James Beaty: OPINION: Ramblin' Round: Celebrating Hank Williams' 100th

Sep. 24—I knew one thing for certain I would be doing last Sunday afternoon.

I would be listening to some Hank Williams songs — this time to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth.

I wasn't alone.

Around the nation and yes, around the world, others listened to or performed Hank Williams songs, many of them during special events to mark 100 years since the birth of the man affectionately known as the Hillbilly Shakespeare.

Celebrations were held, not just in expected places such as Montgomery, Alabama and Nashville, Tennessee, but also in Buffalo, New York; Chicago and various locations in California.

Celebrations marking 100 years since Hank Williams' birth were also held in Belfast, Ireland; Glasgow, Scotland, in the Netherlands, in the UK, at a couple of sites in Australia, and many more.

Williams, who was born on Sept. 17, 1923, and passed from this life on Jan. 1, 1953, left an indelible mark, not just on country music, but on many other genres as well.

Beyond that, he's also left an indelible mark on those who have heard and loved his music through the decades, long after his time on earth had finished.

In his short 29 years, Hank Williams recorded 12 #1 singles that topped the charts then known as Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers.

Those #1 records included three released posthumously: "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Kaw-Liga" and "Take These Chains From My Heart."

They were among an amazing 55 Hank Williams singles that hit the Top Ten.

He even won a Grammy in 1987 for a duet with his son, Hank Williams, Jr., when Hank Jr. added his voice to a previously unreleased song of his father's, "There's a Tear In My Beer."

His many awards include a 1961 induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, a 1970 induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, a 1987 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influence and a Lifetime Grammy Award.

In 2010, the Pulitzer Prize Board awarded Hank Williams a special Pulitzer citation, noting his "craftsmanship as a songwriter who expressed universal feelings with a poignant simplicity and played a pivotal role in transforming country music into a major musical and cultural force."

Pulitzer Prize Administrator Sig Gissler said the Pulitzer Board presented Williams the special citation "following a confidential survey of experts in popular music."

"The citation, above all, recognizes the lasting impact of Williams as a creative force that influenced a wide range of other musicians and performers," Gissler said.

I've heard others, including friends, express Hank's impact on them in another way. They felt as if he sang directly to them.

Count me among them.

I still remember when I first became aware of Hank Williams, while still attending North Ward Elementary School.

My mom and dad bought a cache of used record albums, with almost all of them in pristine condition. I'd grown up hearing Johnny Cash, my dad's favorite, Marty Robbins and others, but one of the big vinyl LP covers intrigued me.

Unlike most of the others, instead of a photograph of the artist on the cover, it featured a painting — and not of one performer, but two.

One of the depictions featured the artist singing on the album, standing and holding a guitar. Behind him, the other artist loomed large, with a portrait shaded in a dreamlike blue ambience.

As I held the record, "George Jones Salutes Hank Williams" in my hands, I could hardly wait to hear what sounds lay within those grooves.

As soon as I put the needle to the vinyl I felt blown away by two things — the power of George Jones' voice and the power of those Hank Williams songs.

As soon as I heard the opening lines of "Cold, Cold Heart" I knew that Hank Williams was a songwriter the likes of which I had never before heard.

"Hey Good Lookin'" showed that Hank could leap from heartbreak to joy in the space of a song, while "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)" returned to the heartbreak mode, then "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" brought up the fun factor again.

I immediately recognized Hank Williams as a great songwriter, but at that time I had no opportunity to hear Hank himself. His songs weren't played on the radio then and I knew no one with his records.

While I waited for a chance to hear Hank, I figured that although he was a brilliant songwriter, there would be no way he could match those George Jones vocals.

I was wrong — but it took me awhile to find out.

Even when I saw his first movie bio, titled "Your Cheatin' Heart," starring George Hamilton, I was thwarted in my quest to hear Hank.

Hamilton didn't sing Hank's songs in the movie. Instead, they were sang by Hank's son, Hank Williams, Jr.

What I did learn is there were lots of great Hank Williams songs out there I hadn't heard, including a new favorite, "Long Gone Lonesome Blues."

In the song, Hank — or in this case, Hank Jr. — threw his voice upward on certain words to give it a cry that resembled a yodel, but not quite, upping the song to another level.

I persevered in my quest to hear Hank himself and one day my endeavors paid off. Thumbing through the albums at Henley's Rexall Drug Store, I stopped short.

At last! I lay my eyes upon an album titled "I'm Blue Inside" by Hank Williams!

As I scanned the track list, I recognized only two songs: "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" which I knew as a deep album cut from Johnny Cash, and yes! "Long Gone Lonesome Blues."

I hadn't really planned on buying an LP that day, but my plans immediately changed. I asked my mom to help me come up with the $3.98 the album cost.

I felt filled with anticipation as we drove home and I could hardly wait as I peeled off the plastic and set the record on the turntable.

I liked the first song, but it was an anomaly. On "Low Down Blues," Williams sang the song in the style of Jimmy Rogers, the Singing Brakeman.

Two of the songs, featured only Williams and his guitar, including "Alone and Forsaken," which had a definite Dylanesque vibe to it. It would be years later when I learned how much of an influence Hank Williams had been on Bob Dylan.

The album didn't include many of Williams' greatest hits, although I did get to hear Hank's own chill bump-inducing version of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry."

Most of the album centered on the blues theme with songs such as "Honky Tonk Blues," "The Blues Come Around" and Moanin' the Blues."

Williams had a smoking hot band, with electric guitar, steel guitar and fiddle solos abounding.

When I flipped the album over, side two opened with "My Sweet Love Ain't Around," with the band showing how to induce the most emotion with the fewest notes, especially on the steel guitar and fiddle solos.

It wasn't until the third track on the album's B side that I first heard Hank's immortal version of "Lovesick Blues" — one of the few songs on the album he didn't write.

By the time the album hit the closing track, Hank singing his "Long Gone Lonesome Blues," I felt convinced I'd just listened to not only the greatest country songwriter, but also the greatest country singer ever.

I would later be fortunate enough to become great friends with the late Bob Sullivan, who had hosted a morning radio show with Hank on KWKH and who also served as the sound man on the Louisiana Hayride.

He told me Hank was the most powerful entertainer he ever saw, able to electrify an audience like no one else, including Elvis Presley, who also performed on the Louisiana Hayride in the early stages of his career.

I also got to meet and interview three members of Hank's most famous lineup of the Drifting Cowboys, when they performed at S. Arch Thompson Auditorium in McAlester: Guitarist Don McNett, fiddler Jerry Rivers, and the great steel guitarist Don Helm.

I've also interviewed Hank's daughter, Jett Williams, and his grandson, Hank Williams III several times.

Still, I remember that first thrill of hearing Hank's "I'm Blue Inside" album for the first time.

Although he is known as a writer of sad songs, Hank kept his sense of humor to the end. The last song he ever recorded is "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive."

I feel sure that in somewhere in churches around the U.S., in Oklahoma and in maybe even in Pittsburg County last Sunday, someone sang one of Hank's greatest songs, "I Saw the Light."

I wished he was still around so I could say "Happy birthday Hank!"

You know what? I did anyway.