The Steel Guitar Forum

From www.tipworld.com

Hank Williams III, the oldest son of Hank Williams, Jr., and grandson of Hank Williams, Sr., has stopped playing songs from his current country release, Risin' Outlaw, on his current tour. Instead, he is performing the thrash metal and punk rock he used to play when he was a teenager. His manager, Joe Azar, recently said that it's unlikely that Hank III will record any country music in the foreseeable future. Instead, he is planning to devote himself to movies (he will be appearing with Tom Waits in the forthcoming "Cadillac Tramps") and rock and roll. Hank III inherited his ornery streak from his father and grandfather, who were famous for doing things their own way. <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jim Cohen on 05 June 2000 at 06:19 AM.]</p></FONT>

Those are two pretty long shadows for Hank III to get beyond as a country singer. He's probably better off doing his own thing.

That's good news. I had the misfortune to see this nasty little boy do his "country" set once. Never again. He seemed like a nasty opportunist, unpeasant kind of kid to me. The kid rosk of country. Do we need a kid rock of country?? He proably ain't doing the country any more 'cause he can make a heap more money doing whatever the othe rstuff he does is called (sounded the same as his "country" set to me)

He want be able to support his drug habit on my money.

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BJ Bailey

My little brother went to see him in St. Louis, (I think), because he heard he is playing metal type music, (my little brother's favorite).

He said "the guy suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks" and that he seemed like he was faking it...whatever that means nowdays.

Just passin it on.

Say what you will but I had the opportunity to work in Hank III's band at one point and it was one of the most 'true' country gigs I've ever played. There's no doubt that he's not everyone's taste but, unlike a lotta what/who's out there these days, he CLEARLY was singing from the heart - a heart that's got some rough edges, maybe, but from the heart none-the-less. A lotta folks on the forum talk about having a problem with the blandness of most comtemporary country. Let's not also jump on someone for actually showing their grit.

My kudos to Chris Bauer for hipping me to Hank III's best moniker, "Tricephus."

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Herb's Steel Guitar Homesite

OK so he is Country,He does stink tho. Maybe he ought to start a duet with George Hamilton the Fifth. Speaking of a fifth , they would sound pretty good if you listen after consuming a fifth.Can't wait for Hank #4.Hey maybe he could duet with his Aunt. At least he carried a Steel.

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CJC

I've heard him on the Opry when he first started, with Bobbe Seymour on steel, and at the time I thought the only reason he was there was because of his name, not his talent. Maybe if he had worked on it, "in the trenches" for a couple of years and learned his trade he could make it as a country singer.

Could it be he was "forced" into doing the country thing, because of his heritage, but he really wanted to do something different??

Say what you will about his attitude, H3 played some of the most honest, earthy honky-tonkin' country this side of BR5-49 or the Derailers (both of whom look and sound like phony-ass cover bands by comparison).
Like it or not, country music - real country music - is about heritage, among other things, and H3's got that in spades.
Geeze, y'all complain about how terrible the slick, pretty-boy, overproduced, modern country-pop singers are and how they're ruining the music, but you can't take (or don't recognize) the real deal when you hear it.
The funniest thing of all is that his grandfather got exactly the same reception for the same set of perceived flaws - his music was too crude and raw, he was too much of a hellraiser, he drank and did drugs, he had a nasty disposition and didn't show the proper respect for country music authorities. But 10 minutes after he died, he became St. Hank, the holy icon of American rural music.
Mabye it's the country music audience - not the industry - that's schizophrenic.

I have no earthly idea of what H3 does off stage, and haven't seen his live show either. But I did buy his album. There was a couple of tunes I thought were so-so, but I also thought there was some that would do his grandpa proud. Rough edges may be true, but if he puts out another Country album, I'll give it try based on the first one.

It may be rough and unrefined, but what I heard was refreshingly pure and a welcome addition to Country Music. I doubt many here would have liked their daughters to have brought home George Jones in his younger days either. Let's hope for the best, we could use something different.

Chris, Mark and Paul

Yeah.

I think Hank Sr. had many "rough edges". As in Hank Sr.'s case, the rough edges enhanced his vocals and seemed to give him identity and personality that the average country music lover or singer could relate to. Hanks ability to write songs about life as viewed/lived by the average working man didn't hurt his career either.

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kd...and the beat goes on...

I'd say fellow forumite Bob Blair and myself lucked out several months back when we saw H3 come through town with Big Jim Murphy on nonpedal steel and the guy (Don Herron) from BR-549 on fiddle. It was a true-honkytonk(with a few departures into rockabilly) evening with some sublime stuff played by Mr. Murphy.

He's coming through town again in about a month with "Reverend Horton Heat" but if it's the "punk thing" I think I'll pass - unless I can get a comp

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Greg Simmons
Custodian of the Official Sho~Bud Pedal Steel Guitar Website
shobud.cjb.net

I spoke w/ Big Murph a while back,& he told me that the reason he left,was because H3 was gettin' a little too "rocky" for his liking.

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Hank 3 is a good guy with a deep heart,and he is truely honest to a fault,(he has gained the respect of people like George Jones,Johnny wright and kitty Wills and Jimmy Dickens to name a few on the road and he is true to real country music,alot of time all we would ever listen to is :Waylon,Buck,Merle,Carl Smith, Hank sr.Ernest Tubb ,etc on the bus..i think he could of been the biggest thing going in country music right now, had he played it right,but hes doing it his way,and thats hes biggest stance"doing it his way".The album"Rising Outlaw" has most all the musicians listed wrong on it.Dan Dugmore played lap steel on most tracks and Kayton Roberts played lap steel on 1 song and i played pedal steel on 1 song,and i think youll find that the cd is truely country...

and Bobby Seymour gets the credit for the Tricephus "moniker"..

Hank III seems to dearly love real country music.He does the first hr.country and then warns everyone to leave if you came to hear country because he is going to rock.His fiddle player is fantastic and the bass player is very good.He does look and sound like HANK.I will buy his new cd.

Andy! Haven't you got anything better to do than to go around dredging up and reviving old threads?? Geez, man! I'd completely forgotten I started that one. Next time I see you, you'll probably be dressed in old threads! Yo, dude! Get a life!

Amen to that Jimbeaux, I must have been in a really bad mood when I posted on this thread,

Jim,
This thread is alive and not needing reviving.The thread was a natural place to talk about Hank III.The steel guitar forum is where we can share our thoughts and learn from others.Should all older threads be closed to the members of the forum?

Of course not, Andy. I was just pullin' yer leg. Don't take me too seriously; nobody else does!
Cheers,
Jimbeaux

Do we want to lock down all older threads locking out our fellow members from sharing their thoughts?Knowledge is a growing thing.I hope the forum will continue to be a place where we can learn and grow.

Andy, if your email address were available, I'd send you a personal apology for misleading you with my humor. Sorry, man.
jc