Thread by @sheilakathleen

Today, it's Hank Williams' birthday. He auditioned for the Grand Ole Opry in 1946. They rejected him. He moved to Shreveport and began performing on the Louisiana Hayride radio broadcast - a wilder woolier version of the Opry. He became a phenom, the Hayride's first star. /1

People went apeshit. Lines down the block. People driving in from all over to see him. Waiting for hours. He was the main draw. He helped "make" the Hayride. 10 years later, Elvis, too, was launched via the Hayride. /2

In a wonderful doc a/b the Louisiana Hayride, called - amazingly - "Louisiana Hayride" - musician/songwriter Faron Young talked about Hank Williams. About his journey as the first crossover star in his field. And the sad early end.

Related: Saw Wanda Jackson play in 2016 at a hall in NJ. My friend was working the door and I stood there with him. The door opened, and a tiny woman, all in black leather, strolled in alone. It was Joan Jett. /4

...because if you are a rock star in a 100 mile radius and Wanda Jackson is playing, you SHOW UP. In every show, Wanda sings Hank Williams' "I Saw the Light," as a tribute to her faith, and it's always a RAGER. /5

I was on the floor near Joan Jett. We were both up front. During "I Saw the Light," everyone sang along. Amazing thing #1: Everyone knew the lyrics to a country-gospel song written in 1947 by a guy in a white cowboy hat. /6

I glanced over at JJ during "I Saw the Light." She stood there, deadpan, her body jiggling around. She sang along. Deadpan singing along. She was jamming out to Wanda Jackson singing a Hank Williams song. I felt like I was part of some gigantic continuum of 20th c. culture! /7

Here's ol' Hank singing "I Saw the Light". With the Carter family and ... seemingly 100s of other people ... behind him. He wrote songs with LEGS, man.

Here he is singing "Hey Good Lookin'".

One of the ways success can be measured is its influence on others. How others were inspired. Hank Williams continues to inspire others. Here are just a couple examples:

Ray Charles spoke often about listening to those country music broadcasts - the Grand Ole Opry and Louisiana Hayride - and eventually he did a gorgeous cover of Hank Williams' "Your Cheatin' Heart." Everybody covered it. But not like RC did.

Years later, Waylon Jennings - whose fights w/conservative Nashville helped solidify his stardom - wrote a song I absolutely love called "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?"

If you listen to the lyrics, it's like ...

Waylon Jennings called out Nashville(TM) for abandoning their roots, their roots as embodied in Hank Williams. I love how at one point Waylon actually laughs! He finds the whole situation - the country music scene and sound - so absurd all he can do is laugh.

As a coda to this: 34 years after Waylon called up the ghost of Hank Williams to shame country music into remembering its roots, Eric Church called up the ghost of Waylon to do the same thing - in "Lotta Boot Left to Fill".

Church shares Waylon's disdain (in "Country Music Jesus" Church calls for "a long-haired hippie prophet preaching from the Book of Johnny Cash!")
And in "Lotta Boot" he sings:
"I don't think Waylon done it that way
And if he was here he'd say "Hoss, neither did Hank!"

So you see how Hank Williams continues on as an inspiration, guiding force, a reminder ... to those who remember, that is. Hell, Johnny Cash wrote a whole song about it: "The Night Hank Williams Came to Town":

I think that's why Joan Jett bopping around to a song written by Hank Williams, sung by an octogenarian Rock 'n Roll Hall of Famer moved me so much. Remember who came before. There's strength and sustenance there. Happy birthday, Hank. /the end

Ooh forgot to mention - Ray Charles also did a fun duet with Hank Williams' son, Hank Williams Jr.! I wish men did duets more often. I love men harmonizing with each other - this is a lot of fun: