The Hank Williams Classic That Everyone Tried To Convince Him Not To Record (And Why He Ignored Them)

A good musician might listen to the professional advice of their record label or publisher, but a great musician is more likely to listen to their audience instead. Such was the case for Hank Williams in the late 1940s, when he pushed back against his producer Fred Rose’s wishes and recorded “Lovesick Blues”. Rose didn’t think the old Tin Pan Alley song was worth the country singer’s recording.

But Williams knew he had a potential hit on his hands. According to the Shreveport Times, when Williams played “Lovesick Blues” on Louisiana Hayride, “capacity crowds…nearly [tore] the house down for encores” (via the Library of Congress). That was enough to convince Williams that he ought to release a version of the track, regardless of what Rose had to say.

And indeed, Rose certainly had plenty to say. When Williams finally got into the studio, Rose called “Lovesick Blues” a “disaster.” Williams replied, “I’ll tell you one damn thing. You might not like the song. But when I walk off stage and throw my hat back on the stage and the hat encores, that’s pretty hot.”

Why Was There so Much Pushback Against “Lovesick Blues”?

Decades later, it’s hard to imagine a world in which “Lovesick Blues” isn’t a Hank Williams tune. The song is synonymous with his musical legacy and sound. But in the late 1940s, Williams’ sound was defined by major-chord cowboy songs. “Lovesick Blues” had a minor section, which was unheard of for Williams at the time. That, paired with the arrangement of verses, choruses, and bridges, is what made Fred Rose so hesitant to let Williams cut a version of the song.

Ultimately, though, he was wrong. Williams was right. “Lovesick Blues” soared to the top of the charts, becoming the first of eleven No. 1 hits the singer would enjoy during his tragically short lifetime. The song, which stayed at the No. 1 spot for sixteen weeks straight, bolstered Williams throughout his career, and it remains one of his best-known and most beloved tracks even to this day.

Louisiana Hayride’s Horace Logan later remembered, “[Hank] was the first real star we had. The last show he encored ‘Lovesick Blues’ seven times—he could have encored it ten times. I never let anybody encore more than seven times, to keep Hank’s record.”

For whatever it’s worth, not even all of the hubbub around “Lovesick Blues” was enough to change Rose’s mind. When he heard the final studio version of the track, he reportedly told Williams, “My God, Hank, I still say that’s the worst song I’ve ever heard.” We’d guess he had few complaints when the checks for that “disastrous” song cleared.

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