Yet it was a different woman who would supply Hank with the fuel he needed to explode out of the local spotlight: his sometimes wife, Audrey Mae Sheppard. On that dusty path to early stardom, Hank was indefatigably supported by his overbearing mother, who would shepherd his band, the Driftin' Cowboys, to shows along backroads of the Jim Crow South. It wasn't long before young Hank found his way onto those nascent American radio airwaves, where his melodic voice and timely tunes slowly garnered a following. Forced by his overbearing matriarch to do odd jobs-selling peanuts, shining shoes-young Hank soon found respite in street-corner blues man Rufus 'Tee Tot' Payne, who showed him how to make a guitar sing. But unlike those other musical giants who never made thirty, no legacy endures quite like that of the 'Hillbilly King.' Now presenting the first fully realized biography of Hiram King Williams in a generation, Mark Ribowsky vividly returns us to the world of country's origins, in this case 1920s Alabama, where Williams was born into the most trying of circumstances, which included a dictatorial mother, a henpecked father, and an agonizing spinal condition. Having hit the heights in the postwar era with simple songs of heartache and star-crossed love, he would, with that outlaw swagger, become in death a template for the rock generation to follow. Instead, Williams' mother Lillie and wife Audrey are more fully drawn, conniving to make the singer a success while battling their own demons and each other as well.A heartbreaking and unforgettable portrait of country music's founding father After he died in the backseat of a Cadillac at the age of twenty-nine, Hank Williams?a frail, flawed man who had become country music's most compelling and popular star?instantly morphed into its first tragic martyr. Ribowsky never brings Williams to life, focusing on his drinking and the resulting strains on his relationships in a manner that feels tawdry. There's even mention of biopic I Saw the Light, released to withering reviews this past spring. Mark Ribowsky, known for biographies on Motown acts and sports figures, updates the story a bit with new interviews from some of the few still alive who remember the hillbilly king and adds to the discography recent box sets. Over the decades, many books attempted this tale, the most prestigious written by noted music historians Chet Flippo (in 1981) and Colin Escott (1994). Credit plainspoken songs 'Hey Good Lookin',' 'Cold, Cold Heart,' 'Move It on Over,' and hundreds more. Truly remarkable that the slim, alcoholic, Alabama-born country great's life still mesmerizes despite his death on New Year's Eve 1953 at the age of 29.

Hank by mark ribowsky