Maps of Music

Moanin' the Blues (1952)

Where the lyrics of Moanin' the Blues take you, and where it was really made.

Hank Williams's second and last studio album was built from songs cut between 1947 and 1951 and contained no new music, yet it is packed with hits, including three songs that reached No. 1.

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Album story

Overview

• Moanin' the Blues: second and last studio album by American country musician Hank Williams
• Released on MGM Records in 1952
• Release date 12 September 1952
• Contains no new music at the time of its release
• Built from earlier recordings, with tracks cut between 1947 and 1951
• Fred Rose produced the recordings and compiled the album around a blues theme

Background

• Williams' debut LP, Hank Williams Sings, also held no new music at release
• The debut was made mostly of B-sides that had fared poorly on release; this album is packed with hits
• Two of Williams' most blues-influenced cuts, 'My Bucket's Got a Hole in It' and 'Move It on Over', were left off
• MGM was unlikely to treat the album as a major priority
• Country LPs were considered not to sell, and a single as a trailer for an album was still more than ten years away

Recording

• Tracks recorded between 1947 and 1951
• Most recent cut: 'Honky Tonk Blues'
• Williams wrote every song except 'Lovesick Blues'
• Personnel: Williams on guitar and vocals; Tommy Jackson, Jerry Rivers and Robert 'Chubby' Wise on fiddle; Don Helms and Jerry Byrd on steel guitar
• Farris Coursey played drums on 'Moanin' the Blues'
• Fred Rose and Owen Bradley are listed on piano, unconfirmed

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Hiram "Hank" Williams (1923–1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician, regarded as an early pioneer of country music.
• Born in Mount Olive, Butler County, Alabama; learned guitar from blues musician Rufus Payne and was influenced by Roy Acuff.
• Formed the Drifting Cowboys band and began his radio career at WSFA in Montgomery in the late 1930s.
• Signed with MGM Records in 1947 and joined the Louisiana Hayride; his 1949 cover of "Lovesick Blues" reached No. 1 and made him a star on the Grand Ole Opry.
• Wrote hits including "Your Cheatin' Heart", "Hey, Good Lookin'", and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", despite being unable to read or notate music.
• Recorded 55 singles reaching the Billboard country top 10, 12 of them at No. 1.
• Struggled with spina bifida occulta pain, alcoholism, and substance abuse; was dismissed from the Grand Ole Opry in 1952.

Death

• Died on January 1, 1953, at age 29 in the back seat of a car near Oak Hill, West Virginia, en route to a concert in Canton, Ohio.

Legacy

• Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame (1961), Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1987), and Songwriters Hall of Fame (1970).
• Posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation in 2010.
• Influenced Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones, among others.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• MGM was unlikely to treat the album as a major priority
• Country LPs were taken as axiomatically not selling
• A single as a trailer for the album was still more than ten years away at the time

Reappraisal

• Among the tracks, 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry' is believed by many to be Williams' songwriting masterpiece
• That song did not chart when the album was released

Records

• Three album tracks reached No. 1: 'Lovesick Blues', 'Long Gone Lonesome Blues' and 'Honky Tonk Blues'
• 'Moanin' the Blues' peaked at No. 2 and 'I'm a Long Gone Daddy' at No. 6, both Top 10 hits

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Like the debut, this album contained no new music at the time of its release
• 'Lovesick Blues' was written by Cliff Friend and Irving Mills, not by Williams
• 'Move It on Over' is described as a nascent rock and roll track and was left off the album
• Producer Fred Rose also compiled the album around a blues theme
• Owen Bradley's piano part is listed as unconfirmed

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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