BCB Band sings "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" by Hank Williams Sr.
Hank Williams (September 17, 1923 -- January 1, 1953) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who has also become an icon of country music, and was one of the most influential musicians and songwriters of the 20th century. A leading pioneer of the honky tonk style, he had numerous hit recor
ds, and his charismatic performances and succinct compositions increased his fame. His songbook is one of the backbones of country music, and several of his songs are pop standards as well. He has been covered in a range of pop, gospel, blues and rock styles. His premature death at the age of twenty
-nine helped fuel his legend. His son (Randall) Hank Williams, Jr., nickname 'Bocephus', his daughter Jett Williams, and his grandchildren Hank Williams III, Holly Williams, and Hilary Williams are also professional singers. Hiram Williams was born in 1923, in the small unincorporated town of Mount
Olive, about eight miles southwest of Georgiana, Alabama. He was named after Hiram I of Tyre, but his name was misspelled as "Hiriam" on his birth certificate.[1] He was born with a mild undiagnosed case of spina bifida occulta, a disorder of the spinal column, which gave him life-long pain—a fac
tor in his later abuse of alcohol and drugs. His parents were Elonzo Huble Williams, known as "Lon," or "Lonnie", a train conductor for a regional lumber company and World War I veteran, and Jessie Lillybelle Williams, known as "Lillie." He had an older half sister (from his father's first marriage)
named Irene. He also had a still-born brother, named Robin. During his early childhood, the Williams family moved frequently throughout southern Alabama as his father's job required. In 1930, when Williams was seven years old, his father began suffering from face paralysis. At a Veterans Affairs c
linic in Pensacola, Florida, doctors determined that the cause was a brain aneurysm, so they sent Elonzo Williams to the VA Medical Center in Alexandria, Louisiana. Lonnie remained hospitalized for eight years and was therefore mostly absent throughout Hank's childhood. In 1931, Lillie Williams set
tled her family in Georgiana, Alabama, where she worked as the manager of a boarding house. She managed to find several side jobs to support her children, despite the bleak economic climate of the Great Depression. She worked in a cannery and served as a night-shift nurse in the local hospital. Hira
m and Irene also helped out by selling peanuts, shining shoes, delivering newspapers, and doing other simple jobs. With the help of U.S. Representative J. Lister Hill, the family began collecting Lon's military disability pension. Despite Lon's medical condition, the Williams family managed fairly w
ell financially throughout the Depression. In 1933, Hank Williams moved to Fountain, Alabama, to live with his uncle and aunt, Walter and Alice McNell. Meanwhile, his cousin Opal McNell moved in with the Williams family in Georgiana to attend the high school there. In Fountain, ten-year-old William
s became close friends with his cousin J.C. McNell, who was six years older. There he learned some of the trades and habits that would dominate the rest of his life. His Aunt Alice taught him to play the guitar, and his cousin J.C. taught him to drink whiskey. After a year of living with his relati
ves in Fountain, Williams moved back to Georgiana, where he met Rufus Payne, a black blues musician living in the nearby town of Greenville. Payne often traveled through Georgiana and other towns in the area to perform in the streets and other public places. Payne, who was known more commonly as "Te
e-Tot," became Williams' mentor and greatly influenced his musical style. In the fall of 1934, the Williams family moved to Greenville, Alabama, a larger town about fifteen miles to the north of Georgiana. Lillie opened a boarding house next to the Butler County courthouse, and Williams was able to
spend more time with Payne. Sometimes Williams would stay at Payne's house overnight. In 1937, Williams got into a rough fight with his physical-education coach. Furious with the coach, his mother demanded that the school board fire him. When the school board refused to take action, she decided to
move the family to Montgomery.

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