In a great book called High Lonesome: The American Culture Of Country Music Cecelia Tichi writes about how country music became popular in part because it served to re-invent a shared (if largely fictional) down-home shared heritage for an increasingly displaced rural population in the middle of the 20th century. Tichi argues that during the Great Migration of the 1930s, when it seemed like half the population of the grain belt washed up in California, songs like "The Old Folks Back Home" helped to bring together migrants from Oklahoma and Alabama alike in a new culture that they could all share, built from shared impressions of the old life they had left behind and that they still held out hope of returning to.
That is to say, a major job of country music has always been myth-making - creating for listeners a more perfect, even idyllic past that they can share even if they have never even been to, say, Texas or Tennessee. Examples of this sub-genre might be the Carter Family's "Clinch Mountain Home," Dolly Parton's "Tennessee Mountain Home," Loretta Lynn's "Coal Miner's Daughter," the standards "The Yellow Rose of Texas" and "Home on the Range," and even newer songs like Alan Jackson's "Chattahoochee."
In a way, Hank Williams III is the just end point of a long trend in outlaw country away from idyllic stories about church and simple folks in favor stories about toughness, hard living, and defiant integrity. Home is the bar and church is, well, where you go to meditate about the hell waiting for you.
Hank Williams III has a stronger claim than most to the actual roots of country music, and Straight To Hell amounts to a 13-song defense of a reconstructed outlaw country past. To make this claim eerily explicit, the album comes with a second disc that contains a 42-minute bonus track, a druggy medley that includes train sounds, pig snorts, other found sounds, and bits of performances including a recording by his grandfather's. It's a sort of psychedelic country journey through the past, and part of the point seems to be that it's hard to tell which voice coming through the static is Hank Senior, and which is Hank III. This is a decidedly self-indulgent maneuver, but that goes just as well for the whole album.
Article comments
1 - kws
III's 'takedown' of Kid Rock has nothing to do with him being a Yankee. It has to do with Hank Jr claiming that Kid Rock is "his rebel son" on various occastions. People asking if Kid Rock is really his brother is very annoying, not to mention that Kid made an ass of himself on III's bus a few years ago claiming to be "bigger than Elvis".
2 - John Owen
Holy crow... I had no idea it was so personal. I kind of feel bad about the whole affair now... I'm sure III has family issues to begin with, and to have reporters asking you about illegitimate half-brothers must really suck. Especially when Kid Rock was such a tool about it.
Then again, it's Kid Rock and Hank Williams III we're talking about here. Neither models of quiet introspection.
3 - EZ
John-
I'm not a fan of country music, but i bought Risin' Outlaw a while back on a random whim, and it really grew on me. It sounds like this new one is more intense than Risin' Outlaw. Do you have any comparisons you can draw between the two?
4 - John Owen
EZ, I'm afraid I can't compare, having not heard Risin' Outlaw. From what I understand, it's a fair bet that this one is more energetic sounding, but thematically not totally different. Barring, that is, the obsession with defending the past on the new record.
I think I really need to get Risin' Outlaw.
5 - Eric TFM
I just wanted to let you know that the song on disc 2, "I Could Never Be Ashamed Of You," was actually Hank III singing. It was recorded to sound as if it was an old recording but was actually the first time he has covered his granddad on one of his own albums. He does do a great impersonation of Sr. though.
6 - John Owen
Aw man, that's amazing!! One of my favorite things about Hank III is that he's so completely caught up in this weird trigenerational Oedipal/ancestor worship thing.
7 - Eve
John,
I loved your review of 'Straight to Hell' and I got the CD the day it was shipped to my local record mart. I love it... every single song. I've seen him three times and this CD is him. I want to highly recommend both 'Risin Outlaw' and 'Lovesick, Broke, and Driftin,' Hank III's previous two CD's. Just a little background, Risin' Outlaw is his least favorite, due to the problems he had with Curb records telling him what he could and could not record. I think it is a great CD and 'Lovesick Broke and Driftin' is just as good if not better, but "Straight to Hell' is where it is obvious he is recording what he wants without interference from Curb. I recommend you see Hank III live if possible, his band is just as tight and together as they are on the CD, and I have to also tell you that his bass player, Joe Buck, is worth the trip just to watch. A great showman, musician, and nice guy. I'm hoping Hank III starts getting the recognition he deserves because he is the ultimate country rebel outlaw!!!!!
8 - Sam
I know I'm a little late, but I decided to comment on this review anyway. "Straight to Hell" is absolutely amazing! Being from Arkansas (still live there) I was raised on folks like Cash, Haggard and of course Hank Sr. I can't express how sickened I am at the direction "country" music has taken. It is not COUNTRY! When I discovered Hank3 I couldn't get enough. I've seen him several times and he puts on one of the best shows you'll ever attend. Last time, he sat on the edge of the stage and talked/signed autographs for almost an hour after the show. And, I mean he actually talked to people. His connection to and appreciation for his fans is impressive. He and his awsome band also sound every bit as good live as on CD. And, yes, Joe Buck is quite a character (his website is JoeBuckYou). If you hear he's coming to town do not miss it....it's a sight to see and a hell of a lot of fun. My advice would be to see him before things blow up and he stops playing bars because this guy's gonna be big (if he can just stay alive). Man, I hope Shelton keeps pissing people off and giving the Opry the finger for many years to come.
9 - Bill
Good review. I love Straight to Hell, album of the year I'd say.
10 - wallesmoore
we are a couple in our late fifty's and have seen Hank III about 30 times since 1999 - in Texas, Florida, California, Nebraska and places in between. We absolutely LOVE him. He is a GREAT entertainer and is very personable. We recommend everyone who loves country music and a GREAT SINCERE entertainer go see him.