Tell me, Hank...why do you drink? Why do you roll smoke? Why...

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

...must you live out those songs that you wrote
Over and over everybody makes my predictions
So if I get stoned, I'm just carrying on an old family tradition.

[Momof1]

1. :-)

Love is a burning thing
and it makes a fiery ring
bound by wild desire
I fell in to a ring of fire...

I fell in to a burning ring of fire
I went down,down,down
and the flames went higher.
And it burns,burns,burns
the ring of fire
the ring of fire.

[Qanisqineq]

5. dang, now I am gonna have that song stuck in my head!

[argyl]

6. Isn't that ring of "far"?Just kidding,I love Johnny.An old S.Clay Wilson

cartoon just popped into my head.

[Bridget Burke]

9. June Carter & Merle Kilgore wrote "Ring of Fire"

She got the phrase "love is like a burning ring of fire" from a book of Elizabethan poetry belonging to her uncle, the great A. P. Carter. Anita Carter recorded it first but Johnny dreamed about Mexican horns--& added them when he recorded his version.

This link has the lyrics, the story & brief clips of assorted versions of the song--from Cash to Zappa. One correction: the Spanish-language versions aren't mariachi--they're conjunto.

www.lasiewski.com/rof/

[jus_the_facts]

2. I always sang..."....Hank...why do you....smoke DOPE! "

....I used to be a Hank Fan...because m'ol Dad was...back in his...WHISKEY BENT AND HELL BOUND DAYS that is! :toast: :smoke:

[RoyGBiv]

3. I played checkers with Hank once...

It was weird. I was about 12 and had no idea who he was. My mother and grandmother were involved in a crafts fair at a location where he was playing that night. Being bored, I spent my time sitting in the stands, watching the crew set up the stage, listening to the bands test things and warm up, and messing with some hand-crafted puzzles I'd talked Mom into buying me.

I also had a small, portable checker set I'd bought at some booth. I was looking at the pieces when this guy with a shaggy beard walked up and asked if I was any good. "Yeah..." "Wanna play a game?" "Sure." So, we did. I won, he said "thanks for the game," and left.

I figured out who he was that night while I was watching the news and saw a report mentioning his concert.

[Momof1]

4. damn,

I just want to talk about GOOD as in OLD Country. (sigh) Those were the days. Hank being Old country at this freaking point. I was channel surfing the other day and stopped at CMT for some unknown reason.

Look at these freaking lyrics I heard:

(Chorus)
Cause I saddle up my horse
and I ride into the city
I make a lot of noise
Cause the girls
They are so pretty
Riding up and down Broadway
on my old stud Leroy
And the girls say
Save a horse, ride a cowboy.
Everybody says
Save a horse, Ride a cowboy

[KG]

7. big hat, big shades, full beard.

anybody know what this guy really looks like?

[Bridget Burke]

8. He fell down a mountainside & landed on his face...

Almost died, then required a huge amount of plastic surgery. (He spoke at Johnny Cash's Memorial, of John & June standing by him then.)

That's why he wears the hat, beard & dark shades.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

10. His autobiography "Living Proof" tells that story in detail...

...and the movie with Richard ("John-Boy Walton") Thomas was pretty powerful and convincing.



http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=127077

"Williams' struggle to come out from under the long shadow of his father's legacy was a difficult one, and it took a prolonged bout with alcoholism, an unsuccessful suicide attempt, and a near-fatal fall while mountain climbing before Williams was able to come to terms with his father's reputation, forging a country-rock style all his own and finding success on his own terms. Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story also features Williams' long-time manager and friend Merle Kilgore as himself; country star Naomi Judd also makes a cameo appearance as one of Hank's many one-night romances on the road, and a 14-year-old Christian Slater plays Hank's son."

[NightTrain]

11. Then there's G.G. Allin's version

Hey asshole, I'm just carrying on the old scumfuck tradition!