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FROM: The Attic: For a Kinder, Cooler America
OAK GROVE, WV, New Year’s Day, 1953 — Drunk and disheveled, Hank died in the back seat of a sky blue Cadillac bound for his next gig. The heart attack must have been quick and quiet. Driver and passenger thought he was asleep. Two hours and a hundred miles passed before they noticed. He was 29.
This week we celebrate the 100th birthday of one of America’s few human jukeboxes. Our music is replete with songwriters, but only a handful seemed to BE music, to open a tap and let perfect, catchy lyrics and melody flow. Stephen Foster was one. Bluesman Robert Johnson. Leonard Bernstein. Carole King and early James Taylor. And of course, Hank Williams.
Decades after his death it’s hard to believe that all the classics poured from his tap in just five years. Hank had 55 Top Ten songs, including a dozen #1’s. The canon is bound to stick in your head, just from the titles.
