Hank Williams for Mother's Best Flour

Hank in the Slammer, 1951.

Hank in a good mood.

Hank Williams & the Drifting Cowboys Hank Williams: The Ole Sorry Ass, Himself. Hank on TV, except the camera doesn't seem to be plugged in. Hank Williams with the Drifting Cowboys in a peculiar pose.

Where the lost highway ended, Hank in his casket, 1953.

You're not really dead unless you have the paperwork to prove it, Hank's death certificate.

Dorks like Bruce Springsteen make a big deal about not taking advertising money, but that's because they don't need the money. I hate that holier than thou shit. Radio never played the Stooges, so if people hear 'em on TV commercials, good for the Stooges, who deserve a pay day.

Ray Charles (Pepsi), Jimmy Reed (Gypsy Rose Wine), Little Richard (Royal Crown hair dressing), Sonny Boy Williamson (King Biscuit Flour), the Rolling Stones (Rice Krispies), Dave Bartholomew (Jax beer) , and Howlin' Wolf (C.V. Wine), all did commercials, and it didn't hurt their music one bit. For several years Hank Williams did a morning radio show (this one, aimed at the rural farm crowd was 7:00-7:15 AM, ouch!) for various sponsors, the ones presented here were for Mother's Best Flour. Here are five airchecks, they're fifteen minutes each, and are presented exactly they way they were heard back in 1949-50 when they were aired. There are some songs he never recorded commercially as well as some of his hits. Even his wisecracks are sometimes pretty funny, and he's singing his ass off on most of these tunes. Hell, even tin-eared wife Audrey doesn't sound so bad. Enjoy: Hank Williams' Mother's Best Show: #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5.

Some fun facts about Hank Williams:

*His favorite song was Death Is A Dream, here's the best version (by Rev. Edward Clayborn "the Guitar Evangelist").

*His favorite saying was "Don't worry, nuthin's goin' be alright anyhow".

*He died from a combination of alcohol, morphine and chloral hydrate.

*Had he lived, he might have invented rockabilly, since in his final years he had chronic hiccups (the day before he died his doctor gave him two morphine shots for the hiccups).

*His real name was Hiriam, he named himself Hank as a kid.

* He charged admission to his second marriage (to Billy Jean Jones), and sold out four shows, so he married her four times (if they got divorced would he have had to pay four alimonies?).

* He's playing the guitar solo on his version of My Bucket's Got A Hole In It. He's pretty good too.

* For a really great look at Hank's final days, check out John Gilmore's Laid Bare.