Hank: The Short Life and Long Country Road of Hank Williams

by Mark Ribowsky

A heartbreaking and unforgettable portrait of country music’s founding father. After he died in the backseat of a Cadillac at the age of twenty-nine, Hank Williams?a frail, flawed man who had become country music’s most compelling and popular star?instantly morphed into its first tragic martyr. Having hit the heights in the postwar era with simple songs of heartache and star-crossed love, he would, with that outlaw swagger, become in death a template for the rock generation to follow. But unlike those other musical giants who never made thirty, no legacy endures quite like that of the "Hillbilly King." Now presenting the first fully realized biography of Hiram King Williams in a generation, Mark Ribowsky vividly returns us to the world of country’s origins, in this case 1920s Alabama, where Williams was born into the most trying of circumstances, which included a dictatorial mother, a henpecked father, and an agonizing spinal condition. Forced by his overbearing matriarch to do odd jobs―selling peanuts, shining shoes―young Hank soon found respite in street-corner blues man Rufus "Tee Tot" Payne, who showed him how to make a guitar sing. It wasn’t long before young Hank found his way onto those nascent American radio airwaves, where his melodic voice and timely tunes slowly garnered a following. On that dusty path to early stardom, Hank was indefatigably supported by his overbearing mother, who would shepherd his band, the Driftin’ Cowboys, to shows along backroads of the Jim Crow South. Yet it was a different woman who would supply Hank with the fuel he needed to explode out of the local his sometimes wife, Audrey Mae Sheppard. As Ribowsky brilliantly evokes, their fiery relationship―as abusive as it was passionate―would inform nearly every song he ever wrote, and provide a template for country music for generations to follow. In chronicling Hank’s rise to stardom, Ribowsky also explores all those cautionary tales that have, until now, remained secreted beneath the grooves of his records. Drawing from new interviews, Ribowsky connects those seemingly eternal afternoons and nights spent choked in booze and desperation to the music that Williams would create. With remarkable nuance and insight, Ribowsky allows us to witness the man behind the tipped cowboy hat―the charismatic troubadour who hid the wounds of his domestic quarrels, relied on painkillers to get through the day, and was always teetering on the edge of tragedy, even when he saw the light. Tracing the singular rise of a music legend from the street corners of the Depression-era South to the now-immortal stage of the Grand Ole Opry, and finally to a haunting, lonely end on New Year’s Day 1953, Hank uncovers the real man beneath the myths, reintroducing us to an American original whose legacy, like a good night at the honkytonk, promises to carry on and on. 16 pages of photographs

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, American History

496 pages, Hardcover

First published November 22, 2016

About the author

Mark Ribowsky is the author of seven books, including the New York Times Notable Book Don't Look Back: Satchel Paige in the Shadows of Baseball. He lives in Plainview, New York.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

"'I didn't know what it was about Hank,' [musician Don] Helms once said. 'He wasn't all that great of a singer and he wasn't that good lookin'. He just knew what to say to the people and how to say it.'" -- on page 107

Author Ribowksy, as the British used to say, is 'dab hand' at penning show biz-oriented biographies - previous books feature such subjects as Stax soul singer Otis Redding and ABC sportscaster Howard Cosell. With Hank, Ribowsky focuses on the late Hank Williams, a founding father-type in American country music - although it was somewhat disdainfully referred to as 'hillbilly' during the 30's and 40's - who lived a brief and bleak lifestyle that would unfortunately be copied by rock stars in the ensuing decades. (Trivia note: Williams, like fellow 'outlaw' Johnny Cash, is one of the few persons to be inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, AND the Songwriters Hall of Fame.) Born to modest means in rural Alabama, the sickly Williams was a grade school drop-out who was likely a full-blown alcoholic by age fourteen while also possibly fathering a child with one of his cousins. Yet he achieved that rarefied kind of 'only in America!' success - at one point amassing fourteen Top Five hits in under two years - warbling and composing his countrified songs (like 'Honky Tonk Blues.' 'Move It On Over,' and 'Your Cheatin' Heart') that simply connected with audiences across the U.S. and Canada. Yet Williams had his demons - including a controlling 'stage mother' and a horrible first wife (the retellings of their domestic disputes are very uncomfortable), along with him often being unpredictable in being sober enough to appear or perform his concerts - and his luck would run out before reaching the age of 30, gloomily dying in the backseat of his touring sedan. So this is not a happy book by any means - although Williams was oft-depicted as a charitable guy (similar to fellow Southerner Elvis Presley), bestowing great monetary tips to working class folks like waitresses and hotel porters - but does work as a cautionary tale of sorts.

[Douglas Fugate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here is the latest (and possibly most complete) biography of Hank Williams.

Watch this poor boy from south Alabama rise to conquer Nashville and influence both country and pop music. Read of the “no-holds-barred” episodes of Hank’s life from birth, as a teen-age singer, through his marriages, his illnesses and addictions. Understand what drove him to music heights and ultimately drove him to his early death.

Throughout are the stories of the songs – both written and sung. Witness how Hank gains inspiration from his life and turns out timeless classics. Mr. Ribowsky places you in the recording studios to witness how these recordings were made. You learn why some songs were released others were held back.

This biography is a wonderful addition to your Hank Williams collection. It is filled with anecdotes, interviews, and memories of those who lived, worked, and experienced Hank, his mother, father, wives, friends and coworkers.

The research and documentation make this volume THE biography of Hank.

FIVE STARS.

[Warrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes you can know too much about your heroes. This book is a long, detailed, unrelenting unveiling of the sad and sordid life of Hank Williams. I would have liked more about the music and less about the drink, the affairs, the lies, the lawsuits. I still want to play the music, but it’s no thanks to this long, sad expose of human frailties.

[Annie Booker · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read about a man who had heaps of talent and unfortunately a heap of demons as well. He died way too young at just 29 but he shaped the world of country music like no one had really done before.

[Bill reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before reading “Hank,” I listened to a CD from my collection, “Timeless,” a Hank Williams album of covers by Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow, Keb Mo, Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, and others. I also played some of Hank’s original versions. Hiram Williams sounds wrong, but it was Hank’s birth name. His father Lon worked lumber jobs and his mother Millie played the organ at a local Baptist church. As a young boy, Hank played the harmonica. Jimmie Rodgers had the first million selling record in the late 1920’s. He was called a “white man gone black,” it sounds like a later description of Elvis. Lon wound up at a VA hospital when Hank was seven. Lillie raised him and Hank was given a Sears Silvertone guitar when he was eleven. He soon learned to play from a forgotten black street musician named Rufus Payne, also know as Tee Tot. At fourteen, Hank won a talent show and sang on a Montgomery radio station. While touring, he met a married aspiring singer named Audrey. She had no musical talent, but they sang duets together; a veritable 1940’s Yoko. On stage, Audrey’s mike was turned down; thirty years later, McCartney’s wife Linda caused the same dilemma. Hank’s started drinking when he was a kid. After being fired from several radio stations, he was sent to a sanitarium to sober up. The turning point was a contract with Fred Rose, initially as a song writer. Columbia and RCA turned down Rose’s proposed distribution rights and MGM signed Williams. His first hit was “Move it on Over” in 1947. In early 1948, Audrey filed for divorce, citing physical abuse and Hank’s frequent drunkenness. In spite of a legal divorce, the happy couple reunited and continued to fight like cats and dogs. At times, Hank showed up for gigs so drunk that he staggered on stage and slurred his words. In Shreveport, Louisiana, Hank played at the Hayride, a live show with other artists. He also did morning radio program, singing and ad-libbing commercials in 1948. Howard Stern insists that he pioneered satirizing sponsors; sorry Howie, Hank was thirty years ahead of you. Randall Hank Williams was born in May of 1949, the same year his father began his Grand Ole Opry tour with Minnie Pearl and Ernest Tubbs. Money followed fame, and Audrey spent more than he earned. An illegal abortion was covered up in 1950, her idea, not his. Hank’s payback was the song “Cold, Cold Heart.” Their volatile marriage provided great inspiration for Hank’s music. The mainstream considered Williams a “hillbilly singer” beneath their good taste. This opinion changed in 1951 when Mitch Miller persuaded Tony Bennett to cover “Cold, Cold Heart.” The crossover hit sold over two million copies and suddenly Hank Williams was a great song writer. His addictions to booze and painkillers was partially explained when a doctor diagnosed spina bifida, which causes intense back pain. There was no cure in 1951, but surgery repaired two herniated disks. Hank also wore a heavy back brace. Audrey filed for a second divorce and they accused each other of physical and mental abuse. Hank’s “nurse,” Bobbie Jett, became pregnant in 1952 and a payoff of $100 a month kept their love child a secret for thirty years. Both Audrey and June Carter survived shooting incidents with the intoxicated singer. He married Billie Jean Jones in October of 1952. She, like others before her, attempted to slow his drinking, even having him committed to a hospital for acute alcoholic intoxication. A “Doctor” Marshall, an ex-con with no medical license, shot hank up with sedatives almost every day, and when mixed with morphine and whiskey, it was only a matter of time before this emaciated man would leave this mortal coil. Three days before his death, he prayed with nuns at St. Jude’s Hospital; not a good omen for the future. Hank’s death, on January 1, 1953 is almost as mystifying as JFK’s. After being shot up with morphine and loaded up on a bottle of bourbon, two drivers insisted that he was still alive when they reached Oak Hill, West Virginia. At 29, the “hillbilly singer” (NY Times obit) left no will. A crowd of 25,000 lined the streets of Montgomery for the funeral. An autopsy listed heart failure as the cause of death. His liver was fine and no drug tests were performed. The vultures circled quickly for their manna from heaven. The two wives and Hank’s mother battled for control of the valuable estate. Mommy dearest and wife #1 had a 50/50 split on all future royalties. Lawsuits were filed and the lawyers made a killing. In 1985, Hank’s bastard daughter resurfaced and after cases up to the U.S. Supreme Court, won 50% of future earnings. The other half is split with Hank, Jr. They are both country singers. Neither of them has inherited their father’s musical genius.

[Laura]

Sigh. I wanted to love this biography, but I just couldn't. The author seemed to prize folksy phrases over actual research, and the whole thing felt more like a summary of serious biographies than an actual serious biography. I'm cutting my losses after 50 pages and will finally make time for the Colin Escott bio.

[Deb Harris · Rating 1 out of 5]

I grew up with classic country & love Hank's songs. I wanted to love this book but couldn't. Another author might be able to tighten up the material & cut a lot of filler. I gave up about half way through, I was just too frustrated with the writing.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a fan of the author's penchant for folksy expressions but this is an informative, insightful, and complete warts-and-all portrait of the deeply troubled but remarkably successful and influential musician.

[Chi Chi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ribowsky puts too much personal opinion into the book, especially when it comes to the women in Williams life.

[Bobby Daugherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty grim biography. Evidently his spina bifida was the cause of his alcoholism. His domineering mother was a corrosive element in his life.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book because Hank Williams was an intriguing and enigmatic figure that I wanted to know more about. I'm not a fan in particular of either his music or his genre in general. I enjoy some of it, but mostly I just appreciate its place in our culture. Country music is certainly big in these parts, the prairies of Western Canada, and I grew up around it. The ghost of Hank Williams was always hovering somewhere in the background, barely noticed but always there.

I've read some comments about this story being very dark and, given what I knew about the subject, that was not surprising. I came expecting a journey through the bleak depths and that's what I got, so I buckled up and took it all in.

All things considered, this was a very engaging biography that dialed in its focus sharper and sharper as the end of Hank's life approached. A quarter of the book must've been spent on the last year of his life. I guess that makes sense since those are the things we want to know about. However, in my opinion, the great mystery surrounding his death is no mystery at all. The details are as obscure as one would expect since he didn't have a heart monitor attached to him on the last night of his life. The real mystery here is how on earth he managed to live as long as he did, given what he put his body through.

I think his messed up family might've been better off if he had never been famous in the first place, though I doubt that barracuda of the mother of his could ever have been truly happy under any circumstances. I suppose the same could be said for his first wife. While there is no doubt that the two of them were in love, it seems to me they would've been better off had they never met. Audrey was clearly Hank's muse but, given the kinds of songs he mostly wrote, that's not really saying good things about her.

I came away with a sense, not just of a life that was way too short but of a very sad and tragic one. I don't know if he could've accomplished what he did if he didn't have all that pain driving him even as it ruined him. Maybe if his back had been diagnosed and corrected when he was still a kid and he had grown up a well-adjusted and content human being, none of us would've heard of Hank Williams, except, perhaps, as some obscure wannabe. Maybe he would've gone on to be a welder, had a happy marriage with a bunch of kids and died surrounded by his grandchildren, not famous, but having lived to the full and happy life. As I already mentioned, I'm not really a fan so I think that would've been a good trade-off.

[Jill Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The life, times, and after-times of Alabama-born and raised singer Hank Williams are well documented in Mark Ribowsky's new biography, "Hank: The Short Life and Long Country Road of Hank Williams". Williams led a life that perhaps could have made several songs legend, suffered from ill health, poverty, drug and alcohol addictions, and most of all, venal and incompetent family members and associates who surrounded and influenced him in life, and after death.

Born of a grasping mother and an impaired father, Hiram Williams was born and raised in southern Alabama. He was born with a form of spina bifida which was not treated and Williams suffered the physical effects for his short life. But he could sing and he could play the guitar and his mother knew she had a talent on her hands. She managed his early career but many of her ministrations were counter balanced by Hank's drunken behavior, both in his professional and private lives. He married Audrey Shepperd at a young age in a marriage that may have been legal...and yet again may not have been. This marriage which was made in hell lasted a few years, along with one son, but Audrey's influence lasted well after his death.

Mark Ribowsky does an excellent job in recounting Hank Williams's sometimes insane life - do these things happen to real people? - and in untangling the various relationships he had with others. Ribowsky's writing is always even and the book includes photographs of the Williams cast of characters.

The only point I'd disagree with Mark Ribowsky on his assessment of the movie bio of Hank Williams that came out this year. I thought it was very good.

[Jeff Campbell · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book is filled with factual errors. For a sample, look no further than consecutive paragraphs on pages 16-17 in the hardback edition which first state that the first million selling country single was Jimmie Rodgers' Waitin' For A Train and then states that Lovesick Blues was written by Riley Puckett. Anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of country music history knows that the first million selling country song was Veron Dalhart's Wreck Of The 'Ol 97 bw The Prisoner's Song in 1924. And anyone with even a basic knowledge of Hank Williams knows that Lovesick Blues was written by Irving Mills and Cliff Friend for a 1922 musical. Other errors include several instances of incorrect song titles, constantly referring to Ernest Tubb as "Ernie" (never heard that before) and many other errors that are simply inexcusable. The worst error is that he writes that Hank was working on the song "I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive" during the trip in which he died. In truth he was working on a song called "The Price You Pay" and I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive was his current single at the time of his death. These errors call into the question the veraciity of everything else in the book. I continued reading for another 100 pages or so and then spot checked other sections but as the errors mounted, I lost patience and put the book down (actually, I slammed the book shut and uttered a phrase or two that discretion being the better part of valor, I shall not repeat here). For a good Hank biography, I highly recommend Colin Escott's book.

[Joab Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hank Williams was a naturally gifted entertainer. Even with only modest singing skills, he had songwriting chops, confidence and stage presence to spare. Winning over an audience was not a problem for ole Hank. Everything else about his life was the problem.

Through the late 1940s, and early 1950s, Williams charted dozens of top 10 songs on the country chart, just as the music was starting to be appreciated outside of its hillbilly roots. He did this without sacrificing his 'white-trash' country character, crafting three-chord songs that “celebrated simple human concepts,’ those of “God, beer, a good woman and a blessed break from loneliness.” The ideas culled from comic books or his own troublesome marriages.

He was hard to deify during his lifetime, "so proudly unrefined was he," Ribowsky wrote, in this finely-detailed biography.

Read more here

[Patricia Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have grown up with hank Williams my whole life my dad met him before he died and every new years he would play hank all day my daughter is still a huge fan...this book explains so much about hanks life and what he went through with his mother Lillie and audry fighting all the time to see who would get more money..hanks mother got 80 percent of every show he did... and when he started out he got 2 cents for every record that was sold..he only recorded 2 records before he died and the rest were all done after he died with everyone than fighting for copyright and royalties from the sales of his records..this book has so much I have never heard about and takes you through the last days of hanks life and what happened after in years to come.. no wonder the man drank....no one let him do what he wanted to do just sit with the common man and play his guitar and sing.....for the short time he was alive he did write a lot of songs.....

[Louise Yarnall · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Hank Williams who emerges in this biography is a gun-toting, violent alcoholic and drug addict, a music promoter’s nightmare, a philanderer, and a deadbeat dad. He also draws some sympathy for suffering from chronic back pain and unending torment inflicted by his domineering and manipulative mother and first wife. Despite these negatives—his raw talent shines through as a hillbilly singer, clever wordsmith, and pure workhorse performer, ever beloved by his fans. This is a tough read. About two-thirds through the book, seeing his downward spiral, I wanted to just put it down. But I hung in there and it was stunning to see how many of his greatest hits he produced in the last year of his short life. His music and his old time religion were his salvation.

[Rick Bayko · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a strange alchemy it was that turned a poor Alabama hillbilly who drank to excess from a young age and read comic books to get songwriting ideas into one of the most gifted songwriters ever. His physical life lasted less than 30 years, most of it in bodily and emotional pain, yet his heartfelt songs endure and most likely always will. While his flaws were many, and this biography pulls no punches, his songs tell truths poignantly and simply in a way that few others have matched. A story worth knowing.

[Grindy Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking at some of the reviews already posted, please note that this is a pop music biography with different rules than standard bios. It should be grouped with works like Albert Goldman's Elvis and Lennon books or "No One Here Gets Out Alive," and in that genre the authors are allowed if not encouraged to be fans of their subjects. Hank Williams has a spot on the Mt. Rushmore of American pop acts that destroyed themselves young along with Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin (maybe Kurt Cobain) - I wasn't a fan of his before reading this book but am convinced of it now.

[Bobby Jett · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read on one of the most gifted song writers and singers ever to grace the music scene. Like so many artists, the fact that he lived the lyrics he sang about was undoubtedly the reason his music reaches deep into our souls and moves us on such emotional levels. Dying at a very old 29 years of age, Hank was tormented, lonely, and so very much alone. A heartbreaking in depth look at the man behind the lyrics.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first major biography on Hank in 20 years. Not a whole lot of new information is here but if you've never read a book on Hank Williams, this is an acceptable one to read. One thing I did like was that the author did not get bogged down in the various contradicting timelines about Hank's death.

[Brett buckner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heartbreaking story of the man who defined country music and the myth of ho continues to haunt the genre to this day. Ol’ Hank has his demons, and they turned him into an old man well before his time, but there’s no doubt that he became more of a commodity than a person to those who were supposed to love and protect him.

[Joe J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hank Williams was a flawed human being that died too young at the age of 29. The author does a great job of laying out the good and the bad from Hank's life. It was a lengthy book and a good listening companion on many morning runs about a person that I didn't know all the much about besides a few of his more famous songs

[Tom C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't get past the constant critiques of lives and times...of words and gestures...of actions and thoughts that are now 70 years old in the context of modern times. I'm not reading this book for the author's sociopolitical opinion on Hank Sr and his world. I was hoping to simply read about Hank Sr and his world.

I quit 132 pages in.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what a read this was. What a tough life he had, although he didn't do anything to make it any easier on himself. Full review coming soon. But if you're at all interested in his life and times, this is a must read.

[Samantha York · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written, with attributions wherever possible and a strong narrative. Enough background is provided to make sense of Hank's part of the story, but the author never loses track of the narrative. Great read.

[Dennis O'Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative to read. I learned about things I never knew about Hank. He certainly had his issues but the story was compelling .

[Robin Cloxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the saddest books I have ever read. Well written, but a very sad life.

[James Shaw Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very thorough examination of his short life with attention given to separating fact from legend, and a very detailed picture of what a mess his life was.

[Nelda Basenberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do not waste your time on this book, all he does is try to make Hank look bad and use a lot of words doing it.

[Sadie Forsythe]

I have donated this to my local Little Free Library. I hope it falls into the hands of someone who will love it.