I'm 72, and this was my father's all-time favorite singer/songwriter. Hank was always on the "hi-fi" in our 1950's house.

This was recorded in 1949, on radio: the Health & Happiness Shows. This was recorded early on just after Hank & and the Drifting Cowboys found real commercial success. There's a whole album released in 1996, raw sound from the original Acetate vinyl disc. There's even a remastered version from 2023 that cleaned up the old recordings. Any true Hank Williams fan needs to hear these radio shows. There are 2 other shows I'd highly suggest: The Garden Spot Programs, and most of all, The Mothers Best Flour Show, mothers' best was remastered in 2019 in an album titled: Pictures from Lifes Other Side. A must listen indeed. Wonderful reaction, Harri!

Enjoying your reaction to this wonderful song that is pure 100% Hank. It is intertwined. Done so amazingly.

Hank and Patsy were the king and queen of country blues and HUGE influences in various genre.

He is music. People will talk about Jimie Rodgers, but Hank was the first superstar and changed everything about music.

Hard to explain how influential Hank Williams was to both Country but mainstream Pop music The year he died , 3 songs he had written became #1 pop records His Cold Cold Heart sung by Tony Bennett was on some charts to #1 song for the year. Song writers studied his music for years and many many songs are derived from his writing.His image of the hard living rebel/ outlaw C&W singer has become a stereotype but was the most outrageous image that a country artist could have in his time Lastly, it is remarkable how many standards and uniquely great songs he produced in a short period of time. Thank you for playing another Hank Williams song, I think you have about another dozen all timers to go and another 20 or more diamonds in your ears to go.

@humpy936

3 ай бұрын

Oh no my friend, there’s many more than that!😊

@williambowman1660

3 ай бұрын

@@humpy936 You are correct. But Hank and great country needs to grow on you. I learned from an experienced chef how to appreciate great fd

@williambowman1660

3 ай бұрын

@@humpy936 recipes, after dinner drinks, and how to enjoy a cigar.

Thank you once again Harri. He was so popular when he died that his son, Hank Williams junior, started his career by pretty much impersonating him and going on the road singing nothing but his songs. I wish I could sing like that. You're right, it is very very hard. You are the best reactor on KZread right now.

So good to see people reacting to Hank Sr!!

Hank Sr. Has been called the Hillbilly Shakespeare by many people. Such a legend. He also recorded some songs under the name Luke the Drifter.

Thanks. I love Hank.

Hank senior has so many great songs one of my favorites is Dear John

Hank Williams legend..was and always will be.

This was a live radio show. They have a whole set of the shows. Love this song.

@Amaberean

2 ай бұрын

No it wasn’t live. It was recorded at a radio station onto “demo discs” do they could be distributed to lots of other stations. The d.j. Would pause the disc to “live” read the radio ad for whatever product thst station was pushing. Hank and the Band were paid a “Flat” set fee got the performances. (All the “audience” clapping was provided by the band itself and whoever they could ‘round up’ working at the station. Janitors, cleaning ladies etc lol) Nobody then ever knew those discs would be, one day, collected and recorded unto an Album titled “The Health and Happiness Shows. Ironic, because Hank never had much of either. Lol

''mothers best'' was the name of his 15 min radio morning show in montgomery alabama. hank and george jones are by far my two favorite singers , although there are many many more. i'm 79 years of age and have heard every body that is somebody in country music sing. thanks for reading this harribest i like your honest reactions. yes hank is the all time king of the hillbillies and george jones is right next to him. have a great day harribest.

Hank Williams was listen to and imitated by all of the fledgling "Rock N Roll" stars of the 1950s & 60s. One of the biggest stars was Ray Charles who grew up listening to Hank. In 1962 Ray's double album 'Sounds of Modern Country & Western Music' most were Hanks songs, it was the 1st Album that I bought and without a doubt the BEST you'll ever hear! Try; 'You Win Again', 'Cold Cold Heart', 'You Don't Know Me', etc :) Tony Bennett's 1st Big Hit in 1951 was a Hank Williams song 'Cold Cold Heart'. Hanks music was everywhere in the 1950s & 60s :).

I vote for "You Win Again"

The Health & Happiness Shows were recorded live on the radio to promote a controversial cure-all product called Havacol. The recordings are prized because Hank seemed sober and in top form, the recording equipment was excellent, and he played some songs he never otherwise recorded. You can tell how professional he and the band were because, as you pointed out, it sounds like a perfect studio recording. He was the best.

@humpy936

3 ай бұрын

Yep, always a gospel song or two also, some of which he wrote.❤

Classic

Glad you enjoy it man :) Hank is a legend!

Hank is truly one of the greatest American singers, but also one of the greatest songwriters!!! (He didn't write this song, btw; but he wrote many, many songs which he sang.)

Actually "Lovesick Blues" is an old pop song from the 20s. Not sure where Hank picked it up, but KZread has a recording from the 20s by a black singer and guitarist that's nearly identical to Hank's version. By the way, the Drifting Cowboys hated the song because of the unusual chord structure (unusual for most country songs, but not difficult for guys who do pop tunes). In reality yodeling while singing is not hard at all--if you begin practicing when your voice changes during adolescence. It used to be quite common. At 84, I continue to mix in yodeling songs whenever I perform.

Love it!, More Hank!❤😊 How about the song “my buckets got a hole in it”?

Your reactions to old country music is the best thanks

Hank senior is the man! I'm glad you 're doing a livelier song. I had to skip some of the others. They are classic mega-hits but too slow for me. Recommended from Hank - Hey Good Lookin', Jambalaya (On the Bayou), Honky Tonkin', Mind Your Own Business, Why Don't You Love Me, and the great masterpiece Kaw-Liga.

I was raised listening to this type music My Family was predominantly into Bluegrass Country & Gospel Music... And hank Williams senior is my favorite Singer In this genre and it's actually called country and western music then And there is a distinct difference between Country and western And the country music up today God bless you mister harri, I enjoy your reactions

Usual great review, Harri. I’ve heard people didn’t want him to record this song, but he was adamant he would. It was a song that had been around for years, mostly recorded by Black performers, which I think was why the powers that be didn’t want him to record it. That info could be wrong but I THINK that’s what I heard

So yeah this was during the old live radio days and it was on the grand old opre most likely out of Nashville. They also did live advertisements right after the songs. Using voice recognition sorry for any misspellings or grammar mistakes

I saw Hank Jr in 1966 with my folks, it had Miss Audrey, his mom a lot of 50's stars as well as a new up comer named Waylon Jennings . My mom gave me the camera and took photos. All Hank sang was daddies songs, the big finally was I Saw The Light.

I think he also recorded some songs using the name Luke the Drifter.

@humpy936

3 ай бұрын

Yep, sure did, and pretty good ones, my favorite is “men with broken hearts”.

@patswanson2870

3 ай бұрын

Have haven’t seen any reactions to Luke the Drifter.

Yes, it was a live radio show.

Harri, you were trying to think of the song you reacted to about three months ago. It was "Moanin' the Blues". I'm glad you reacted to "Lovesick Blues", a phenomenal song. The first time I ever heard that song in the early 1970s, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!

Jimmy Rodgers from the 1920s was called the Blue Yodler. He started the yodeling in country music. I doubt you a find any of his recordings today. After him everyone had to yodel whole singing.

@sharonsnail2954

3 ай бұрын

There's lots of Jimmie's recordings on YT. YT is a great source for really old music 🙂

Watch the movie Last Picture Show. Just beautiful. Leverages Hank songs throughout the movie so well.

Little Richard has a wonderful cover of this song! I think you should listen

@krisswegemer1163

3 ай бұрын

Love Little Richard!

Check out some of his other songs. He wrote his own songs, and there were MANY!

Great choice Uncle Phil. I love Hank Williams and this old classic song. My favorite female artist, Linda Ronstadt, did a great cover of this song but there’s nothing quite like the original. Thanks Harri and Uncle Phil 🌺✌️

If you want to hear some good yodeling, you should listen to Elton Britt's "Chime Bells" from the 1940's. Very good song.

Long Gone Lonesome Blues please. Hank Sr. yodel styles

Phil - Yet another great submission that I wish I had heard way before now. Hank Williams was a true pioneer and talented performer. Great one, Phial and great review, Harri.

Hank was a white hillbilly who liked to sing the blues, Chuck Berry was a black guy who often put a country backbeat to his songs. Between them they created a music catalogue that produced countless covers in the rock era & practically defined the genre.

This song could be used in a music class to show how closely connected & similar were the blues and country/hillbilly music.

His Steel Guitarist was Don Helms. Don has been considered to be one the finest Steel players ever if not the best.

Thanks Harri enjoyed this very much great reaction

You should listen to some Jimmie Rodgers. More yodeling there and just as much country music history.

@eternallife9786

3 ай бұрын

Or even some of the tragedy songs of Vernon dalhart

❤❤❤❤❤

I was told that my maternal great grandfather sat and cried like a baby when he heard this man died, apparently Hank reminded him of my grandfather(his son). I never knew either one.

In the movie about Hank there was a black man who taught Hank how to play guitar. Black folks inspired many people including me ❤❤

@Dismembering_Man

3 ай бұрын

pretty sure it was chuck berry

@chadjustice8560

3 ай бұрын

​@@Dismembering_Manin the movie? Or in real life? Hank was taught by Rufus Payne or also know as tee tot

🤠🔥🤠

The Real king of country hillbilly music❤

Speaking of yodeling... You should check out some more of Colter Wall's music. His later stuff is more old school than the brewery sessions. His cover of Hanks "cowpoke" is predictably yodely.

Harri, you should listen to ROCKY TOP by The OSBOURNE BROTHERS. It's an American classic!

The Blue Yodeler.

@chadjustice8560

3 ай бұрын

That was Jimmie Rogers

This recording is taken from a radio show called, as noted on the cover, "The Health and Happiness Show." It was sponsored by a patent medicine called Hadacol and featured a performer doing a set that lasted about 15 minutes. Hadacol also sponsored a roadshow called the Hadacol Caravan, which featured, in addition to Hank Williams, such entertainers as Bob Hope and Milton Berle. If you like yodeling, you might want to hear Charley Pride's version of Lovesick Blues. He does the voice breaks that you noted in Hank's performance, but also begins the song with a long yodel. There is a good version from an early live album he recorded at Panther Hall in Texas - kzread.info/dash/bejne/iGurrdWFdcrfY6g.html

check out his grandson Sam's version of Ramblin Man

The catch in Hank’s voice is not really a yodel. It is more like a riff.

In the 1960’s, the genre was called country and western, as two genres were merged into on category. If you are interested in the giants of early subgenres, try Bob Wills, one of the originators of Texas Swing, western music merged with big band and crooners kzread.info/dash/bejne/oZ-Cya6mZKzSpJc.html, or the man who invented bluegass, Bill Monroe kzread.info/dash/bejne/f5mOsqOKgs-dhKQ.html. With the song Uncle Pen, covered by Leon Russell and Hank Williams Jr.

All you need to know about male country music singers you can learn from Hank 50/60's , George Jones 60/70's and Merle Haggard 70/80's . There haven't been any real country singers since .

@donnawitman3224

3 ай бұрын

Waylon also

@marxlover100

3 ай бұрын

I love Lefty Frizzell from Hank's days in the early 1950s. He had a monster run in the 1950s, as did the King of Nasal Twang, Webb Pierce. Lefty once had four songs at one time in the top ten of the country charts.

There's a biography of Hank that relates how MGM hired Fred Rose, a performer and songwriter (he wrote hundreds of songs--there's a website listing them, most are standards--to polish Hank's lyrics to marketing standards. Hank created the theme of the songs, but Rose converted and perfected them. You have to realize Hank Williams had little formal education, a fact that embarrassed him. The guy was quite intelligent, but at the same time practically illiterate.

No telling what other songs he could have written. I didn’t know until later that he was born with spina bifida. A serious birth defect.