As he constructed his large viewers within the late Nineteen Forties and early 50s, Hank Williams hit the highest of the nation chart no fewer than seven occasions within the area of little greater than three years. Then got here his final launch of 1952, the poignantly, if whimsically, titled “I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive.” It entered the charts in Williams’ last days and have become his first posthumous No.1.
Such was the standing that he had on the earth of nation music that Hank would dominate the scene even in demise. After he handed away after years of alcohol and drug abuse, on the age of simply 29 on New Year’s Day 1953, that prophetically-titled tune grew to become the nation’s nation favorite inside three weeks.
As 1953 went on, MGM continued to launch singles by Williams, and one other landmark arrived on February 21. On the Billboard charts for that week, Hank was in demand as soon as once more, as “Kaw-Liga” made its debut, listed as a double-sided launch with the traditional that concurrently entered the bestsellers in its personal proper, “Your Cheatin’ Heart.”
The two songs showcased Williams’ full songwriting prowess. “Kaw-Liga,” written together with his producer Fred Rose, was the light-hearted, uptempo story of a lovelorn wood Indian, impressed by a statue close to a cabin by which he stayed in Kawliga, central Alabama. “Your Cheatin’ Heart” was a story of romantic woe a lot nearer to on a regular basis life, penned simply after Hank and his spouse Audrey had divorced.
Both songs have been a part of his last recording session at Castle Studio in Nashville in September 1952, an especially fruitful reserving that additionally yielded “I Could Never Be Ashamed Of You” and one other signature tune, “Take These Chains From My Heart.”
“Kaw-Liga” was swiftly coated by numerous artists in competing releases, together with one other on MGM by Bill Farrell. Like “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” it debuted on the February 21 Billboard chart, by which situation the journal reported: “This is the big news of the week. ‘Kaw-Liga’ hit all three charts. Most important, it came in at number one on sales chart. Flip side also hit sales chart.” Eerily, each songs have been within the charts concurrently the tribute tune “The Death of Hank Williams” by Alabama-born singer Hank Cardwell.
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“Your Cheatin’ Heart’” went on to its personal No.1 rating in April, and to say a spot amongst Williams’ most well-known songs. In 1964, it grew to become the title of the biopic about him, and is usually listed as one of many nice requirements in nation music historical past – endlessly coated, however absolutely most memorably by Ray Charles, as you’ll be able to learn right here.
Buy or stream “Kaw-Liga” and “Your Cheatin’ Heart” on Hank Williams’ 40 Greatest Hits album.