Is Hank Williams Sr. still the King of Country Music? If not who has the crown?

You know, country music in my opinion doesn’t deserve Hank…I think Rock and Roll should claim him. Country since about the mid 1960s has been pretty much watered down pop with some twang thrown in for stylistic measure. Folks like Hank were great songwriters…he knew how to write about his demons without turning it into a cliche. Today’s country (and this has been true for going on 40 years) is essentially summed up with…if you see a redneck with a mullet wearing a T-shirt with a cliched saying on it, you can bet your ass there’s a country song about that saying.

It seems that anyone who actually writes GOOD country music is an outlaw, so the people who are heralded as having the most significant impact on music and culture are usually labeled “outlaws”. Johnny Cash is a great example, or Waylon or Willie. These guys have all had kind of a love/hate relationship with the Nashville establishment. Was Johnny Cash all that different from Elvis Presley when you get right down to it? Or you get someone like the Dixie Chicks…they started by writing the old cliched songs about gettin’ beat up by your redneck husband, so you kilt ‘im and put his body in the trunk. But then they had the unmitigated gall to say they weren’t proud of the US President, and MY GOD, the backlash.

But what did they do, they put out EASILY the best album of their careers, and likely the best album in all of country music in the last 40 years. Certainly “Taking the Long” way was the best album of 2006 of ANY genre, because they went back to roots and actually wrote songs instead of cliches.

So you look at Hank, and hey, the country music establishment hails him as their icon, yet they still refuse to let him have membership in the Grand Old Opry…what kind of BS is that? Hank belongs to the ages…he belongs to a bygone era of Country and Western music when it actually had some quality and actually meant something, and wasn’t every bit as sugary as your run of the mill bubblegum pop music.

So is Hank the king of Country…well he should be, but let’s just say his subjects have been revolting since the day he died.

I’d say yes, always was & always will be. His songs and life epitomized the highs and lows of the “country” myth/persona.

Others I’d nominate to the court, in order:
– Gram Parsons
– Willie Nelson
– Johnny Cash
– George Jones
– Merle Haggard

Queens:
– Emmylou Harris
– Patsy Cline

i always thought johnny cash was king!
though i’m not very involved in country music, i thought it was just an unspoken rule that he was..

Im going to give the current crown to Hank III

Nah, I think Hank 1 is still #1!

Now I’ve got “Your Cheatin’ Heart…” stuck in my head!!!

My 7 year old has been a big Hank fan for a few years, he knows all the words to I Saw the Light.

You gals/gals give a listen to Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Hank & Johnny are the kings, but Gilmore is pretty dang good.

Yeah, Smokey’s all right by me.