Artist:Hank Williams Jr.Song:All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down)
Album:The Bocephus Box
It's one thing to be a second generation musician. But it's another thing to be the son of a legend like Hank Williams. Hank Williams Jr. struggled with this at first but in the 80s, he established his own musical personality with hits like All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down). He was born May 26, 1949 in Shreveport, LA. His dad nicknamed him Bocephus after Grand Ole Opry Comedian Rod Brasfield's ventriloquist dummy. After his dad died in 1953, his mom raised him and Williams began performing at an early age. He made his recording debut in 1964 and also provided his dad's singing voice in the 1964 Hank Williams biopic Your Cheatin' Heart. Williams recorded for MGM Records in the 60s and his mom groomed him to be an impersonation of his dad. Williams wasn't that successful until he started hanging around with Southern country rock musicians like Charlie Daniels, Waylon Jennings and Toy Caldwell of The Marshall Tucker Band. This was after Williams was almost killed in a 1975 mountain climbing accident. So when Mike Curb left as president of MGM Records and started Curb Records, he took Williams with him. Williams only had two number one country hits in the 60s and 70s. But this new outlaw image that Jennings helped give him started to pay off in 1981 with the number one hits Texas Women and Dixie On My Mind. All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down) was the first single from the 1981 album The Pressure Is On. As with his recent albums, it was produced by Jimmy Bowen. All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down) topped the country singles chart and the album was certified Platinum. The song namechecked pals like Jennings and Johnny Cash and really established Williams. Of course most folks are familiar with the song All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight as the theme for Monday Night Football. But he probably never writes that song without the first song being a hit. It established him musically and as a personality different from his dad. Williams success continued in the 80s. And you can get all his hits on this 3CD box set. But he faded in the 90s and was probably best known for Monday Night Football. That came to an end in 2011 when he made stupid comments on Fox News Channel comparing Barack Obama to Hitler and ESPN fired him. Well, there goes that cash cow. He released a new CD in 2012 and is currently on tour. His son Hank Williams III is also a singer. Here's Hank Williams Jr. performing All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down) 1981.
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