My Top Ten Songs About Hank: The Life Story of Hank Williams (#10)

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I'm doing a dual countdown now, starting today, to honor the legendary "Hillbilly Shakespeare," Hank Williams. Not only did he leave us songs, but in the 63 years since his death he's been the subject of a lot of songs. One of the songs in this countdown will address that, but for now here's the first song. #10: The Life Story of Hank Williams - Hawkshaw Hawkins Harold "Hawkshaw" Hawkins is an afterthought in the world of country music. He was one of the "and others" killed in the March 5, 1963 plane crash that also took the lives of Patsy Cline and Cowboy Copas. While Copas had a Hall of Fame-worthy career, Hawkins was less a "superstar." Nevertheless, he had a long and popular career, going from the "Wheeling Jamboree" on WWVA to the "Grand Ole Opry" in Nashville. His recording career began in Cincinnati on the legendary all-country record label, King. He had his first major successes in the 1940s on that label with songs like "Sunny Side of the Mountain" and "Rattlesnakin' Daddy." Hawkins was popular enough to be featured on a package show on January 1, 1953 in Canton, Ohio, along with popular national acts like Homer & Jethro and Hank Williams. Unfortunately, Hank didn't make it to the show: he died in the back of his car en route to Canton from Knoxville, Tennessee. As he detailed in this recitation (paying homage to Hank's string of recitations as "Luke the Drifter"), he was on that fateful show in Canton. Hawkins also outlined the "urban legend" of Hank in this song. He referenced that "only a few knew that Hank was a sick boy," suffering from chronic back problems and the accompanying addiction to pain killers. Hawkins recorded this song January 16, 1953, just over two weeks after Hank's death. The next decade, his name would be mentioned in tribute to country stars who had died in Hank Locklin's hit "The Country Hall of Fame." The Life Story of Hank Williams Written by Harold F. Hawkins & Louis Innis Released as a single, 1953 Hawk doing his best to sound like Hank: