Which one of his songs originally got you into Hank Williams? Mine was "There's a tear in my beer." :-) Then "Why don't you love me like you used to do." Then it just snowballed from there. I'm certainly the biggest fan I know!
shareI think for me it had to be "Your Cheatin' Heart", followed by, "Settin' the Woods on Fire". Love just about everything Hank ever did. Current favorites are "You Win Again" and "Lost Highway". The man knew how to put heart and soul into a song.
shareI think I was familiar, in a vague kind of way, with "Hey Good Lookin'" and "Your Cheatin' Heart." I knew George Thorogood's version of "Move It On Over."
What really raised my hackles was "Ramblin' Man" - it was so haunting. I had to hunt down everything by him after that. I tend to favor his dark stuff, "Alone and Forsaken" and "Long Gone Lonesome Blues" but also love his funny/charming tunes like "Kaw-Liga".
I like all those you listed, "Weary Blues From Waiting", "Long Gone Lonesome Blues" and "I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive" have a similar feel.
shareI learned to play "Your Cheatin' Heart" on my violin (one of my first songs not in the lesson books). Very easy to play and you could feel the pain in it, even as a kid.
shareI was 8 years old on a Saturday afternoon in 1970 riding in my folk's 1965 Ford Custom going around a cloverleaf interchange at Johnson Drive and Roe Avenue in Mission, KS when Hey Good Lookin' came on WHB (dial 71 at that time and a Top 40 format pioneer). For years I went around making up my own lyrics to the tune until I finally found out who the singer was at about age 16. Been hooked on Hank's music ever since. And the music of those like him. It pretty much formed my musical tastes. I could never stand the popular music of the 1970's, the album rock and the rock and pop stars of the day: it didn't sound like Hank, so nix nix. I'm more accepting of other musical genres now, though. :)
shareHonkytonk Blues. I've heard Your Cheatin' Heart and I Saw the Light since I was a kid, but Honkytonk Blues is the one that made me seek out his other songs.
shareHey good lookin was the first song of his I ever heard. Loved it.
My fave is lovesick blues.
I'm a child of the Fifties~the early Fifties. So, it's difficult to say what my first song would have been. However, my younger sister and I always loved this one, according to my parents:
Kaw-Liga
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_c1A8tmHuI
I think a lot of the draw is that we're part Illini/Illinois Indian on both sides of the family, with a lot of pride in that history.
Here's another song we dearly loved from a singer few people likely recall except if they were around in those good ol' days~Marvin Rainwater:
The Valley of the Moon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxSwxYqMSw8
(W)hat are we without our dreams?
Making sure our fantasies
Do not overpower our realities. ~ RC
After hearing this at a friend's house in high school, I couldn't get it out of my head. Hank secretly went into rotation among the rock music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slFnQfwGJZE
I Can't Help It if I'm Still in Love With You - Hank with Anita Carter
I don't remember but if i had to guess maybe "Kaw-Liga".
-Nam
I am on the road less traveled...