CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION Just Plain Hank
PROLOGUE A Wheel in the Ditch and a Wheel on the Track
PART ONE: 1923–1937
1 King Hiram
2 An American Twang
3 “Country Music Ain’t Nothin’ but White People’s Blues, Anyway”
4 I Got A Home in Montgomery
PART TWO: 1938–1948
5 “Don’t Tell Mama”
6 Drydock
7 “Audrey, Get Me a Bottle”
8 “It Ain’t a Funny Song”
9 Bottle Up and Go
10 From A Mean Bottle
PART THREE: 1948–1950
11 “Syrup Sopper” or “Populist Poet”
12 “The Sorriest Thing I Ever Did Hear”
13 “Never Put Me On After Hank Williams!”
14 Pettin’ Parties, Cigarettes, and Gin
15 “It’s Never Too Country”
16 A Brand-New Recipe
PART FOUR: 1950–1953
17 “Don’t He Kill an Audience?”
18 “The Gun Shot Four Times”
19 “Almost a Continuous Nightmare”
20 Hurting from Inside
21 So Far Gone
22 “I See Jesus Comin’ Down the Road”
23 “Don’t Worry About Ol’ Hank”
24 Then Came That Fateful Day
EPILOGUE Of Myth and Men
Notes
Illustrations
Index