DONAL2228

<p>HONKY TONK BLUES........HANK WILLIAMS, SR..............TURN IT UP!</p><p><br></p><p><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(32, 33, 34);">"Honky Tonk Blues" is one of the songs that Williams had the most trouble recording. According to </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Escott" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Colin Escott</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(32, 33, 34);">'s 2004 Williams memoir, Hank and producer </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Rose_(songwriter)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Fred Rose</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(32, 33, 34);"> had previously attempted to record the song several times; in August 1947, in March 1949, and again in June 1950.</span><sup style="background-color: initial; color: rgb(51, 102, 204);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honky_Tonk_Blues#cite_note-FOOTNOTEEscottMerrittMacEwen2004-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(32, 33, 34);"> The backing on the December 1951 session is believed to have consisted of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Helms" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Don Helms</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(32, 33, 34);"> (steel guitar), </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Rivers" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Jerry Rivers</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(32, 33, 34);"> (fiddle), Sam Pruett (electric guitar), </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Shook" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Jack Shook</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(32, 33, 34);"> (acoustic guitar), and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Newton_(bass_player)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Ernie Newton</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(32, 33, 34);"> or Howard Watts (bass). The song was about a young farmboy who leaves his father's farm for the enticements of the city, only to become worn down and disillusioned. The version that was released did not contain all the lyrics on his original demo; the next-to-last verse in which Maw and Paw are "really gonna lay down the law" was missing, emphasizing in a way that Hank himself never made it back from the honky-tonks to pappy's farm. Williams' version reached No. 2 on the </span><em style="background-color: initial; color: rgb(51, 102, 204);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Billboard</a></em><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(32, 33, 34);"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Country_Songs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Hot Country Songs</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(32, 33, 34);"> chart.</span></p>