Hank Williams was the father of modern country music, whose stories of heartache and sorrow, told in plain, simple language, captured for many the essence of despair. Robbie Robertson of the band has said, "If you're talking about hurting, Hank Williams tells the story better than anybody." The tone of his lyrics—direct, simple, and heartfelt—are what set Hank Williams apart, and the words come from his lifelong association with the blues. Williams's mentor and first music teacher was a local blues singer, Rufus Payne, who was called Tee Tot; Williams was captivated by the older man's playing and asked if Payne would show him some chords. The relationship seems to have gone beyond a simple lesson or two; Tee Tot was more like a mentor and substitute for Williams's own father, who was frequently absent, and they played together on the streets and at house parties in and around Montgomery. Unfortunately Rufus Payne never recorded, so it is difficult to gauge how much of the older man's style was reflected in the music of his protégé, although Jerry Wexler, the head of Atlantic records quite clearly heard the heavy strain of the blues that ran through Williams's music. Hank Williams definitely learned two of the key elements of the blues: you should sing about what you know; and that even in the greatest misery there is hope so long as it is shared.
There was room for such music in the years immediately after World War II. Ernest Tubbs and Lefty Frizzell were introducing a new kind of country music, one that focused on the travails of modern life and was rooted in urban, rather than rural, environments.
In Montgomery, Williams formed a band, the Drifting Cowboys, and soon secured a radio job playing favorite country and western hits, and he became a local celebrity. Eager to expand his career, he traveled to Nashville in the hopes of meeting Fred Rose, co-owner of the Acuff-Rose publishing firm. He did, and Rose was so impressed by his music that he had Williams record a couple of songs on his Sterling label. Both songs were successful, and Williams was offered a contract by MGM. Williams recorded a string of hit records and soon became a favorite of the new, young audience that flocked to the studio when he was on the Grand Old Opry or the Louisiana Hayride. However, his personal life was disintegrating; he and his wife divorced, he became addicted to painkillers, and began drinking heavily. He died of a heart attack in the back seat of his Cadillac on the way to a concert on New Year's Day 1953; "Hey Good Lookin'," perhaps his biggest hit, was released posthumously.
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