Hank Williams: The Biography [Hardcover]

Colin Escott (Author), George Merritt (Author), William MacEwen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1994

A biography of Hank Williams, country and western singer of such hits as "Hey Good Looking", "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", and "Jambalaya". He drank and drugged his way through two marriages and off the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. When he died aged 29, he was country music's biggest star.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Escott traces the triumphant and tragic career of the legendary country star, who died at 29 from a drug overdose.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Library Journal

The man who gave us Good Rockin' Tonight ( LJ 3/15/91) brings us the man who gave us country music.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Little Brown & Co (T); 1st edition (June 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316249866
• ISBN-13: 978-0316249867
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,120,316 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #17 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( W ) > Williams, Hank

More About the Author

Colin Escott (b. 1949), the foremost authority on Sun Records, first wrote the company's history in 1975 and has revised and expanded it several times since. He has published several other volumes on the early days of country music, including a biography of Hank Williams and The Grand Ole Opry: The Making of an American Icon. He won a Grammy for his work on Mercury Records' The Complete Hank Williams, and in 2010 received a Tony nomination for Million Dollar Quartet, a Broadway musical about the legendary one-night jam session of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis, scheduled to open in London in February 2011. In 2010, he was nominated for a Grammy for producing Hank Williams: The Complete Mother's Best Recordings.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of detail in this story of country legend, January 9, 2002

By 

cheri (Austin, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hank Williams: The Biography (Paperback)

I just finished reading this biography of Mr. Williams, and came away feeling very sad for Hank and his son Hank, Jr. Although the book chronicles the real contributions that Hank's mother and wife Audrey made in starting his career, the two women seemed to use Hank as a gravy train, with little love shown for this sad, lonely man. Particularly disgusting was the vulture like behavior exhibited immediately following his tragic death. Thank heaven he had Billie Jean, if even for a short while. She seems to be the only woman in his life that really loved him. Between his back pain and loneliness, it's no wonder he drank.

There was a lot of interesting detail in the book, sometimes too much info for my taste. Mr. Escott went into exhausting detail giving the background of practically every soul Hank ever met. It also seemed Mr. Escott disliked Roy Acuff, which I found interesting, since he has always been portrayed as a virtual saint. Also, Mr. Escott's descriptions of what would have become of Hank and his career had he lived were very interesting, and probably true.

I wish Hank, Jr. could have known his father, it was obvious that Hank loved him, but addictions and circumstance kept them apart.

I'll listen to Hank's music with a much deeper knowledge of the pain that influenced his songs.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good followup to Roger Williams' SING A SAD SONG, February 28, 2004

By 

Gerald L. Russell (Knoxville, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hank Williams: The Biography (Paperback)

Except for Jesus Christ and Robert E. Lee, no other person has affected the conscious and unconscious mind of the average Southerner as has Hank Williams.

Colin Escott's biography is less sentimental and more sensationalized than Roger Williams', but is it really more detailed? After all, you can only get so much material within a given number of pages. Nevertheless, every time you re-read this book, you pick up facts and suggestions you never noticed before.
Of course, this is necessarily true with such a complex man, a genius in his field, and whose life and death were mysterious.

My favorite anecdote concerning Hank is missing from both books and is related by his steel guitarist, Don Helms: Once, playing an outdoor venue, it began to rain on Hank and his band. Hank and the band retreated to a covered stage area, where they continued the show. Looking over the audience, who were getting soaked, Hank had compassion on his musical followers, and returned to the rain. "If you're good enough to listen to me in the rain, I'm good enough to play for you in the rain!" And he did.

There you have it--a man with godlike qualities but yet a complete lack of pretense and who cared for his listeners like no one ever has. This is why you should pick up a copy of this for yourself and a copy to pass down to your grandchildren. We should never let this man's memory die.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Only Hank Williams Biography Worth Reading, January 10, 2000

By 

james a kalafus - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hank Williams: The Biography (Paperback)

This is the only biography of Hank Williams ( other than that by his daughter, Lycretia, and DAle Vinnicur) to come out in the last decade of so that doesn't reek of "only in it for the money." It is well researched (Mr. Escott managed to interview nearly everyone still living who knew Hank Williams, and the unedited interviews would probably make for a great book on their own) and, fortunately, puts the music ahead of the personal life while discussing the man. Also, there is little of the smugness that one frequently finds in books written about country performers, for which fans can be grateful. A well structured, readable book that contains enough new information to keep all but the most well-versed (bad joke, I know) Hank Williams fans entertained.