Chords for Hank Williams Jr.: Why He’s Not a Grand Ole Opry Member
Tempo:
77.7 bpm
Chords used:
E
Am
A
G
Eb
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[E] There was a bit of a vibe when Hank Williams Jr.
[A] visited with Taste of Country to talk
about his life, [E] career, and new Rich White Honky Blues album.
He sat down [G] and lit it up because, quote, icons don't ask.
Shoot, the man [E] is a Hall of Famer, which means a lot, at least to his family.
Probably more to them than me.
That's what I figured.
That's kind of how it was.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean, everybody there knew.
They said, this is ridiculous.
You know, my goodness.
Everybody thought, well, I thought you were already in there.
You know?
Yeah.
You should have been there 20-something years ago.
Definitely.
Anyway, I didn't lose no sleep over it.
Thumbs up this video if you agree with Hank there, and tap subscribe if you want some
bonus footage from this interview.
Hank became a Country Music Hall of Fame inductee in 2021, and a lot of people believe that
was 20 or 30 years too late.
I'm Madison Hager, and Taste of Country Night's host Evan Paul sat down with Hank
Williams Jr.
in Nashville and spoke to Hank about his life.
Evan spent nearly 30 minutes talking about his very interesting life, his destructive
friendship with Johnny Cash, and of course, this new album, a blues album made up mostly
of cover songs.
Funny story about that.
Evan was trying to ask if songs on rich white honky blues would hold up today given at times
crass subject matter or lewd language.
He only got as far as quote, would they hold up before
The hell they won't.
You're wrong on that one.
Do you, you know, you say I can't help it if I'm still in love with you.
That's forever.
Yeah.
You say, uh, uh, you better get some insurance on me, baby.
That's forever.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Georgia women, shake them on down.
That's forever.
Yeah.
My ass culture shit.
Good music is good music.
Warning about this next part.
Evan uses a pair of offensive terms, but he's reciting specific lyrics from the album.
If you have kids around or at work, you may want to mute.
That's one of the greatest things in here.
There's no political shit at zero.
Yeah.
None.
Thunderhead don't think about political shit.
Yeah.
Don't give a shit about it.
Yeah.
This ain't Hank Jr.
This is Thunderhead Hawkins, brother.
Dang.
Thought he might walk out on us there.
Certainly don't want to be that guy.
Okay, here's how this works.
We're going [Am] to run through the best conversation clips from the interview because the full
[E] conversation is a little stop and go with pauses [Am] to think, light up that cigar and spit.
[Eb] But if you want the full conversations, [D] find it at Taste of Country [E] Nights on demand.
I put the links to that in the description [Am] section.
First up, that story about Hank [E] and Johnny Cash.
They're very, very close.
In fact, Hank says that when he fell over 500 feet off that mountain in 1975, he woke
up to see Johnny and June Carter Cash standing over him.
Johnny loved to shoot cannons.
And I had one when I was 14 years old on Franklin Road.
And I would fill that son of a bitch up with powder and touch it off.
And he loved it.
Wait a minute.
And the next door neighbor would call and say, Ms.
Williams, could you ask Hank Jr.
to point that barrel in a different direction?
He just knocked all the books off of my shelf.
That's the true shit, folks.
You and Johnny Cash shooting cannons.
He loved it.
He loved it.
And so did I.
And still do.
There's a second part to that story that we'll share with subscribers very soon.
So go ahead and tap that subscribe button and ring that notifications bell.
Next up, Hank talked about his dad's music.
What's your favorite song of your dad's?
Can you give one?
No, I don't really have.
There's just too many good ones.
Yeah.
There's just too many good ones.
I don't know.
Honky Tonk Blues would be right at the top.
That's probably, moving on over and Honky Tonk Blues are probably the original rockabilly,
the beginnings of all time is those two songs.
Of course, these days when you think rockabilly and [N] country music, you think Jerry Lee Lewis,
who Hank says, like him, was probably kept out of the Hall of Fame for so long because
he went against the grain so often.
You may also think Elvis and this was interesting.
If you think about it, Hank and Elvis were contemporaries, but they weren't necessarily friends.
I didn't mess with him.
I didn't hang out around with him at all.
I'm the Southern rock crowd.
Me and Greg Allman and Marshall Tucker and those guys, that's who I was hanging with.
Thank goodness.
Thank goodness.
Somehow, I feel like there's more to that story, but we'll have to get it next time.
Hank was not only kept from the Hall of Fame for years, he's never been a member of the
Grand Ole Opry.
His dad was, but he was famously kicked out for missing too many shows due to his alcoholism.
That happened in 1952.
Several months later, he died and the Opry rules state that members who die are no longer
members, they're past members.
That doesn't really explain much about why Hank Jr.
isn't in, but he had no trouble breaking it down.
You know, I've never been a member of the Grand Ole Opry, never will be.
So that sums it up right there too.
I wasn't listening to no Grand Ole Opry, brother.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I love going there and being around those guys, but when I'm
in the back of that car, and I'm 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 years old, I said, put it on WLAC.
Hoss Allen.
Oh, Bobby Blue Bland, Bo Diddley.
I said, yeah, yeah, yeah, put it on that station right there.
That's what I was listening to.
That's the good stuff, man.
Oh yeah.
White Rose Petroleum Jelly.
The Hoss Man.
Some context there.
WLAC was a well-known rhythm and blues station, and Bill Hossman Allen was one of his most
famous DJs in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s.
Hank's basically saying he didn't grow up listening to WSM, so that wasn't high on his bucket list.
Fair, right?
Hank's is a blues guy through and through, and Thunderhead Hawkins is his blues alias.
One of his francy covers on Rich White Honky Blues is Lightnin' Hopkins, who once told
Hank that, quote, country music ain't nothing but white people's blues.
Thanks to CMT for that quote.
There are also two R.L. Burnside covers and three originals on the album.
On the name Rich White Honky Blues, Hank said he got it from that comedian and actor Red
Fox, who he met when he was just a teenager in Las Vegas.
It was a moment.
He sat down at the table, and he started telling my mother how he knew and loved all of Daddy's
songs, and his mother had them all.
And it just blew my mind.
You know, good God, and he's getting up, you can imagine what his show consisted of when
he was talking.
Right.
It's something I never forgot, and then when I wrote this song, I thought about him on that show.
Lamont, what are you hanging out with all them old Rich White Honkys for?
That's exactly where it came from, folks.
It's love.
It ain't nothing but pure love.
Yeah, it was a lot of love during this interview, except for that part at the beginning when
he got really angry with us about questioning these songs.
Don't get me wrong, he's not becoming a pushover in his late years.
We were talking about the NFL, and he admitted he's not a fan of Miami.
Not the football team, but the city.
I didn't go no damn Dolphins game.
I just didn't.
I don't like Miami.
You didn't like Marino?
I don't like Miami.
I mean I just don't care about going to that town down there.
It's not part of the United States.
I don't know.
I don't give a shit about going down there.
No.
I really don't.
I'll go to Pittsburgh.
Yeah, Oakland.
Yeah, Miami.
No
I'm kind of the guy that's really well known for saying no
We'll give you half a million.
Please come and play the show
No
You understand that no
So Bobby Rock just played here in Nashville
About a month ago.
No No
Hank come on my god, man, please do that.
Shut up.
No
They understood it bobby laughed about it
I said you don't need me to fill that up
And I don't need you if I want to come fill it up.
He said why shit I know that
He is a super good guy rich white honky blues drops june 17th find it wherever great music is found
I'm addison hager for taste of country.
Thanks for watching
[A] visited with Taste of Country to talk
about his life, [E] career, and new Rich White Honky Blues album.
He sat down [G] and lit it up because, quote, icons don't ask.
Shoot, the man [E] is a Hall of Famer, which means a lot, at least to his family.
Probably more to them than me.
That's what I figured.
That's kind of how it was.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean, everybody there knew.
They said, this is ridiculous.
You know, my goodness.
Everybody thought, well, I thought you were already in there.
You know?
Yeah.
You should have been there 20-something years ago.
Definitely.
Anyway, I didn't lose no sleep over it.
Thumbs up this video if you agree with Hank there, and tap subscribe if you want some
bonus footage from this interview.
Hank became a Country Music Hall of Fame inductee in 2021, and a lot of people believe that
was 20 or 30 years too late.
I'm Madison Hager, and Taste of Country Night's host Evan Paul sat down with Hank
Williams Jr.
in Nashville and spoke to Hank about his life.
Evan spent nearly 30 minutes talking about his very interesting life, his destructive
friendship with Johnny Cash, and of course, this new album, a blues album made up mostly
of cover songs.
Funny story about that.
Evan was trying to ask if songs on rich white honky blues would hold up today given at times
crass subject matter or lewd language.
He only got as far as quote, would they hold up before
The hell they won't.
You're wrong on that one.
Do you, you know, you say I can't help it if I'm still in love with you.
That's forever.
Yeah.
You say, uh, uh, you better get some insurance on me, baby.
That's forever.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Georgia women, shake them on down.
That's forever.
Yeah.
My ass culture shit.
Good music is good music.
Warning about this next part.
Evan uses a pair of offensive terms, but he's reciting specific lyrics from the album.
If you have kids around or at work, you may want to mute.
That's one of the greatest things in here.
There's no political shit at zero.
Yeah.
None.
Thunderhead don't think about political shit.
Yeah.
Don't give a shit about it.
Yeah.
This ain't Hank Jr.
This is Thunderhead Hawkins, brother.
Dang.
Thought he might walk out on us there.
Certainly don't want to be that guy.
Okay, here's how this works.
We're going [Am] to run through the best conversation clips from the interview because the full
[E] conversation is a little stop and go with pauses [Am] to think, light up that cigar and spit.
[Eb] But if you want the full conversations, [D] find it at Taste of Country [E] Nights on demand.
I put the links to that in the description [Am] section.
First up, that story about Hank [E] and Johnny Cash.
They're very, very close.
In fact, Hank says that when he fell over 500 feet off that mountain in 1975, he woke
up to see Johnny and June Carter Cash standing over him.
Johnny loved to shoot cannons.
And I had one when I was 14 years old on Franklin Road.
And I would fill that son of a bitch up with powder and touch it off.
And he loved it.
Wait a minute.
And the next door neighbor would call and say, Ms.
Williams, could you ask Hank Jr.
to point that barrel in a different direction?
He just knocked all the books off of my shelf.
That's the true shit, folks.
You and Johnny Cash shooting cannons.
He loved it.
He loved it.
And so did I.
And still do.
There's a second part to that story that we'll share with subscribers very soon.
So go ahead and tap that subscribe button and ring that notifications bell.
Next up, Hank talked about his dad's music.
What's your favorite song of your dad's?
Can you give one?
No, I don't really have.
There's just too many good ones.
Yeah.
There's just too many good ones.
I don't know.
Honky Tonk Blues would be right at the top.
That's probably, moving on over and Honky Tonk Blues are probably the original rockabilly,
the beginnings of all time is those two songs.
Of course, these days when you think rockabilly and [N] country music, you think Jerry Lee Lewis,
who Hank says, like him, was probably kept out of the Hall of Fame for so long because
he went against the grain so often.
You may also think Elvis and this was interesting.
If you think about it, Hank and Elvis were contemporaries, but they weren't necessarily friends.
I didn't mess with him.
I didn't hang out around with him at all.
I'm the Southern rock crowd.
Me and Greg Allman and Marshall Tucker and those guys, that's who I was hanging with.
Thank goodness.
Thank goodness.
Somehow, I feel like there's more to that story, but we'll have to get it next time.
Hank was not only kept from the Hall of Fame for years, he's never been a member of the
Grand Ole Opry.
His dad was, but he was famously kicked out for missing too many shows due to his alcoholism.
That happened in 1952.
Several months later, he died and the Opry rules state that members who die are no longer
members, they're past members.
That doesn't really explain much about why Hank Jr.
isn't in, but he had no trouble breaking it down.
You know, I've never been a member of the Grand Ole Opry, never will be.
So that sums it up right there too.
I wasn't listening to no Grand Ole Opry, brother.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I love going there and being around those guys, but when I'm
in the back of that car, and I'm 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 years old, I said, put it on WLAC.
Hoss Allen.
Oh, Bobby Blue Bland, Bo Diddley.
I said, yeah, yeah, yeah, put it on that station right there.
That's what I was listening to.
That's the good stuff, man.
Oh yeah.
White Rose Petroleum Jelly.
The Hoss Man.
Some context there.
WLAC was a well-known rhythm and blues station, and Bill Hossman Allen was one of his most
famous DJs in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s.
Hank's basically saying he didn't grow up listening to WSM, so that wasn't high on his bucket list.
Fair, right?
Hank's is a blues guy through and through, and Thunderhead Hawkins is his blues alias.
One of his francy covers on Rich White Honky Blues is Lightnin' Hopkins, who once told
Hank that, quote, country music ain't nothing but white people's blues.
Thanks to CMT for that quote.
There are also two R.L. Burnside covers and three originals on the album.
On the name Rich White Honky Blues, Hank said he got it from that comedian and actor Red
Fox, who he met when he was just a teenager in Las Vegas.
It was a moment.
He sat down at the table, and he started telling my mother how he knew and loved all of Daddy's
songs, and his mother had them all.
And it just blew my mind.
You know, good God, and he's getting up, you can imagine what his show consisted of when
he was talking.
Right.
It's something I never forgot, and then when I wrote this song, I thought about him on that show.
Lamont, what are you hanging out with all them old Rich White Honkys for?
That's exactly where it came from, folks.
It's love.
It ain't nothing but pure love.
Yeah, it was a lot of love during this interview, except for that part at the beginning when
he got really angry with us about questioning these songs.
Don't get me wrong, he's not becoming a pushover in his late years.
We were talking about the NFL, and he admitted he's not a fan of Miami.
Not the football team, but the city.
I didn't go no damn Dolphins game.
I just didn't.
I don't like Miami.
You didn't like Marino?
I don't like Miami.
I mean I just don't care about going to that town down there.
It's not part of the United States.
I don't know.
I don't give a shit about going down there.
No.
I really don't.
I'll go to Pittsburgh.
Yeah, Oakland.
Yeah, Miami.
No
I'm kind of the guy that's really well known for saying no
We'll give you half a million.
Please come and play the show
No
You understand that no
So Bobby Rock just played here in Nashville
About a month ago.
No No
Hank come on my god, man, please do that.
Shut up.
No
They understood it bobby laughed about it
I said you don't need me to fill that up
And I don't need you if I want to come fill it up.
He said why shit I know that
He is a super good guy rich white honky blues drops june 17th find it wherever great music is found
I'm addison hager for taste of country.
Thanks for watching
Key:
E
Am
A
G
Eb
E
Am
A
_ _ _ [E] There was a bit of a vibe when Hank Williams Jr.
[A] visited with Taste of Country to talk
about his life, [E] career, and new Rich White Honky Blues album.
He sat down [G] and lit it up because, quote, icons don't ask.
Shoot, the man [E] is a Hall of Famer, which means a lot, at least to his family.
Probably more to them than me.
That's what I figured.
That's kind of how it was.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean, everybody there knew.
They said, this is ridiculous.
You know, my goodness.
Everybody thought, well, I thought you were already in there.
You know?
Yeah.
You should have been there 20-something years ago.
Definitely.
Anyway, I didn't lose no sleep over it.
Thumbs up this video if you agree with Hank there, and tap subscribe if you want some
bonus footage from this interview.
Hank became a Country Music Hall of Fame inductee in 2021, and a lot of people believe that
was 20 or 30 years too late.
I'm Madison Hager, and Taste of Country Night's host Evan Paul sat down with Hank
Williams Jr.
in Nashville and spoke to Hank about his life.
Evan spent nearly 30 minutes talking about his very interesting life, his destructive
friendship with Johnny Cash, and of course, this new album, a blues album made up mostly
of cover songs.
Funny story about that.
Evan was trying to ask if songs on rich white honky blues would hold up today given at times
crass subject matter or lewd language.
He only got as far as quote, would they hold up before_
The hell they won't.
_ You're wrong on that one.
Do you, you know, you say I can't help it if I'm still in love with you.
That's forever.
Yeah.
You say, uh, uh, you better get some insurance on me, baby.
That's forever.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Georgia women, shake them on down.
That's forever.
Yeah.
My ass culture shit.
Good music is good music.
Warning about this next part.
Evan uses a pair of offensive terms, but he's reciting specific lyrics from the album.
If you have kids around or at work, you may want to mute.
That's one of the greatest things in here.
There's no political shit at zero.
Yeah.
None.
Thunderhead don't think about political shit.
Yeah.
Don't give a shit about it.
Yeah.
This ain't Hank Jr.
This is Thunderhead Hawkins, brother.
Dang.
Thought he might walk out on us there.
Certainly don't want to be that guy.
Okay, here's how this works.
We're going [Am] to run through the best conversation clips from the interview because the full
[E] conversation is a little stop and go with pauses [Am] to think, light up that cigar and spit.
[Eb] But if you want the full conversations, [D] find it at Taste of Country [E] Nights on demand.
I put the links to that in the description [Am] section.
First up, that story about Hank [E] and Johnny Cash.
They're very, very close.
In fact, Hank says that when he fell over 500 feet off that mountain in 1975, he woke
up to see Johnny and June Carter Cash standing over him.
Johnny loved to shoot cannons.
And I had one when I was 14 years old on Franklin Road.
_ And I would fill that son of a bitch up with powder and touch it off.
And he loved it.
Wait a minute.
And the next door neighbor would call and say, Ms.
Williams, could you ask Hank Jr.
to point that barrel in a different direction?
He just knocked all the books off of my shelf.
_ That's the true shit, folks.
You and Johnny Cash shooting cannons.
He loved it.
He loved it.
And so did I.
And still do.
There's a second part to that story that we'll share with subscribers very soon.
So go ahead and tap that subscribe button and ring that notifications bell.
Next up, Hank talked about his dad's music.
What's your favorite song of your dad's?
Can you give one?
No, I don't really have.
There's just too many good ones.
Yeah.
There's just too many good ones.
I don't know.
Honky Tonk Blues would be right at the top.
_ That's probably, moving on over and Honky Tonk Blues are probably the original rockabilly, _ _
the beginnings of all time is those two songs.
Of course, these days when you think rockabilly and [N] country music, you think Jerry Lee Lewis,
who Hank says, like him, was probably kept out of the Hall of Fame for so long because
he went against the grain so often.
You may also think Elvis and this was interesting.
If you think about it, Hank and Elvis were contemporaries, but they weren't necessarily friends.
I didn't mess with him.
_ _ I didn't hang out around with him at all.
I'm the Southern rock crowd.
Me and Greg Allman and Marshall Tucker and those guys, that's who I was hanging with.
Thank goodness. _
Thank goodness.
Somehow, I feel like there's more to that story, but we'll have to get it next time.
Hank was not only kept from the Hall of Fame for years, he's never been a member of the
Grand Ole Opry.
His dad was, but he was famously kicked out for missing too many shows due to his alcoholism.
That happened in 1952.
Several months later, he died and the Opry rules state that members who die are no longer
members, they're past members.
That doesn't really explain much about why Hank Jr.
isn't in, but he had no trouble breaking it down.
You know, I've never been a member of the Grand Ole Opry, never will be.
So that sums it up right there too.
I wasn't listening to no Grand Ole Opry, brother.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I love going there and being around those guys, but when I'm
in the back of that car, and I'm 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 years old, I said, put it on WLAC. _ _
Hoss Allen.
_ Oh, Bobby Blue Bland, Bo Diddley.
I said, yeah, yeah, yeah, put it on that station right there.
That's what I was listening to.
That's the good stuff, man.
Oh yeah.
White Rose Petroleum Jelly.
The Hoss Man.
Some context there.
WLAC was a well-known rhythm and blues station, and Bill Hossman Allen was one of his most
famous DJs in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s.
Hank's basically saying he didn't grow up listening to WSM, so that wasn't high on his bucket list.
Fair, right?
Hank's is a blues guy through and through, and Thunderhead Hawkins is his blues alias.
One of his francy covers on Rich White Honky Blues is Lightnin' Hopkins, who once told
Hank that, quote, country music ain't nothing but white people's blues.
Thanks to CMT for that quote.
There are also two R.L. Burnside covers and three originals on the album.
On the name Rich White Honky Blues, Hank said he got it from that comedian and actor Red
Fox, who he met when he was just a teenager in Las Vegas.
It was a moment.
He sat down at the table, and he started telling my mother _ how he knew and loved all of Daddy's
songs, and his mother had them all.
And it just blew my mind.
You know, good God, and he's getting up, you can imagine what his show consisted of when
he was talking.
Right.
It's something I never forgot, and then when I wrote this song, I thought about him on that show.
Lamont, what are you hanging out with all them old Rich White Honkys for? _ _
That's exactly where it came from, folks.
It's love.
It ain't nothing but pure love.
Yeah, it was a lot of love during this interview, except for that part at the beginning when
he got really angry with us about questioning these songs.
Don't get me wrong, he's not becoming a pushover in his late years.
We were talking about the NFL, and he admitted he's not a fan of Miami.
Not the football team, but the city.
I didn't go no damn Dolphins game.
I just didn't.
I don't like Miami.
You didn't like Marino?
I don't like Miami.
I mean I just don't care about going to that town down there.
It's not part of the United States.
I don't know.
I don't give a shit about going down there.
No.
I really don't.
I'll go to Pittsburgh.
Yeah, Oakland.
Yeah, Miami.
No
I'm kind of the guy that's really well known for saying no
We'll give you half a million.
Please come and play the show
No
_ You understand that no
So Bobby Rock just played here in Nashville
About a month ago.
No No _
Hank come on my god, man, please do that.
Shut up.
No _
They understood it bobby laughed about it
I said you don't need me to fill that up
And I don't need you if I want to come fill it up.
He said why shit I know that _ _
He is a super good guy rich white honky blues drops june 17th find it wherever great music is found
I'm addison hager for taste of country.
Thanks for watching _ _ _
[A] visited with Taste of Country to talk
about his life, [E] career, and new Rich White Honky Blues album.
He sat down [G] and lit it up because, quote, icons don't ask.
Shoot, the man [E] is a Hall of Famer, which means a lot, at least to his family.
Probably more to them than me.
That's what I figured.
That's kind of how it was.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean, everybody there knew.
They said, this is ridiculous.
You know, my goodness.
Everybody thought, well, I thought you were already in there.
You know?
Yeah.
You should have been there 20-something years ago.
Definitely.
Anyway, I didn't lose no sleep over it.
Thumbs up this video if you agree with Hank there, and tap subscribe if you want some
bonus footage from this interview.
Hank became a Country Music Hall of Fame inductee in 2021, and a lot of people believe that
was 20 or 30 years too late.
I'm Madison Hager, and Taste of Country Night's host Evan Paul sat down with Hank
Williams Jr.
in Nashville and spoke to Hank about his life.
Evan spent nearly 30 minutes talking about his very interesting life, his destructive
friendship with Johnny Cash, and of course, this new album, a blues album made up mostly
of cover songs.
Funny story about that.
Evan was trying to ask if songs on rich white honky blues would hold up today given at times
crass subject matter or lewd language.
He only got as far as quote, would they hold up before_
The hell they won't.
_ You're wrong on that one.
Do you, you know, you say I can't help it if I'm still in love with you.
That's forever.
Yeah.
You say, uh, uh, you better get some insurance on me, baby.
That's forever.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Georgia women, shake them on down.
That's forever.
Yeah.
My ass culture shit.
Good music is good music.
Warning about this next part.
Evan uses a pair of offensive terms, but he's reciting specific lyrics from the album.
If you have kids around or at work, you may want to mute.
That's one of the greatest things in here.
There's no political shit at zero.
Yeah.
None.
Thunderhead don't think about political shit.
Yeah.
Don't give a shit about it.
Yeah.
This ain't Hank Jr.
This is Thunderhead Hawkins, brother.
Dang.
Thought he might walk out on us there.
Certainly don't want to be that guy.
Okay, here's how this works.
We're going [Am] to run through the best conversation clips from the interview because the full
[E] conversation is a little stop and go with pauses [Am] to think, light up that cigar and spit.
[Eb] But if you want the full conversations, [D] find it at Taste of Country [E] Nights on demand.
I put the links to that in the description [Am] section.
First up, that story about Hank [E] and Johnny Cash.
They're very, very close.
In fact, Hank says that when he fell over 500 feet off that mountain in 1975, he woke
up to see Johnny and June Carter Cash standing over him.
Johnny loved to shoot cannons.
And I had one when I was 14 years old on Franklin Road.
_ And I would fill that son of a bitch up with powder and touch it off.
And he loved it.
Wait a minute.
And the next door neighbor would call and say, Ms.
Williams, could you ask Hank Jr.
to point that barrel in a different direction?
He just knocked all the books off of my shelf.
_ That's the true shit, folks.
You and Johnny Cash shooting cannons.
He loved it.
He loved it.
And so did I.
And still do.
There's a second part to that story that we'll share with subscribers very soon.
So go ahead and tap that subscribe button and ring that notifications bell.
Next up, Hank talked about his dad's music.
What's your favorite song of your dad's?
Can you give one?
No, I don't really have.
There's just too many good ones.
Yeah.
There's just too many good ones.
I don't know.
Honky Tonk Blues would be right at the top.
_ That's probably, moving on over and Honky Tonk Blues are probably the original rockabilly, _ _
the beginnings of all time is those two songs.
Of course, these days when you think rockabilly and [N] country music, you think Jerry Lee Lewis,
who Hank says, like him, was probably kept out of the Hall of Fame for so long because
he went against the grain so often.
You may also think Elvis and this was interesting.
If you think about it, Hank and Elvis were contemporaries, but they weren't necessarily friends.
I didn't mess with him.
_ _ I didn't hang out around with him at all.
I'm the Southern rock crowd.
Me and Greg Allman and Marshall Tucker and those guys, that's who I was hanging with.
Thank goodness. _
Thank goodness.
Somehow, I feel like there's more to that story, but we'll have to get it next time.
Hank was not only kept from the Hall of Fame for years, he's never been a member of the
Grand Ole Opry.
His dad was, but he was famously kicked out for missing too many shows due to his alcoholism.
That happened in 1952.
Several months later, he died and the Opry rules state that members who die are no longer
members, they're past members.
That doesn't really explain much about why Hank Jr.
isn't in, but he had no trouble breaking it down.
You know, I've never been a member of the Grand Ole Opry, never will be.
So that sums it up right there too.
I wasn't listening to no Grand Ole Opry, brother.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I love going there and being around those guys, but when I'm
in the back of that car, and I'm 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 years old, I said, put it on WLAC. _ _
Hoss Allen.
_ Oh, Bobby Blue Bland, Bo Diddley.
I said, yeah, yeah, yeah, put it on that station right there.
That's what I was listening to.
That's the good stuff, man.
Oh yeah.
White Rose Petroleum Jelly.
The Hoss Man.
Some context there.
WLAC was a well-known rhythm and blues station, and Bill Hossman Allen was one of his most
famous DJs in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s.
Hank's basically saying he didn't grow up listening to WSM, so that wasn't high on his bucket list.
Fair, right?
Hank's is a blues guy through and through, and Thunderhead Hawkins is his blues alias.
One of his francy covers on Rich White Honky Blues is Lightnin' Hopkins, who once told
Hank that, quote, country music ain't nothing but white people's blues.
Thanks to CMT for that quote.
There are also two R.L. Burnside covers and three originals on the album.
On the name Rich White Honky Blues, Hank said he got it from that comedian and actor Red
Fox, who he met when he was just a teenager in Las Vegas.
It was a moment.
He sat down at the table, and he started telling my mother _ how he knew and loved all of Daddy's
songs, and his mother had them all.
And it just blew my mind.
You know, good God, and he's getting up, you can imagine what his show consisted of when
he was talking.
Right.
It's something I never forgot, and then when I wrote this song, I thought about him on that show.
Lamont, what are you hanging out with all them old Rich White Honkys for? _ _
That's exactly where it came from, folks.
It's love.
It ain't nothing but pure love.
Yeah, it was a lot of love during this interview, except for that part at the beginning when
he got really angry with us about questioning these songs.
Don't get me wrong, he's not becoming a pushover in his late years.
We were talking about the NFL, and he admitted he's not a fan of Miami.
Not the football team, but the city.
I didn't go no damn Dolphins game.
I just didn't.
I don't like Miami.
You didn't like Marino?
I don't like Miami.
I mean I just don't care about going to that town down there.
It's not part of the United States.
I don't know.
I don't give a shit about going down there.
No.
I really don't.
I'll go to Pittsburgh.
Yeah, Oakland.
Yeah, Miami.
No
I'm kind of the guy that's really well known for saying no
We'll give you half a million.
Please come and play the show
No
_ You understand that no
So Bobby Rock just played here in Nashville
About a month ago.
No No _
Hank come on my god, man, please do that.
Shut up.
No _
They understood it bobby laughed about it
I said you don't need me to fill that up
And I don't need you if I want to come fill it up.
He said why shit I know that _ _
He is a super good guy rich white honky blues drops june 17th find it wherever great music is found
I'm addison hager for taste of country.
Thanks for watching _ _ _