This Is The Most Alabama Sound You'll Ever Hear, And We Can't Stop Listening To It
By Lisa Battles|Published April 17, 2024
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Lisa Battles
Author
Lisa has traveled the U.S. for over a decade, seeking out and sharing the stories of its most interesting places, people, and experiences. A journalism graduate of Auburn University, she has been a content strategist, editor, and writer for more than 25 years. Lisa has worked in community news, PR, and marketing with a focus on tourism, hospitality, and economic development. Besides following her curiosity around every corner, she's a devoted dog mom of two and advocate for animal welfare.
Regardless of whether you’re a country music fan, you’ve surely heard the iconic Alabama sound of Mount Olive native Hank Williams’ twangy vocals along with the plaintive steel guitar of West Blocton-born Don Helms. When a friend suggested this is a signature sound of our state, “Your Cheatin’ Heart” immediately came to mind. He described that steel guitar sound as “der der der” (… if you need a made-up onomatopoeia he says Helms used for it).
If none of that rings a bell, just think of (almost) any Hank Williams song. Helms played on 10 of Williams’ No. 1 hits, including my favorites – “Kaw-Liga,” “Jambalaya (On the Bayou),” and “Hey, Good Lookin.” You’ll hear him on over 100 other recordings by the group, too.
Most people immediately associate songs like Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” (or any songs by the band Alabama) with our state. Yet the sound of Hank Williams and The Drifting Cowboys came long before them. And the roots are even deeper: Williams credited a Black bluesman from Georgiana for teaching him everything he knew as a teen.
I mean – yes! If you are an Alabamian and haven’t been proudly claiming Hank’s classics, now is the time to start. Lucky for us, Alabama has many places where you can pay respects. If you want to learn more about Williams and The Drifting Cowboys. I’ve rounded up a few of the best-known spots.
Because Williams died at age 29 on New Year's Day in 1953, he didn't see all the honors that came showering down in the years since. Not the star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. Not his inductions into five music halls of fame. First, the Country Music Hall of Fame inducted him in 1961, followed by the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. Next up was the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two years later. And finally, the Native American Music Awards Hall of Fame inducted him in 1999.
Hank Williams Statue, 216 Commerce St, Montgomery, AL 36104, USA
Today in Montgomery, you can visit a life-size bronze statue donated in 1991 by his son, Hank Williams Jr. The elder Williams lived in the city as a teenager, having moved there with his mother in 1937. The statue stood near city hall for many years until it was moved in 2016 closer to the Hank Williams Museum and within the city's entertainment district.
Williams and Helms were not the only Alabamians in the band. The Drifting Cowboys had several lineup changes from the time Williams put the group together in 1937 to the time of their greatest mainstream success over a decade later.
In this 1951 photo are the best-known members, including Sammy Pruett of Goodwater, Alabama, who is second from left, and Helms on the far right. Also in the image you see bassist Howard Watts (stage name Cedric Rainwater), Banks native Audrey Williams to the right of Pruett, and fiddle player Jerry Rivers between Williams and Helms. Not pictured here but notable is previous upright bassist Herbert "Lum" York of Elmore, who played with The Drifting Cowboys from 1944 to 1949.
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Before moving to Montgomery and getting things cooking with his band, Williams spent his early youth in Georgiana. The family's first home there burned when he was seven, and the family moved to another home on Rose Street from 1931 to 1934. That home is now a museum open to the public.
Hank Williams Museum, 127 Rose St, Georgiana, AL 36033, USA
With his father often away for treatment of a war injury, Williams' mother ran the household, grew a garden to help feed them, and did odd jobs to make ends meet. It was also while living at this home that Williams' mother bought him a guitar, and he turned to local musician Rufus "Tee Tot" Payne to help him learn how to play it.
In an in-depth feature about the musician, The Greenville Advocate explained that while Payne was born in Lowndes County, his young life was spent in New Orleans after moving there with his family. There, he gained his own musical knowledge and ultimately returned to make a decent living in Alabama playing it. Reportedly, he was not the scraggly old blues musician many seem to envision but a dapper, lithe, sharp fellow who was a highly sought-after performer before the Great Depression. It was around then Payne resorted to street performing and crossed paths with Williams, who later credited him for teaching him all he knew about music and showmanship.
The Williamses moved to Greenville in 1934 and then to Montgomery in 1937. Williams and Payne had lost touch by 1939 when Payne died. While his grave is unmarked at Lincoln Cemetery in Montgomery, a monument stands near where his believed to be buried. Grand Ole Opry members and Hank Williams Jr. paid for the marker.
Things picked up for Williams when the family moved to Montgomery in 1937. He won a talent show, began street performances, and was tabbed to appear on a weekly radio show. Before long he was booking gigs and formed The Drifting Cowboys. However, World War II put a halt to things when his band members were all drafted.
East 3 Notch Street, E 3 Notch St, Andalusia, AL, USA
By 1943, he was earning a living mostly as a shipyard worker and met his soon-to-be wife, Audrey Sheppard. The pair married in 1944 by a justice of the peace in what was a Texaco station in Andalusia. A mural marks the building today.
Williams' music career picked back up with moderate success as a songwriter and again as a performer on the Louisiana Hayride in the next several years. He debuted on the Grand Ole Opry in 1949, a move that ultimately skyrocketed him to stardom. What followed was a string of hits, appearances, and, sadly, injuries and growing alcohol dependency.
The Hank Williams Museum, 118 Commerce St, Montgomery, AL 36104, USA
Williams died while being driven to an appearance scheduled for Canton, Ohio on New Year's Day, 1953. The autopsy reported he died from a heart attack. Many believe that was the result of a lethal mix of alcohol and painkillers in his system. You can see the convertible in which he died at The Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery.
Following a massive funeral in Montgomery three days after his death, Williams' remains were interred at Oakwood Cemetery Annex, which is about one mile northeast of the state capitol building. Although Hank and Audrey had divorced in early 1952 and he'd remarried by October, the pair are buried side by side. Audrey died on Nov. 4, 1975, at age 52 of congestive heart failure.
Oakwood Cemetery Annex, 1304 Upper Wetumpka Rd, Montgomery, AL 36107, USA
Have you visited any of these places that honor the iconic Alabama sound of Hank Williams and The Drifting Cowboys? We would love to hear about your experience!
If the spots described here inspired you to do a little road trip, book a stay in Montgomery. It’s an excellent home base to see the sights in the city one day and then do the four-hour round trip down to Greenville, Georgiana, and Andalusia and back on the other.
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