Hank Williams - I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry

This song recorded by Hank Williams in August of 1949, in Herzog Studio, Cincinnati, Ohio, for the MGM label, the song is attributed to Hank Williams as a writer, but the Music journalist Chet Flippo and Kentucky historian W. Lynn Nickell, say that The song was written by Paul Gilley, a 19-year-old from Kentucky, who sold the song and rights to Hank Williams, so Hank could claim to have written it.

Anyway, the lyrics fit perfectly with Hank’s life, but it was a song that went unnoticed, until in 1964, the song resurfaced as a vital part of the movie “Your Cheatin ‘Heart”, a largely fictional account of the life of Hank Williams, the soundtrack was interpreted by Hank Williams Jr, with only 15 years. The legend says that it was the last song that Hank Williams sang, and that is how it is explained in the movie, but it was really “Midnight” by Red Foley.

In 1966, two years later, the unknown pop singer from Oklahoma, BJ Thomas, recorded it in the style of Hank for the label (Pacemaker Records), getting into the top ten, and arousing the interest of Nashville, MGM, returned to record a new version, with the voice of Hank and modernizing the instrumentation.

It is said and there is evidence that the original title was, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Die”, but Hank’s producer and mentor, Fred Rose, changed it, he thought it was a title too hopeless. like a timeless song, that fits with any decade.