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A coalition is a pact or treaty among individuals or groups, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest, joining forces together for a common cause. This alliance may be temporary or a matter of convenience. A coalition thus differs from a more formal covenant. Possibly described as a joining of 'factions', usually those with overlapping interests rather than opposing.

Politics and government[link]

A coalition government, in a parliamentary system, is a government composed of a coalition of parties. In Australia, the Coalition is also used to refer to an alliance (coalition agreement) of three parties (the Liberals, Nationals and Country Liberals) existing in federal politics since 1922—this constitutes a parliamentary coalition. A coalition of parties is also an electoral fusion. The Cambridge Dictionary defines coalition as: the union of different political parties or groups for a particular purpose, usually for a limited time.

In international relations, a coalition can be an ad hoc grouping of nations united for a specific purpose. Sometimes, such groups are diverse and are characterized by some degree of commonalities. Sometimes, the degree of uncommonalities would lead some to perceive the group's bond as being ordinarily unlikely; here it can indicate the fact the historical ties may no longer be in operation, and the coalition members, instead, are joined by a new intention, not necessarily prior bonds.

A coalition might also refer to a group of citizens uniting behind a common goal. Many of these are grassroots organizations, like the Christian Coalition.

It can also be a collaborative, means-oriented arrangement, especially a temporary one, that allows distinct people or organizational entities to pool resources and combine efforts in order to effect change. The combination of such persons or entities into one body, as a union, variously organized and structured, but generally less formal than a covenant. Although persons and groups form coalitions for many and varied reasons, the most common purpose is to combat a common threat or to take advantage of a certain opportunity; hence, the often-temporary nature of coalitions. The common threat or existence of opportunity is what gives rise to the coalition and allows it to exist. Such collaborative processes can gain political influence and potentially initiate social movements. According to Sidney Tarrow, four elements are necessary to maintain a coalition:

1. Members must frame the issue that brings them together with a common interest.
2. Members’ trust in each other and believe that their peers have a credible commitment to the common issue(s) and/or goal(s).
3. The coalition must have a mechanism(s) to manage differences in language, orientation, tactics, culture, ideology, etc. between and among the collective's members (especially in transnational coalitions).
4. The shared incentive to participate and, consequently, benefit.

Coalitions manifest in a variety of forms, types and terms of duration:

• Campaign coalitions with high intensity and long-term cooperation
• Federations, characterized by relatively lower degree of involvement, intensity and participation, involving cooperation of long duration, but with members’ primary commitment remaining with their own entities
• Instrumental coalitions, involving low-intensity involvement without a foundation to mediate conflict
• Event-based coalitions that have a high level of involvement and the potential for future collaboration.

A coalition government is currently in place in the UK, with the Conservative Party under David Cameron (current prime minister) joining forces with the Liberal Democrats under Nick Clegg. The conservatives managed to gain 306 seats in the 2010 General Election, thus not giving them an overall majority. The Liberal Democrats gained 57 seats. These two parties formed a coalition allowing the coalition to have a majority. The deal for coalition included places in the cabinet for senior Liberal Democrat officials and a referendum on the alternative vote electoral system.

Economics[link]

A coalition in economics refers to a group of companies that create a mutual trust between each other in order for increased profit. For example, Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins create a coalition by having shared stores and thus shared revenue.

Political science[link]

Within political science, coalition theory is using game theory to analyze formation, workings and break-up of coalitions. Coalitions also describe alliances between civil society organizations, such as labor unions, community organizations and religious institutions. Sometimes called labor-community coalitions, coalitions have proven to be an important strategy for social change in many contexts. Yet their power is variable, dependent on the context in which they are organizing and the strategies used by the organizers, as documented in the book Power in Coalition.[1]

Activism[link]

Civil society, activist and nonprofit groups often call themselves "coalitions," but in some instances the organization consists of only one person. The often-cited Save the Plastic Bag Coalition, for example, lists only one person, Stephen Joseph, on the contact page of its website.

Military[link]

A coalition is a collection of countries involved in a military operation who are unified under a single command. An example is the Coalition assembled by George H.W. Bush during the Persian Gulf War, as well as the "Coalition of the Willing", a phrase employed during the 2003 campaign for the war in Iraq led by the United States and its allies.^[1] A contemporary example is the United Nations coalition presently intervening in the 2011 Libyan civil war against Muammar Gaddafi.

Mathematics[link]

Coalitions can be studied as games. The Nash equilibrium defines conditions where rational players can benefit other players in the coalition.

Computer science[link]

In the computer field, and in the study of cognition, the entities can be called agents or daemons. By definition, agents can form coalitions.

Fiction[link]

• The Coalition, a group in the Star Fleet Universe, the General War era.
• The Trader Emergency Coalition, a playable race in Sins of a Solar Empire.
• In the game Freelancer, there had been a war with two groups; the Alliance, and the Coalition.
• In The Gears of War game series the protagonists go under the name of COGs which stands for "Coalition of Ordered Governments"
• The role-playing game Rifts features a Coalition of their own composed of human supremacists.

See also[link]

• Axelrod's book, The Evolution of Cooperation
• United front
• Coalition (Australia)
• Coalition government
• Collaborative leadership
• Barisan Nasional, Malaysian ruling party coalition
• Pakatan Rakyat, Malaysian opposition coalition
• List of political parties in Israel
• Multi-party system

References[link]

• Power in Coalition

External links[link]

Look up coalition in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Mapleleaf Web - Coalition Governments in Canada

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Hank Williams, Jr.
Hank Williams, Jr. performing during a 2006 concert.
Background information
Birth name	Randall Hank Williams
Born	(1949-05-26) May 26, 1949 (age 63) Shreveport, Louisiana, US
Genres	Country, outlaw country, southern rock, country rock
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, upright bass, steel guitar, banjo, keyboards, harmonica, fiddle, saxophone, dobro, drums, piano[1]
Years active	1957–present
Labels	MCA, Warner Bros., Curb
Website	www.hankjr.com

Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), better known as Hank Williams, Jr. and Bocephus, is an American country singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of Southern rock, blues, and traditional country. He is the son of country music pioneer Hank Williams and the father of Hank Williams III, Holly Williams, Hilary Williams, Samuel Williams, and Katie Williams.

Williams began his career by following in his famed father's footsteps; singing his father's songs and imitating his father's style. Williams's own style slowly evolved as he struggled to find his own voice and place within the country music industry. This trend was interrupted by a near fatal fall off the side of Ajax Mountain in Montana on August 8, 1975. After an extended recovery he challenged the country music establishment with a blend of country, rock, and blues. Williams enjoyed much success in the 1980s from which he earned considerable recognition and popularity both inside and outside the country music industry.

As a multi-instrumentalist, Williams's repertoire of skills include guitar, bass guitar, upright bass, steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, piano, keyboards, harmonica, fiddle, and drums.^[1]

From 1989 until October 2011,^[2] a version of his song "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" was used as the opening for broadcasts of Monday Night Football.^[3]

Biography[link]

Early life and career[link]

Williams was born on May 26, 1949, in Shreveport, Louisiana. His father nicknamed him Bocephus (after Grand Ole Opry comedian Rod Brasfield's ventriloquist dummy). After his father's untimely death in 1953, he was raised by his mother, Audrey Williams. While he was a child, a vast number of contemporary musicians visited his family, who influenced and taught him various music instruments and styles. Among these figures of influence were Johnny Cash, Fats Domino, Earl Scruggs, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Williams first stepped on the stage and sang his father's songs when he was eight years old. In 1964 he made his recording debut with "Long Gone Lonesome Blues", one of his father's many classic songs.

Williams's early career was guided, and to an extent some observers say outright dominated, by his mother who is widely claimed as having been the driving force that led his late father to musical superstar status during the late 1940s and early 1950s^{[citation needed]}. Audrey, in many ways, promoted young Hank Jr. as a Hank Williams impersonator, even to the extent of having stage clothes designed for him that were identical to his father's, and encouraging vocal styles very similar to those of his father.

A change in appearance and musical direction[link]

Although Williams's recordings earned him numerous country hits throughout the 1960s and early 1970s with his role as a "Hank Williams impersonator", he became disillusioned and severed ties with his mother.

By the mid-1970s, Williams began to pursue a musical direction that would, eventually, make him a superstar. While recording a series of moderately successful songs, Williams began a heavy pattern of both drug and alcohol abuse. Upon moving to Alabama, in an attempt to refocus both his creative energy and his troubled personal life, Williams began playing music with Southern rock musicians, among them Jake Lovendahl, Waylon Jennings, Toy Caldwell, Charlie Daniels, and others. Hank Williams, Jr. and Friends, often considered his watershed album, was the product of these then-groundbreaking collaborations. In 1977, Williams recorded and released One Night Stands, The New South, and worked closely with his old friend Waylon Jennings on the album Once and For All.

On August 8, 1975, Williams was nearly killed in a mountain-climbing accident. While he was climbing Ajax Peak in Montana, the snow beneath Williams collapsed and he fell almost 500 feet onto solid rock. He suffered multiple skull and facial fractures—his face was split vertically from chin to hairline, exposing the frontal lobes of his brain and requiring over two years^[4] of reconstructive surgeries to rebuild his face. To hide the scars and the disfigurement from the accident, Williams grew a beard and began wearing sunglasses and a cowboy hat. The beard, hat, and sunglasses have since become his signature look and he is rarely seen without them.

Acceptance into the country music establishment[link]

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Hank Williams Jr., in concert at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California, on August 4, 2006.

Williams's career began to hit its peak after the Nashville establishment gradually—and somewhat reluctantly—accepted his new sound. His popularity had risen to levels where he could no longer be overlooked for major industry awards. He was prolific throughout the 1980s, sometimes recording and releasing two albums a year. Family Tradition, Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound, Habits Old and New, Rowdy, The Pressure Is On, High Notes, Strong Stuff, Man of Steel, Major Moves, Five-O, Montana Cafe, and many others resulted in a long string of hits. Between 1979 and 1992, Williams released 21 albums that were all, at least, certified gold by the RIAA. Between 1979 and 1990, Williams enjoyed a string of 30 Top Ten singles on the Billboard Country charts, including 8 #1 singles, for a total of 44 Top Ten singles, including a total of 10 #1 singles, during his career. In 1987 and 1988, Williams was named Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association. In 1987, 1988, and 1989, he won the same award from the Academy of Country Music. The pinnacle album of his acceptance and popularity was Born to Boogie. During the 1980s, Williams became a country music superstar known for catchy anthems and hard-edged rock-influenced country. During the late 1970s and into the early to mid 1980s Hank Jr's songs constantly flew into the number one or number two spot. His songs like "Family Tradition", "Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound", "Old Habits", "Ain't Misbehavin'", "Born to Boogie", and "My Name Is Bocephus".^{[clarification needed]} The 1987 hit single Wild Streak was co-written by Houston native Terri Sharp, for which Williams and Sharp both earned gold records.

In 1988 he released a Southern pride song, "If The South Woulda Won". The reference is to a Southern victory in the Civil War. The song featured modern Southern holidays, honoring Elvis Presley, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Patsy Cline. Hank Williams Jr. would run for president of the South. He would place the capital in Montgomery, Alabama. Honoring his father, Hank Williams Sr., with his image on the $100 bill.

His 1989 hit "There's a Tear in My Beer" was a duet with his father created using electronic merging technology. The song itself was written by his father, and had been previously recorded with Hank Williams playing the guitar as the sole instrument. The music video for the song combined television footage that had existed of Hank Williams performing, onto which electronic merging technology impressed the recordings of Hank Jr., which then made it appear as if he were actually playing with his father. The video was both a critical and commercial success. It was named Video of the Year by both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music. Hank Williams Jr. would go on to win a Grammy Award in 1990 for Best Country Vocal Collaboration.

He is well known for his hit "A Country Boy Can Survive" and as the performer of the theme song for Monday Night Football, based on his 1984 hit "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight". In 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994, Williams's opening themes for Monday Night Football earned him four Emmy Awards. In 2001 Hank rewrote his classic hit "A Country Boy Can Survive" after 9/11, renaming it "America Can Survive". In 2004, Williams was featured prominently on CMT Outlaws. In 2006 Williams starred at the Summerfest concert.

He has also made a cameo appearance along with Larry the Cable Guy, Kid Rock, and Charlie Daniels in Gretchen Wilson's music video for the song "All Jacked Up". He and Kid Rock also appeared in Wilson's "Redneck Woman" video. Hank is also in a small part of Kid Rock's video "Only God Knows Why". He is also referenced in numerous songs by modern-day country singers, including Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Gretchen Wilson, Alan Jackson, Justin Moore, Trace Adkins, and Aaron Lewis.

In April 2009, Williams released a new single, "Red, White & Pink-Slip Blues", which charted to number 3 on the country charts. The song was the lead-off single to Williams's album 127 Rose Avenue. The album debuted and peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Also in July 2009, it was announced that 127 Rose Avenue would be his last album for Curb Records.^[5]

Notable events[link]

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Williams donated $125,000 to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in Biloxi, Mississippi, on October 14, 2005.^[6]

Williams visited with Randal McCloy Jr., the only survivor of the Sago Mine accident, on Wednesday, January 11, 2006, in Morgantown, West Virginia. Williams traveled to the hospital after learning that McCloy was a fan of his music. "It just hit me like a ton of bricks because I had a big mountain fall in the 1970s, and they said I wouldn't live," Williams told Pittsburgh TV station KDKA-TV. "It really, really affected me, and I said, 'I've just got to go there and meet the family.'"

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling stating that Williams and half-sister Jett have the sole rights to sell their father's old recordings made for a Nashville radio station in the early 1950s. The court rejected claims made by Polygram Records and Legacy Entertainment in releasing recordings Williams made for the Mother's Best Flour Show, a program that originally aired on WSM-AM. The recordings, which Legacy Entertainment acquired in 1997, include live versions of Williams's hits and his cover version of other songs. Polygram contended that Williams's contract with MGM Records, which Polygram now owns, gave them rights to release the radio recordings.

Williams opened for Super Bowl XL on February 5, 2006 on ABC and was in the stands as a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

On April 10, 2006, CMT honored Williams with the Johnny Cash Visionary Award, presenting it to him at the 2006 CMT Music Awards.

He sold the majority of his compound outside Missoula, Montana, in 2007. He kept a small plot of land and now stays in his guest house when he is in Montana. He also resides in the small town of Paris, Tennessee, and owns a hunting cabin in rural Pike County, Alabama.

In 2008 Williams performed at the first annual BamaJam Music and Arts Festival in Enterprise, Alabama.^[7] On January 18, 2009, he performed in front of a sold-out crowd at Heinz Field before the 2009 AFC championship game.

On November 11, 2008, Williams was honored as a BMI Icon at the 56th annual BMI Country Awards. The artists and songwriters named BMI Icons have had "a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers."^[8]

Politics[link]

Williams has been politically involved with the Republican Party. For the 2000 election, he redid his song "We Are Young Country" to "This is Bush–Cheney Country". On October 15, 2008, at a rally in Virginia Beach for Republican presidential nominee John McCain, he performed "McCain–Palin Tradition", a song in support of McCain and his vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.^[9] He has made many contributions to federal election campaigns, mostly to Republicans, including Michele Bachmann's 2012 presidential campaign.^[10]

In November 2008, Williams explored a run for the 2012 Republican nomination as a U.S. Senator from Tennessee for the seat held by Bob Corker, though his publicist said Williams "has talked about it, but no announcement has been made".^[11]

[edit] 2011 Fox and Friends appearance

On October 3, 2011, in a morning interview with Fox News Channel's Fox and Friends, Williams in reference to a June golf game where President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner had teamed against Vice President Joe Biden and Ohio Governor John Kasich, offered the opinion that match was "one of the biggest political mistakes ever".

Asked about why that golf game disturbed him, Williams said, "Come on. That'd be like Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu ... In the country this shape is in ... I mean, in the shape this country is in?" He also stated that the President and Vice President are "the enemy" and compared them to "the Three Stooges". When anchor Gretchen Carlson later said to him, "You used the name of one of the most hated people in all of the world to describe, I think, the president." Williams replied, "Well, that is true. But I'm telling you like it is." As a result of his statements, ESPN dropped Williams' opening musical number from its Monday Night Football broadcast of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers versus the Indianapolis Colts and replaced it with the national anthem.

Later Williams, stated his analogy was "extreme – but it was to make a point", stating that "Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood ... I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me – how ludicrous that pairing was. They're polar opposites, and it made no sense. They don't see eye-to-eye and never will."

Williams went on to claim he has "always respected the office of the president" despite having called the commander-in-chief "the enemy" and in context continued with, "Every time the media brings up the Tea Party, it's painted as racist and extremists – but there's never a backlash, no outrage to those comparisons ... Working-class people are hurting – and it doesn't seem like anybody cares. When both sides are high-fiving it on the ninth hole when everybody else is without a job – it makes a whole lot of us angry. Something has to change. The policies have to change." ESPN announced later that they were "extremely disappointed" in Williams' comments, and pulled his opening from that night's broadcast.^[12]

Three days later, ESPN released a statement announcing Williams and his song would not return to Monday Night Football, ending the use of the song that had been part of the broadcast on both ABC and ESPN since 1991.^[13] Williams has further expressed defiance and indifference on his website, and said he was the one who made the decision. "After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision," he wrote. "By pulling my opening Oct 3rd, You (ESPN) stepped on the Toes of The First Amendment Freedom of Speech, so therefore Me, My Song, and All My Rowdy Friends are OUT OF HERE. It's been a great run."^[14] Williams' son, Hank Williams III, stayed neutral in the debate, telling TMZ.com that most musicians, including his dad, are "not worthy" of a political discussion.^[15]

After his song was pulled from Monday Night Football broadcasts permanently, Williams recorded a song criticizing President Obama, ESPN and Fox & Friends titled "Keep the Change". He released the track on iTunes and via free download at his website.^[16] The song garnered over 180,000 downloads in two days.^[17]

Discography[link]

Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Hank Williams, Jr. on Myspace
• HANK On Facebook
• Huge Hank Jr. CD Store

Hank Williams
Hank Williams in a 1951 publicity photo for WSM Radio
Background information
Birth name	Hiram King Williams
Also known as	The Lovesick Blues Boy Lovesick Luke the Drifter Hank Williams, Sr. The Hillbilly Shakespeare
Born	(1923-09-17)September 17, 1923 Mount Olive, Butler County, Alabama
Died	January 1, 1953(1953-01-01) (aged 29) Oak Hill, West Virginia
Genres	Country, Western, gospel, blues, honky-tonk, folk
Occupations	Songwriter Musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1937–1953
Labels	Sterling, MGM
Associated acts	Drifting Cowboys
Website	www.hankwilliams.com

Hank Williams (/hæŋk wɪljəmz /; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953), born Hiram King Williams, was an American singer-songwriter and musician regarded as one of the most important country music artists of all time. Williams recorded 35 singles (five released posthumously) that would place in the Top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 11 that ranked number one.

Born in Mount Olive, Butler County, Alabama,^[1] Williams moved to Georgiana, where he met Rufus Payne, a black street performer who gave him guitar lessons in exchange for meals. Payne had a major influence on Williams's later musical style. During this time, Williams informally changed his name to Hank, believing it to be a better name for country music. After moving to Montgomery, Williams began his career in 1937 when WSFA radio station producers hired him to perform and host a 15-minute program. He formed as backup the Drifting Cowboys band, which was managed by his mother, and dropped out of school to devote all of his time to his career.

When several of his band members were conscripted to military service during World War II, Williams had trouble with their replacements and started drinking heavily, causing WSFA to dismiss him. Williams eventually married Audrey Sheppard, who became his manager for nearly a decade. After recording "Never Again" and "Honky Tonkin'" with Sterling Records, he signed a contract with MGM Records. In 1948 he released "Move it on Over," which became a hit, and also joined the Louisiana Hayride radio program. In 1949, he released a cover of "Lovesick Blues," which carried him into the mainstream of music. After an initial rejection, Williams joined the Grand Ole Opry. He had 11 number one songs between 1948 and 1953, though he was unable to read or notate music to any significant degree. Among the hits he wrote were "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Hey, Good Lookin'," and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry."

During his last years Williams's consumption of alcohol, morphine and other painkillers severely compromised his professional and personal life. He divorced his wife and was dismissed by the Grand Ole Opry due to frequent drunkenness. Williams died suddenly in the early morning hours of New Years Day in 1953 at the age of 29. Despite his short life, Williams has had a major influence on country music. The songs he wrote and recorded have been covered by numerous artists, many of whom have also had hits with the tunes, in a range of pop, gospel, blues and rock styles.

Life and career[link]

Early life[link]

Williams's family house in Georgiana, Alabama

Williams's parents, Elonzo Huble "Lon" Williams and Jessie Lillybelle "Lillie" Skipper married on November 12, 1916. Elonzo Williams worked as an engineer for the railroads of the W.T. Smith lumber company. He was drafted during World War I, serving from July 1918 until June 1919.^[2] He was severely injured after falling from a truck, breaking his collarbone and sustaining a severe hit to the head. After his return, the family's first child, Irene, was born on August 8, 1922. Another son of theirs died shortly after birth. Their third child, Hiram, was born on September 17, 1923, in Mount Olive.^[3] Since Elonzo Williams was a Mason, and his wife was a member of Order of the Eastern Star the child was named after Hiram I of Tyre (one of the three founders of the Masons, according to Masonic legend), but his name was misspelled as "Hiriam" on his birth certificate.^[4]

As a child, he was nicknamed "Harm" by his family and "Herky" or "Skeets" by his friends.^[5] He was born with a mild undiagnosed case of spina bifida occulta, a disorder of the spinal column, which gave him lifelong pain—a factor in his later abuse of alcohol and drugs.^[6] Williams's father was frequently relocated by his lumber company railway line employer, and the family lived in many southern Alabama towns. In 1930, when Williams was seven years old, his father began suffering from facial paralysis. At a Veterans Affairs (VA) clinic in Pensacola, Florida, doctors determined that the cause was a brain aneurysm, and Elonzo was sent to the VA Medical Center in Alexandria, Louisiana. He remained hospitalized for eight years, rendering him mostly absent throughout Hiram's childhood.^[7] From that time on, Lillie Williams assumed responsibility for the family.^[8]

In 1933 Williams moved to Fountain, Alabama, to live with his uncle and aunt, Walter and Alice McNeil.^[8] In the fall of 1934 the Williams family moved to Greenville, Alabama, where Lillie opened a boarding house next to the Butler County courthouse.^[9] In 1935 the Williams family settled in Garland, Alabama, where Lillie Williams opened a new boarding house. After a while they moved with his cousin Opal McNeil to Georgiana, Alabama^[10] where Lillie managed to find several side jobs to support her children, despite the bleak economic climate of the Great Depression. She worked in a cannery and served as a night-shift nurse in the local hospital.^[11]

Hiram and Irene also helped out by selling peanuts, shining shoes, delivering newspapers and doing other simple jobs. Their first house burned and the family lost all of their possessions. They moved to a new house on the other side of town on Rose Street, which Williams's mother soon turned into a boarding house. The house had a small garden, on which they grew diverse crops that Williams and his sister Irene sold around Georgiana.^[12] At a chance meeting in Georgiana, Hank Williams met future U.S. Representative J. Lister Hill while he was campaigning across Alabama. Williams told Hill that his mother was interested to talk with him about his problems and her need to collect Elonzo William's disability pension. With Hill's help, the family began collecting the money.^[13] Despite his medical condition, the family managed fairly well financially throughout the Great Depression.^[14]

	My Bucket's Got a Hole in It The popular song "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" became a hit for Hank Williams in 1949.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

There are several versions of how Williams got his first guitar. His mother stated that she bought it with money from selling peanuts, but many other prominent residents of the town claimed to have been the one who purchased the guitar for him. While living in Georgiana, Williams met Rufus "Tee-Tot" Payne, a street performer. Payne gave Williams guitar lessons in exchange for meals prepared by Lillie Williams.^[15] Payne's base musical style was blues. He taught Williams chords, chord progressions, bass turns, and the style of accompaniment that he would use in most of his future songwriting. Later on, Williams recorded one of the songs that Payne taught him, "My Bucket's Got a Hole In It."^[16] Williams final style contained influences from Payne along with several other country influences, among them "the Singing Brakeman" Jimmie Rodgers, Moon Mullican, Johnnie Ray and Roy Acuff.^[17] In 1937 Williams got into a fight with his physical education coach about exercises the coach wanted him to do. His mother subsequently demanded that the school board terminate the coach; when they refused, the family moved to Montgomery, Alabama. Payne and Williams lost touch, though eventually, Payne also moved to Montgomery, where he died in poverty in 1939. Williams later credited him as his only teacher.^[18]

Early career[link]

Hank Williams playing guitar in Montgomery, Alabama in 1938

In July 1937 the Williams and McNeil families 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, a name he said was better suited to his desired career in country music. During the same year, he participated of a talent show at the Empire Theater. He won the first prize of $15, singing his first original song "WPA Blues". Williams wrote the lyrics and used the tune of Sonny Boy Williamson II's "Dissatisfied".^[19] He never learned to read music, and for the rest of his career, he based his compositions in storytelling.^[20] After school and on weekends Williams sang and played his Silvertone guitar on the sidewalk in front of the WSFA radio studios.^[21] 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.^[19][22] So many listeners contacted the radio station asking for more of "the singing kid" that the producers hired him to host his own 15-minute show twice a week for a weekly salary of US$15 (equivalent to US$242.5 in 2012).^[23] 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 at the head of the household, so he stayed only long enough to celebrate Williams' birthday in September before he returned to the medical center in Louisiana.^[21]

Williams's successful radio show fueled his entry into a music career. His salary was enough for him to start his own band, which he dubbed the Drifting Cowboys. The original members were guitarist Braxton Schuffert, fiddler Freddie Beach, and comedian Smith "Hezzy" Adair. James E. (Jimmy) Porter was the youngest, being only 13 when he started playing steel guitar for Williams. Arthor Whiting was also a guitarist for The Drifting Cowboys.^[24] The band traveled throughout central and southern Alabama performing in clubs and at private parties. James Ellis Garner later played fiddle for him. Lillie Williams became the Drifting Cowboys' manager. Williams dropped out of school in October 1939 so that the Drifting Cowboys could work full time.^[6] Lillie Williams began booking show dates, negotiating prices and driving them to some of their shows. Now free to travel without Williams' schooling taking precedence, the band could tour as far away as western Georgia and the Florida Panhandle. The band started to play in theaters before the start of the movies and later in honky-tonks. Williams' alcohol problem started during the tours, on occasion spending an important part of the show revenues. Meanwhile, between tour schedules, Williams returned to Montgomery to host his radio show.^[25]

1940s[link]

The American entry into World War II in 1941 marked the beginning of hard times for Williams. All his band members were drafted to serve in the military, while he got a 4-F deferment from the military draft after falling from a bull during a rodeo in Texas. Many of their replacements refused to continue playing in the band because of Williams' worsening alcoholism.^[26] He continued to show up for his radio show intoxicated, so in August 1942 WSFA fired him for "habitual drunkenness". During one of his concerts Williams met backstage his idol, Grand Ole Opry star Roy Acuff,^[27] who later warned him of the dangers of alcohol, saying: "You've got a million-dollar voice, son, but a ten-cent brain."^[28]

He worked for the rest of the war in a shipbuilding company in Mobile, Alabama, as well as singing in bars for soldiers. In 1943 Williams met Audrey Sheppard on a medicine show in Banks, Alabama. Williams and Sheppard lived and worked together in Mobile,^[29] Sheppard later told Williams that she wanted to move to Montgomery with him and start a band together and help him regain his radio show. The couple were married in 1944 in a Texaco Station in Andalusia, Alabama, by a justice of the peace. The marriage was declared illegal, since Sheppard's divorce from her previous husband did not comply with the legally required sixty day trial reconciliation.^[30][31]

Hank Williams, Audrey Sheppard Williams and the Drifting Cowboys band

In 1945, when he was back in Montgomery, Williams started to perform again for WSFA. He wrote songs weekly to perform during the shows.^[32] As a result of the new variety of his repertoire, Williams published his first song book, Original Songs of Hank Williams.^[27] The book only listed lyrics, since its main purpose was to attract more audience. It included ten songs: "Mother Is Gone", "Won't You Please Come Back", "My Darling Baby Girl" (with Audrey Sheppard), "Grandad's Musket", "I Just Wish I Could Forget", "Let's Turn Back The Years", "Honkey-Tonkey", "I Loved No One But You", "A Tramp On The Street", and "You'll Love Me Again".^[33] Williams became recognized as a songwriter,^[32][34] Sheppard became his manager and occasionally accompanied him on duets in some of his live concerts.

On September 14, 1946, Williams auditioned for the Grand Ole Opry but was rejected. After the failure of his audition, Williams and Audrey Sheppard traveled to Nashville, to intend to interest the recently formed label Acuff-Rose. Williams and his wife approached Fred Rose, the president of the company, during one of his habitual ping-pong games at WSM radio studios. Audrey Williams asked Rose if her husband could sing a song for him on that moment,^[34] Rose agreed, and he liked Williams' style.^[35] Rose signed Williams to a six song contract, and leveraged this deal to sign Williams with Sterling Records. On December 11, 1946, in his first recording session, he recorded "Wealth Won't Save Your Soul", "Calling You", "Never Again", and "When God Comes and Gathers His Jewels."^[27] The recordings "Never Again" and "Honky Tonkin'" became successful, and earned Williams the attention of MGM Records.^[36]

	Lovesick Blues noicon 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.
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Williams signed with MGM Records in 1947 and released "Move It On Over", which became a massive country hit. In 1948 he moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, and he joined Louisiana Hayride, a radio show broadcast that propelled him into living rooms all over the southeast appearing on weekend shows. Williams eventually started to host a show on KWKH and started touring across western Louisiana and eastern Texas, always returning on Saturdays for the weekly broadcast of the Hayride.^[37][38] After a few more moderate hits, in 1949 he released his version of the 1922 Clifford Friend & Irving Mills song "Lovesick Blues", made popular by Rex Griffin. Williams' version became a huge country hit, crossing over to mainstream audiences and gaining Williams a place in the Grand Ole Opry.^[39] On June 11, 1949, Williams made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry, where he became the first performer to receive six encores.^[40] He brought together Bob McNett (guitar), Hillous Butrum (bass), Jerry Rivers (fiddle) and Don Helms (steel guitar) to form the most famous version of the Drifting Cowboys, earning an estimated US$1,000 per show (equivalent to US$9,767.8 in 2012).^[23] That year Audrey Williams gave birth to Randall Hank Williams (Hank Williams, Jr.).^[41] 1949 also saw Williams release seven hit songs after "Lovesick Blues," including "Wedding Bells," "Mind Your Own Business," "You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave)," and "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It."^[42]

1950s[link]

	Beyond the Sunset noicon One characteristic of Williams's recordings as Luke the Drifter is the use of narration rather than singing.
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In 1950, Williams began recording as "Luke the Drifter" for his religious-themed recordings, many of which are recitations rather than singing. Fearful that disc jockeys and jukebox operators would hesitate to accept these unusual recordings, Williams used this alias to avoid hurting the marketability of his name.^[43] Despite that the real identity of Luke the Drifter was supposed to be anonymous, Williams often performed part of the material of the recordings on stage. Most of the material was written by Williams, in cases with the help of Fred Rose and his son Wesley.^[44] The songs depicted Luke the Drifter travelling around from place to place, narrating stories from different characters and philosophizing about life.^[45][46] Some of the compositions were accompanied by a pipe organ.^[43]

Around this time Williams released more hit songs, such as "My Son Calls Another Man Daddy", "They'll Never Take Her Love from Me", "Why Should We Try Any More?", "Nobody's Lonesome for Me", "Long Gone Lonesome Blues", "Why Don't You Love Me?", "Moanin' the Blues", and "I Just Don't Like This Kind of Livin'".^[47] In 1951 "Dear John" became a hit, but it was the flip side, "Cold, Cold Heart", that became one of his most-recognized songs. A pop cover version by Tony Bennett released the same year stayed on the charts for 27 weeks, peaking at number one.^[48]

Hank Williams in concert in 1951

In 1951, a fall suffered during a hunting trip in Tennessee reactivated his old back pains. Subsequently, he started to consume painkillers, including morphine, and alcohol to ease the pain.^[41] His alcoholism worsened in 1952, in June he divorced Audrey Williams,^[49] and on August 11, 1952, Williams was fired from the Grand Ole Opry for habitual drunkenness. He returned to perform in 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.^[50] In October 1952 he married Billie Jean Jones.^[51]

In June 1952 Williams recorded "Kaw-Liga," along with "Your Cheatin' Heart" and "Take These Chains from My Heart" during his last session, on September 23, 1952.^[50] Due to Williams's excesses, Fred Rose stopped working with him. Also, the Drifting Cowboys were at the time backing Ray Price, while Williams was backed by local bands. By the end of 1952, Williams had started to suffer heart problems.^[41] He met Horace Raphol "Toby" Marshall in Oklahoma City, who claimed to be 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 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 of Dr. C. W. Lemon he prescribed Williams with amphetamines, Seconal, chloral hydrate, and morphine.^[52]

Death[link]

Entrance marker of the Oakwood Annex Cemetery in Montgomery, Alabama

On December 31, 1952, Williams was scheduled to perform at the Municipal Auditorium in Charleston, West Virginia. Advance ticket sales totaled US$3,500 (equivalent to $30,600 in 2012).^[23] Because of an ice storm in the Nashville area, Williams could not fly, so he hired a college student, Charles Carr, to drive him to the concerts. Carr called the Charleston auditorium from Knoxville to say that Williams would not arrive on time owing to the ice storm and was ordered to drive Williams to Canton, Ohio, for the New Year's Day concert there.^[53]

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.^[54] 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.^[55] 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.^[56] 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.^[57] In Williams' Cadillac the police found some empty beer cans and unfinished handwritten lyrics.^[58]

Dr. Ivan Malinin performed the autopsy at the Tyree Funeral House. Malinin found hemorrhages in the heart and neck and pronounced the cause of death as "insufficiency of the right ventricle of the heart."^[59] That evening, when the announcer at Canton announced Williams's death to the gathered crowd, they started laughing, thinking that it was just another excuse. After Hawkshaw Hawkins and other performers started singing "I Saw the Light" as a tribute to Williams, the crowd, now realizing that he was indeed dead, sang along.^[60] Dr. Malinin also wrote that Williams had been severely beaten and kicked in the groin recently. Also local magistrate Virgil F. Lyons ordered an inquest into Williams' death concerning the welt that was visible on his head.^[61] His body was transported to Montgomery, Alabama, on January 2 and placed in a silver coffin that was first shown at his mother's boarding house for two days. His funeral took place on January 4 at the Montgomery Auditorium, with his coffin placed on the flower-covered stage.^[62] An estimated 15,000 to 25,000 people passed by the silver coffin, and the auditorium was filled with 2,750 mourners.^[63] His funeral was said to have been far larger than any ever held for any other citizen of Alabama and the largest event ever held in Montgomery.^[64][65][66] Williams's remains are interred at the Oakwood Annex in Montgomery. The president of MGM told Billboard magazine that the company got only about five requests for pictures of Williams during the weeks prior to his death, but over three hundred afterwards. The local record shops sold out of all of their records, and customers were asking for all records ever released by Williams.^[63] His final single released during his lifetime was ironically titled "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive." "Your Cheatin' Heart" was written and recorded in 1952 but released in 1953 after Williams's death. The song was number one on the country charts for six weeks. It provided the title for the 1964 biographical film of the same name, which starred George Hamilton.^[67]

Personal life[link]

On December 15, 1944, Williams married Audrey Sheppard. It was her second marriage and his first. Their son, Randall Hank Williams, who would achieve fame in his own right as Hank Williams, Jr., was born on May 26, 1949. The marriage, always turbulent, rapidly disintegrated, and he developed a serious problem with alcohol, morphine and other painkillers prescribed for him to ease the severe back pain caused by his spina bifida.^[6] The couple divorced on May 29, 1952.^[49] In June 1952, Williams moved in with his mother, even as he released numerous hit songs, such as "Half as Much," "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)," "Settin' the Woods on Fire," "You Win Again," and "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive." His drug problems continued to spiral out of control as he moved to Nashville and officially divorced his wife. A relationship with Bobbie Jett during this period resulted in a daughter, Jett, who would be born five days after his death.^[68]

On October 18, 1952, Williams and Billie Jean Jones Eshlimar were married in Minden, Louisiana^[51] by a peace judge.^[60] It was the second marriage for both (both having been divorced with children).^[51] The next day two public ceremonies were also held at the New Orleans Civic Auditorium, where 14,000 seats were sold for each.^[60] After Williams's death, a judge ruled that the wedding was not legal because Jones Eshlimar's divorce had not become final until eleven days after she married Williams. Williams' first wife, Audrey, and his mother, Lillie Williams, were the driving forces behind having the marriage declared invalid and pursued the matter for years. Williams also married Audrey Sheppard before her divorce was final, on the tenth day of a required sixty-day reconciliation period.^[69]

Legacy[link]

Historical marker near Kowaliga Bay on Alabama's Lake Martin, where Williams wrote the song Kaw-Liga

Alabama governor Gordon Persons officially proclaimed September 21 "Hank Williams Day". The first celebration, in 1954 featured the unveiling of a monument at the Cramton Bowl, that was later placed in the grave site of Williams. The ceremony featured Ferlin Husky interpreting "I Saw the Light".^[70]

Williams had 11 number one hits in his career ("Lovesick Blues," "Long Gone Lonesome Blues," "Why Don't You Love Me," "Moanin' the Blues," "Cold, Cold Heart," "Hey, Good Lookin'," "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)," "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive," "Kaw-Liga," "Your Cheatin' Heart," and "Take These Chains from My Heart"), as well as many other top ten hits.^[71]

In 1961, Williams was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame,^[72] and he was inducted in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1985.^[73] In 1987, he was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame under the category Early Influence.^[74] He was ranked second in CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music in 2003, behind only Johnny Cash. His son, Hank Jr., was ranked on the same list.^[75] In 2004 Rolling Stone ranked him number 74 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.^[76] The website Acclaimedmusic, which collates recommendations of albums and recording artists, has a year-by-year recommendation for top artists. Hank Williams is ranked first for the decade 1940–1949 for his song "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." Many rock and roll pioneers of the 1950s, such as Elvis Presley,^[77] Bob Dylan, Jerry Lee Lewis, Merle Haggard,^[78] Gene Vincent,^[79] Carl Perkins,^[80] Ricky Nelson,^[81] Jack Scott,^[82] Conway Twitty^[83] recorded Williams songs early in their careers.

Hank Williams and Loretta Lynn rest area in Tennessee

In 2011 Williams's 1949 MGM number one hit, "Lovesick Blues," was inducted into the Recording Academy Grammy Hall Of Fame.^[84] The same year Hank Williams: The Complete Mother’s Best Recordings….Plus! was honored with a Grammy nomination for Best Historical Album.^[85] In 1999, Williams was inducted into the Native American Music Hall of Fame.^[86] On April 12, 2010, the Pulitzer Prize Board awarded Williams a posthumous special citation that paid tribute to his "craftsmanship as a songwriter who expressed universal feelings with poignant simplicity and played a pivotal role in transforming country music into a major musical and cultural force in American life."^[87] Keeping his legacy, Williams's son, Hank Williams, Jr., daughter Jett Williams, grandson Hank Williams III, and granddaughters Hilary Williams and Holly Williams are also country musicians.^[88]

In 2006, a janitor of Sony/ATV Music Publishing found the unfinished lyrics written by Williams that had been found in his car the night he died in a dumpster belonging to the company. The worker claimed that she sold Williams' notes to a representative of the Honky-Tonk Hall of Fame and the Rock-N-Roll Roadshow. The employee was accused of theft, but the charges were later dropped when a judge determined that the janitor's version of events was true. The unfinished lyrics were later returned to Sony/ATV, that handed them to Bob Dylan in 2008 to complete the songs for an album release. Ultimately, the completion of the songs was also performed by Alan Jackson, Norah Jones, Jack White, Lucinda Williams, Vince Gill, Rodney Crowell, Patty Loveless, Levon Helm, Jakob Dylan, Sheryl Crow and Merle Haggard. The album, named The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams was released on October 4, 2011.^[89][90]

Lawsuits over the estate[link]

After Williams's death, Audrey Williams filed a suit in Nashville against MGM Records and Acuff-Rose. The suit demanded that both of the publishing companies continue to pay her half of the royalties from Hank Williams's records. Williams had an agreement giving his first wife half of the royalties, but allegedly there was no clarification that the deal was valid after his death. Because Williams may have left no will, the disposition of the other fifty percent was considered uncertain; those involved included the second Mrs. Williams and her daughter and Hank Williams's mother and sister.^[91] On October 22, 1975, a federal judge in Atlanta, Georgia, finally ruled Jones Eshlimar's marriage was valid and that half of Williams's future royalties belonged to her.^[92]

WSM's Mother's Best Flour[link]

In 1951, Williams hosted a fifteen-minute show for Mother's Best flour in WSM radio. Due to Williams' tour schedules some of the shows were previously recorded to be played in his absence.^[93] The original acetates were in possession of Jett Williams, while existing duplicates were found and intended to be published by a third party. In February 2005, the Tennessee Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling stating that Williams's heirs—son, Hank Williams Jr., and daughter, Jett Williams—have the sole rights to sell his recordings made for a Nashville radio station in 1951. The court rejected claims made by Polygram Records and Legacy Entertainment in releasing recordings Williams made for the Mother's Best Flour Show. The recordings, which Legacy Entertainment acquired in 1997, include live versions of Williams' hits and his cover version of other songs. Polygram contended that Williams's contract with MGM Records, which Polygram now owns, gave them rights to release the radio recordings. A 3-CD selection of the tracks, restored by Joe Palmaccio, was released by Time-Life in October 2008 titled The Unreleased Recordings.^[94]

Tributes[link]

Awards[link]

Discography[link]

References[link]

Cited Texts[link]

Books[link]