Happy Birthday, Hank

The legendary singer and songwriter Hank Williams, born in 1923, would have been 100 on September 17.

Hank Williams died when he was 29 on January 1, 1953. Not a member of the 27 club, but close enough. Williams was one of the most significant country musicians and singer-songwriters of all time. His songs, from classics like “I Saw The Light,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” and “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” to “Hey Good Lookin,’” "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive,” “You Win Again,” and dozens more, are legend.

Drawing on gospel and blues, Williams set the standard and created the highest bar for what would become country music songwriting. It’s a bar he still holds, hurdled by few since his death 70 years ago. He recorded for about 6 years, penned dozens of songs under his own name, and co-wrote hundreds more. He had double digit chart topping hits, many number ones.

So what makes his songs so powerful and influential? Simply, the words he put into his songs were the words and language of Everyman, and he did so in a supremely honest, direct, relatable and believable way. I always thought Neil Young’s “only love can break your heart,” was perhaps the greatest, most direct lyric ever written that captured one’s emotions, but that was before I heard Hank sing “I’m so lonesome i could cry.” Knowhatimean?

Hank’s “Lonesome,” is one of the most covered songs of all time. Many of his hits and deeper tracks have been covered by musicians from various genres, speaking to the universality of his work. From Ray Charles, Norah Jones, the Dead and Jeff Buckley, to Mekons, Al Green, Social D and Cat Power, here’s a collection of 50 covers of songs (and a companion greatest hits) by Hank Williams. Happy Birthday, Hank.