Hank Williams Sr.

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Hank Williams Sr.

Few performers in the history of country music can compare with Hank Williams Sr. (1923-1953) in terms of importance and influence. A key figure in the development of modern country music, Williams personified the musical genre's shift from a regional, rural phenomenon to nationwide, urban acceptance in the late 1940s. Revered by fans drawn to the sincerity of his songs and his singing, and glorified by an industry that once ostracized him, Hank Williams, during his brief 29 years, was instrumental in turning "hillbilly" music into "country" music.

 

Hiram (Hank) Williams was born on September 17, 1923, near Mount Olive in Butler County, Alabama, to Lon Williams, a locomotive engineer, and Lillie Williams, a church organist. The couple separated early in Hank's life, and he was raised primarily by his mother during his formative years. Williams spent most of his childhood in Georgiana and Greenville, Alabama, and early on became enthralled with music, playing harmonica, learning the organ from his mother, and acquiring his first guitar around the time he was eight years old.

 

Like many other young boys growing up in the South at the time, Williams was a fan of singer Jimmie Rodgers, a Mississippian whose groundbreaking music blended blues guitar, evocative yodeling, and vivid lyrical imagery. Williams' sound was further influenced by his friendship with African American street singer Rufus "Tee Tot" Payne, who helped Williams hone his guitar-playing skills and, more importantly, develop the blues phrasing and blues rhythms that he would later use in his own singing style.

 

In 1937, Lillie Williams and her son moved to the capital city of Montgomery, where Lillie opened a boarding house. Hank augmented the family income by shining shoes and selling peanuts on the street. He maintained his interest in music and eventually began performing on Montgomery's WSFA radio station, where he remained on the air intermittently from 1937 to 1942. http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1124

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