Customer Reviews

Lovesick Blues: The Life of Hank Williams

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mr Hemphill had researched a well-written but brief biography (200+ pages) of Hank Williams. The book is short because his life was short -- he didn't even live to see his 30th year. What makes this biography different is how Mr Hemphill weaves vignettes from the impact that Hank Williams had upon his life.

"Lovesick Blues" takes it title from the No. 1 hit that launched Mr. Williams into superstardom for the last five years of his life. Mr. Williams became the face of country music and paved the way for another Southern boy (Elvis Presley) to became the future face of rock and roll.

Born into a vagabond, poor family that drifted from town to town, he was an alcoholic before he was an adult and had addiction & health issues for the rest of his life. Mr Hemphill debunks the worse of the mythic stories of his self-destructive choices, maintaining the truth of his illnesses, martial woes and addictions were bad enough. He lived to perform, sang about the hard life he knew personally, and died young -- all used up like his successor would be, Elvis Presley. For the reader interested in the similarities between the two singers, I recommend Peter Guralnick's definitive two volume account of Elvis Presley: "LastTrain To Memphis" (1995) and "Careless Love" (2000).

I've read some other books about Hank Williams. To be honest, this book doesn't cover much new ground. However, it's a good introduction to the story of country music's most famous singer/songwriter. The author acknowledges the work of Colin Escott, who wrote perhaps the best Williams biography. My vote for the worst is Your Cheatin' Heart by Chet Flippo. That book is often vulgar and too graphic. Paul Hemphill includes some personal history. His father was a truck driver. The book begins with a father/son truck ride. Hank Williams was just becoming well known. His music was very popular on the jukeboxes. (This is why Fred Rose had him release recitations as Luke the Drifter.) These songs gave the two a great bond. The author's dad loved to play Hank Williams songs on the piano. This got him kicked out of a nursing home, and a recurring spot on a local TV show. You'll meet the varied cast of characters in Hank Williams' life. His mother Lillie was strong and domineering. His father Lon was often ill and more passive. An African American man nicknamed "Tee Tot" was his first music teacher. His first wife Audrey was ambitious and a poor singer. She helped push him toward stardom. Fred Rose edited his songs and tried to help him overcome alcoholism. Don "Shag" Helms was the longest serving member of the Drifting Cowboys. His steel guitar was a major component of Hank's sound. Billie Jean was Hank's second wife. She would later marry Johnny Horton. He would also die young. Bobbie Jett became pregnant with Hank's child. This daughter, born days after Hank's burial, now performs as Jett Williams. Don't forget Hank Jr. Other figures mentioned include: Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, the Carter Family, Chet Atkins, Ray Price, and Minnie Pearl. For more information, check out Colin Escott's books and the PBS American Masters special he cowrote.

I am a longtime fan of Hank Williams' music. Three of the CDs in my car's six-CD changer are the collection of his singles. I also have picked up bits and pieces of information about his life. This biography filled in many gaps. For instance, some commentators have mentioned the influence of Tee-Tot. Hemphill fleshes out Hank's relationship with that significant mentor. It's an easy read, an interesting read, provides great insights into Hank's stormy relationships with the two significant women in his life (his mother and his wife). I have one complaint: I wish it were longer.

This is the way a book should be written. Tight, compact, well researched, and every chapter of interest and clipping right along. I knew that my Grandpa was a Hank Williams fan and I can recall listening to some of his records. My dad's generation listened to Cash, and I'm partial to George Strait and Toby Keith, but Hank was really the original icon to emerge from country music, even if country sounded a bit different back then. After reading the book, the Hank Williams CD I bought a few years ago no longer seems so quaint. You won't be dissappointed.

Such were the circumstances in the life of the acknowledged "father of country music" Hank Williams. It is certainly hard to believe that Hank has been gone for more than half a century now. In "Lovesick Blues: The Life of Hank Williams" author Paul Hemphill lovingly recalls the tortured life of this man and the incredible body of work he left for us to enjoy.

Young Hank Williams first appeared on the scene at Montgomery radio station WSFA in 1937. Known as "The Singing Kid" the youngster who would become a country music legend impressed everyone with his vocal prowess. Young Hank was also among the first in the business to recognize the potential of the steel guitar. In fact, the very first incarnation of Hank's backup group known as the Drifting Cowboys would include that strange looking guitar of Hawaiian heritage. At a very early age Hank Williams was determined to make it in the music business. And as Paul Hemphill points out again and again it would be a very rocky road indeed.

The fact of the matter is that Hank William's personal life was a mess. That's just the was it always was and the way it would always be. His father Lon disappeared from the scene when Hank was just a young whippersnapper. His mother Lillie was extremely overbearing and Hank developed a taste for liquor at an extremely young age. Unfortunately, the scourge of alcoholism would plague him for the rest of this days. In addition, he had any number of physical problems to cope with. And his marriage to Audrey certainly did not help matters. Like his mother Audrey was extremely demanding and what made matters worse was that she was also an aspiring singer. Unfortunately for Hank his wife could not sing a lick. When he refused to let her perform with him she made his life absolutely unbearable. I found it very painful just reading about all of the physical and psychological pain that Hank Williams had to endure in his life. I simply cannot imagine actually having to live through it all.

Ironically, it was all of the pain and the suffering he had to face during his short time on this earth that made Hank Williams such a special songwriter and singer. Truck drivers, drug store clerks and farmers could all relate to many of the situations Hank Williams wrote about. And you could definitely
hear the pain in that voice. There was no doubt that Hank Williams had been through it all. Tunes like "Your Cheatin' Heart", "Cold Cold Heart" and "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)" would go on to become country music classics.

"Lovesick Blues" takes a fresh look at the life and times of Hank Williams. This is an extremely written book by a veteran writer who is quite familiar with both the country music scene and life in the South during that period. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to music lovers, history buffs and general audiences as well. Outstanding!

A must read for Hank Williams fans, for country music lovers, and for anyone who enjoys and appreciates great prose in the service of a great story.

With the sensitivity and insight of a kindred spirit, Paul Hemphill's biography of Hank Williams reveals anew the man, the culture, the demons and the angels that nurtured his genius and in the end killed him.

Hemphill's prose is direct and honest; an artful creation of a portrait that could very well, one feels, be a mirror. It's all there: the stark facts, the telling detail, the insider's anecdote, the broad understanding of the South and, most of all, a singular resonance between author and subject.

From the cab of his father's truck to the inevitable scenes of William's death to his own father's passing, Hemphill's words make real and immediate a life, a time and a place long gone.

Hemphill's remarkably fresh and personal re-telling of this old, familiar story makes it hard to close the book before the last page.

This new Hank Williams biography shows Hemphill at the top of his form. A deep spirit moves this book. It is some of the finest writing you'll ever read, and it is as pure as one of Hank's songs. Attempting to marry the tone of a book with the content is a high-wire act that has sent many a writer crashing to the ground. But Hemphill pulls it off with elan. If you like Hank, this book will be your new gospel. If you like good writing, this book will show you what is possible.

Back in the late 1960s, Paul Hemphill went to Nashville to write a book about country music. That book, The Nashville Sound, is one of the most important books ever written about roots music in America - it inspired, either directly or indirectly, virtually all roots music writing that has come since. Hemphill has a poet's soul and a top-flight reporter's mind; he's now 70-something, but his writing and analytical skills are at their peak. For years we Hemphill fans have been hoping he would take up pen to address Hank Williams at length. Now he's done so, and he's produced a classic personal narrative about the man who, ultimately, might be the most important musical figure in Twentieth Century America. Hemphill's writing is crisp as he deftly weaves personal remembrances with the story of Hank to illustrate why Williams is so compelling a figure. An outstanding job by one of our best writers.

This is by such a wide margin the best book I've ever read about Hank Williams, but that really isn't a surprise, because its author, Paul Hemphill, proved 35 years ago in his first book, The Nashville Sound, that he has the perfect prose style and understanding to write about the people and the significance of country music.

Thankfully, the publication of Lovesick Blues has led to the re-publication of The Nashville Sound, and maybe this great new biography will not only lead a lot of people to go back and listen to Hank Williams more, but also lead more people to read the works of this other plain-spoken bard from Alabama, Paul Hemphill.

This is one of the best music biographies I've read simply because of the writing. Having read some of Hank Williams expert Colin Escott's writings about Hank in his great book, "Lost Highway: The True Story of Country Music" and the liner notes for "The Original Singles Collection...Plus," I believe that Escott provides great historical insights into Hank and his music (how, for example, "Hank Williams came and went at exactly the right time," which is more implied than stated here with Paul Hemphill's discussion of music after Hank). However, "Lovesick Blues," as its jacket claims, "almost reads like fiction," with more imaginative writing than straight facts. Of course, there are plenty of such facts in this biography, and I learned a lot, but the book transcends the biography genre through telling an incredible story without worrying about a lot of details.

I honestly was not expecting that much from this approximately 200-page book. However, I quickly realized the mistake I had made when I started reading. My only complaint with this book is that I wish Hemphill had talked about more of Hank's music because when he does talk about specific recording sessions and songs that they yielded, his music criticism is incisive and invaluable. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in books--not just Hank or music in general.