Fifty seven years after his death at the age of 29, Hanks Williams Sr., has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize. The late star will be given a special citation from the organization to recognize his lifetime achievement, praising his "craftsmanship as a songwriter" and his "pivotal role in transforming country music into a major musical and cultural force".
Although Hank would barely recognize Country music in its current "pop" form, his influence among musicians of all genres is undeniable. The success of Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, John Prine, Patsy Cline, John Hiatt and many more artists all tip their hat to Hank Williams.
Move It On Over was his first hit in 1947, the year I was born.
I simply cannot get into the hillbilly stuff. The Eagles are about as rural as I can get.
ReplyDeleteI am not a country freak but I have always liked that. I do not like the new stuff either but he would.
ReplyDeleteCrimini! Has the state of affairs for writers, poets and the like sunk so low that they have to reserect the dead in order to find someone worthy of a Pulitzer?
ReplyDeleteFor those who don't know his work, here is an example...deserving of the Pulitzer...and as poetic as it gets...the saddest song, ever:
ReplyDeleteI'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
Hear that lonesome whippoorwill
He sounds too blue to fly
The midnight train is whining low
I'm so lonesome I could cry
I've never seen a night so long
When time goes crawling by
The moon just went behind a cloud
To hide its face and cry
Did you ever see a robin weep
When leaves began to die?
That means he's lost the will to live
I'm so lonesome I could cry
The silence of a falling star
Lights up a purple sky
And as I wonder where you are
I'm so lonesome I could cry
I miss the old stuff like Patsy Cline, Hank Sr., Tom T. Hall, Don Williams, and Marty Robbins.
ReplyDeleteWhile there are exceptions the new stuff does not sound anything like country music to me.
I'm not a country fan at all, but Hank Williams was a great innovator. He had an undeniable influence on all the people you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI think Hank Sr. was a tremendous influence, I hear it all the time, he should have been recognized years ago for his contribution to the arts. I have heard some marvelous interpretations of his songs by people with much more of a vocal range than Hank, for instance Ray Charles version of "You Cheating Heart' and Johnny Cash singing 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry.' A simple, but an excellent poet, in the Chuck Berry mold. Peoples poets both.
ReplyDeleteThis is so much better than the cover by George Thorogood. Great song.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoOEEQPiUxE&feature=PlayList&p=FB1BF7021B40296F&playnext_from=PL&index=0
ReplyDeleteThis says it all.
A prolific talent who died too young.
ReplyDeleteRandal, I'm sure you'd get a charge out of Williams' "'Neath a Cold Gray Tomb of Stone." Also, not all of his music was hillbilly or really even country. Examples: "Jambalaya" and "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love With You)."
Good post man!
ReplyDeleteFor those of you who may not know it, Hank Williams is not exactly a recent discovery so long ignored and only now being recognized for his contributions to music and the culture.
ReplyDeleteIt is not that he isn't deserving of a Pulitzer, he should have gotten one long ago, along with the zillion other recognitions he's received over the years, but post-humous Pulitzers miss the point entirely. The Pulitzer Prize was created to recognize "contemporary" writing and poetic talent. If he hasn't already gotten one, Bob Dylan fits that description.
Mr. Charleston - All award giving institutions seem to get it wrong or are late with their plaudits. The Beatles had been performing for several years before being nominated for an EMMY, Martin Scorsese should have won for "Raging Bull" it took him years to get an OSCAR, they had to give Alfred Hitchcock an OSCAR for services rendered, same with Charlie Chaplin. You mentioned Bob Dylan, his work right now is fantastic, but his big impact was over 50 years ago. So, I don't mind Hank getting it 60 years late, at least he got it.
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