My Top Ten Songs About Hank: Rollin' and Ramblin' (The Death of Hank Williams) (#1a)

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As I mentioned with yesterday's song, "The Ballad of Hank Williams," this was really a tie, so I had to flip a coin to see who'd go first in the list of my favorite songs about Hank Williams. In terms of "quality," I'd have to give this one the advantage, but I love them both. Here's the song that won the coin toss as my favorite song about Hank Williams. #1: Rollin' and Ramblin' (The Death of Hank Williams) - Robin & Linda Williams First, no, not THAT Robin Williams. Second, no, NO relation to Hank. Husband-and-wife Americana duo Robin and Linda Williams met 45 years ago in South Carolina and began singing together. They've been touring together (and married) since the 70s, blending traditional country, folk, and bluegrass in their music. They are also universally hailed in Americana as first-rate songwriters. One of their best-known songs is this one. Emmylou Harris covered it on her 1990 album Brand New Dance (Emmy, like her rock counterpart Linda Ronstadt, has a long history of picking some great songs from commercially under-the-radar singer/songwriters.) The song deals with the pain that Hank felt when he was more or less kicked out of Nashville, fired from the Grand Ole Opry for his habitual no-shows (and being drunk when he did show). He returned to the Louisiana Hayride (the Shreveport radio/live show where he got his start), but the pain remained. For those who don't know the story of "his last ride," Hank was hired to headline two shows: a New Year's Eve 1952 show in West Virginia and a January 1, 1953 show in Canton, Ohio. It was a package show with other acts like Homer & Jethro (who were friends with Hank and eventually did parodies -- with Hank's blessing -- of six Hank songs), Hawkshaw Hawkins, Autry Inman, and other local and regional talent. A college student on winter break was hired to drive Hank to the shows to make sure Hank got to the show (because George Jones did NOT invent the "no-show" at concerts). They couldn't get to West Virginia because of weather (Hank had chartered a plane out of Knoxville to try to get there, but the plane had to turn around because of bad weather), so they got some sleep in a hotel in Knoxville (the Andrew Johnson, you can see if you take the walking tour of downtown Knoxville) before heading for Canton. Somewhere in the night Hank died of heart failure. There's more speculation on his death than JFK assassination conspiracy theories (someone, supposedly a doctor, came to Hank's room earlier in the evening and gave him an injection, ostensibly for his chronic back pain), but the fact is he was declared dead in Oak Hill, West Virginia on the morning of January 1, 1953. None of that is detailed in this song. It's all a gentle, subtle hint, punctuated by the chorus of how "women loved him half to death, he sang with whiskey on his breath, his heart broke like a child." This is a great song, period, but it's also, to me, the best song about the man and the legend known as Hank Williams. Thanks for reading. Rollin' and Ramblin' (The Death of Hank Williams) Written by Robin Williams and Linda Williams Recorded by Robin & Linda Williams From All Broken Hearts Are the Same, 1989 Robin and Linda singing their tribute to Hank: