12}} and philosophizing about relationships gone awry, injustice in society, and death.{{sfn|Wilmeth|2014|p=250}} Performances of the compositions included only Williams's voice, an organ, a [[Double bass|bass fiddle]], and Helms' steel guitar.{{sfn|Hemphill, Paul|2005|pp=118}}

Around this time Williams released more hit songs, such as "[[My Son Calls Another Man Daddy]]", "[[Why Should We Try Anymore]]", "[[Long Gone Lonesome Blues]]", "[[Why Don't You Love Me (Hank Williams song)|Why Don't You Love Me]]", and "[[I Just Don't Like This Kind of Living|I Just Don't Like This Kind of Livin']]".{{sfn|Billboard staff|1951|p=19}} In 1951, "[[Dear John (Hank Williams song)|Dear John]]" became a hit, but it was the [[A-side and B-side|B-side]], "[[Cold, Cold Heart]]", that became one of his most recognized songs.{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|pp=155-159}} A pop cover version by [[Tony Bennett]] released the same year stayed on the charts for 27 weeks, peaking at number one.{{sfn|Whitburn, Joel|p=26|1991}}

{{Listen |filename=Beyond The Sunset Hank Williams.ogg |title=Beyond the Sunset |description=One characteristic of Williams's recordings as "Luke the Drifter" is the use of narration rather than singing.}}
Williams's career reached a peak in the late summer of 1951 with his [[Hadacol]] tour of the U.S. with [[Bob Hope]] and other actors. On the weekend after the tour ended, Williams was photographed backstage at the Grand Ole Opry signing a motion picture deal with [[MGM]].{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|p=190}} In October, Williams recorded a demo, "[[There's a Tear in My Beer]]" for a friend, "[[Big Bill Lister]]", who had recorded "Beer Drinking Blues", a beer drinking song that sold well, and needed another one. The session was recorded by the head of [[Artists and repertoire|A&R]] for [[Capitol Records]], [[Ken Nelson (American record producer)|Ken Nelson]]. Afterwards Lister stored the demo acetate, with no markings, in a box of records kept at his house, and then when he moved, in his yard under a tarp for several years. He eventually gave the acetate to Hank Williams, Jr., who had a hit with it and an accompanying video which depicted the son playing with his father in an overdubbed dream sequence.{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|p=180–181}} The following month, MGM Records released Williams's debut album, ''[[Hank Williams Sings]]''. On November 14, 1951, Williams drove with Bill Lister and the Drifting Cowboys to New York where he appeared on television for the first time with [[Perry Como]] on CBS's ''[[Perry Como television and radio shows|Perry Como Show]]''.{{sfn|Ribowsky, Mark|2016|p=191}} There he sang "Hey Good Lookin'", and the next week Como opened the show wearing a cowboy hat and singing the same song, with apologies to Williams.{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|pp=191–193}}

On May 21, 1951, Williams was admitted to North Louisiana Sanitarium in Shreveport for treatment of his alcoholism and his back problem, and was released on May 24.{{sfn|Koon, George William|2001|pp=153, 154}} In November of the same year, he fell trying to leap across a gully on a squirrel hunting trip with his fiddler Jerry Rivers in [[Franklin, Tennessee]]. The fall aggravated his congenital spinal condition,{{sfn|Koon, George William|p=63|2001}} and on December 13, 1951, he underwent a [[spinal fusion]] at [[Vanderbilt University Medical Center|Vanderbilt University Hospital]]. He was discharged against medical advice on Christmas Eve wearing a back brace and consuming more painkillers, to the detriment of his already compromised health.{{sfn|Koon, George William|pp=63, 153–154|2001}}

[[File:HankWilliams1951concert.jpg|thumb|Williams performing in 1951|left|upright=0.9]]

In the spring of 1952, Williams flew to New York City twice with his band and a Grand Ole Opry troupe to appear on two episodes of the nationally broadcast ''[[Kate Smith|The Kate Smith Evening Hour]]''.{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|p=209, 211}} On March 26, he performed "[[Hey Good Lookin' (song)|Hey Good Lookin']]" and joined the rest of the cast in singing "[[I Saw the Light (Hank Williams song)|I Saw the Light]]".{{sfn|CMHoF|2023a}} On April 23, he performed "[[Cold, Cold Heart]]" and sang a truncated "[[I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)]]" with [[Anita Carter]], and later joined the cast in singing "Glory Bound Train".{{sfn|CMHoF|2023b}} During the same year, Williams had a brief extramarital affair with dancer Bobbie Jett, resulting in the birth of their daughter, [[Jett Williams]].{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|pp=209, 226-227}}

In June 1952, he recorded "[[Jambalaya (On the Bayou)]]", "[[Window Shopping (song)|Window Shopping]]", "[[Settin' the Woods on Fire]]", and "[[I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive]]". Audrey Williams divorced him that year; the next day he recorded "[[You Win Again (Hank Williams song)|You Win Again]]" and "[[I Won't Be Home No More]]".{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|pp=213-216}} Around this time, he met [[Billie Jean Horton|Billie Jean Jones]], a girlfriend of country singer [[Faron Young]], at the Grand Ole Opry. As a girl, Jones had lived down the street from Williams when he was with the Louisiana Hayride, and now Williams began to visit her frequently in Shreveport, causing him to miss many Grand Ole Opry appearances.{{sfn|Williams, Roger M.|1981|p=201-204}}

On August 11, 1952, Williams was dismissed from the Grand Ole Opry for habitual drunkenness and missing shows. He returned to Shreveport to perform on [[KWKH]] and [[WBAM]] shows and in the ''Louisiana Hayride'', for which he toured again. His performances were acclaimed when he was sober, but despite the efforts of his work associates to get him to shows sober, his abuse of alcohol resulted in occasions when he did not appear or his performances were poor.{{sfn|Williams, Roger M.|1981|pp=197-199}} In October 1952 he married Billie Jean Jones.{{sfn|Koon, George William|2001|p=70}}

During his last recording session on September 23, 1952, Williams recorded "[[Kaw-Liga (song)|Kaw-Liga]]", along with "[[Your Cheatin' Heart]]", "[[Take These Chains from My Heart]]", and "[[I Could Never Be Ashamed of You]]". By the end of 1952, Williams started to have heart problems.{{sfn|Koon, George William|2001|p=67}} He met Horace "Toby" Marshall in [[Oklahoma City]], who said that he was a doctor. Marshall had been previously convicted for forgery, and had been paroled and released from the [[Oklahoma State Penitentiary]] in 1951. Among other fake titles, he said that he was a [[Doctor of Science]]. He purchased the DSC title for $25 from the ''Chicago School of Applied Science''; in the diploma, he requested that the DSc be spelled out as "Doctor of Science and Psychology". Under the name of Dr. C. W. Lemon he prescribed Williams with [[amphetamines]], [[Seconal]], [[chloral hydrate]], and [[morphine]], which made his heart problems worse.{{sfn|Koon, George William|p=74|2001}} The final concert of his 1952 tour was held in Austin, Texas, at the Skyline Club on December 19.{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|pp=255–256}} Williams's last known public performance took place in Montgomery, on December 21, where he sang at a benefit held by the local chapter of the [[American Federation of Musicians]] for a radio announcer who had polio.{{sfn|Koon, George William|p=75, 154|2001}}{{sfn|Williams, Roger M.|1981|p=212}}