Album Review – Hank Williams Jr.’s “Rich White Honky Blues”
To true-blue country music fans, Hank Williams Jr. is a legend, a hero, and a Hall of Famer, no matter his dalliances with Southern Rock, or his often messy instances of dipping his toes into contentious waters. The catalog is just too good and too vast to cast off. But to many others, he’s a Grade A American blowhard doofus, the Ronald McDonald of Monday Night Football, and as homogenized as Borden milk, without an ounce of culture beyond Alabama honky hokum coursing through his blood of brown gravy and cheap whiskey. But they don’t know about the other side Hank Williams Jr.—the one that goes by the name Thunderhead Hawkins.
Make no mistake, Hank Jr. has done himself no favors over the past many years by becoming a caricature of himself in many ways. But those who know his career well, they know Hank is one of the most underrated musicians in country music, skilled on multiple instruments. They also know that he’s a veritable encyclopedia of the blues, building out from it to form the very foundation of his music just like his daddy did. Hank is a bluesman first. Then country music gets involved.
Is a Hank Jr. blues record going to appreciably elevate the standing of blues music in America? Probably not. Is it only good for a few listens and then maybe a return pass upon occasion as a novelty? Probably so. But it’s also just really damn cool that Hank Jr. took of his time to do this instead of releasing yet another album of semi-original late career stuff that country radio wouldn’t play, and his fans would quickly forget in favor of his classic stuff anyway. So have a little fun. Make a passion project. Screw if anybody likes it or not. You’ve earned it.
And even more cool is the fact that this is not your standard generic run through blues standards via 12-Bar BB King stuff. There’s some of the more straight ahead blues songs too, but Hank Jr. (or Thunderhead) chose a specific regional dialect to explore, namely North Mississippi Hill Country Blues like the stuff the Fat Possum record label starting making hip again in the late 90s—RL Burnside and that crowd, that went on to inspire The Black Keys and Dan Auerbach specifically, who produced this record for his own Easy Eye Sound label.
This isn’t a spit polished effort, and it isn’t meant to be. Get some good players in a room, a stool for ‘ol Hank, rig up some microphones, and have at it. Leave the studio banter on the front and back if it sounds cool, and stamp it on wax. That’s how the old guys did it, so no use dickering with the recipe now. Put the listener in the room by recording it live, and serve it up greasy. If they don’t like it, they don’t have to listen.
We’re already seeing ample pearl-clutching over this record from some of the usual suspects; how it’s cultural appropriation, and how the use of some terms like “whore” and “Gatling gun” are deprecated and inappropriate. Forget all that. This is a reenactment, and though some folks love to give credit to those classic rock Brits for being so misogynistic in their music, they learned it all from American blues greats. Hank Jr. is just working in the parlance of the medium, and good on Dan Auerbach for not sanitizing it.
He even throws down multiple F-bombs in the music, and though some are quick to point out that Jr. once chided Kid Rock for using the F-word in country, this ain’t country, and the unfortunate part of that situation is that Hank Jr. ever collaborated with Kid Rock in the first place, not that he’s compromising on his principles now. Ol’ Thunderhead Hawkins also refers to himself in the first person often on this record. Yes, this is a boisterous, bombastic album, not fit for the prudish and repressed moment we currently live in. But that’s the whole point of it. If you’re offended, the joke’s on you.
Hank lays it all out in the title track. He knows he will always be an outsider to the blues, but that doesn’t mean he can’t enjoy it and perform it with authority. The truth of the matter is, Hank Williams Jr. has done more to spread the truth about the Black blues influence in country music than anyone else, including the activist class from media and Academia who love to rage on this point like that legacy was erased. By tributing Rufus ‘Tee-Tot’ Payne who taught his daddy how to play guitar at every opportunity, Hank Jr. has done his part. This album won’t rewrite music history, but it may impart some to audiences who may not otherwise being exposed to it.
Ultimately, this is a sort of half-cocked and silly side project both for Hank Jr. and Dan Auerbach to have a little fun with, almost like a Record Store Day release, but with a bit more heart behind it. It’s the blues album Hank’s been threatening to make for years, and despite it’s raunchy nature (or maybe because of it), it aptly and authentically imparts the joy of blues music.
1 1/2 Guns Up (7.3/10)
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Purchase from Easy Eye Sound
Purchase from Amazon
June 17, 2022 @ 9:18 am
I remembered this morning that it was release day for this album and gave it a full listen. I think it’s a fun blues album. I’d at least go a little higher to the full 1.5 guns (7.5/10. I like that there’s two songs associated with the great R.L. Burnside (and maybe Auerbach had something to do with that). And he does a nice job on Jimmy Reed’s Take Out Some Insurance. Good album.
June 17, 2022 @ 9:44 am
The slightly lower grade has mostly to do with the lack of original content as opposed to a commentary on any of the music itself.
June 17, 2022 @ 5:06 pm
I’m a member of a country club
the comment section is what I love
I drive an old Ford pickup truck
I do my comments from a Nokia
June 17, 2022 @ 9:28 am
Eh Hank Jrs blues stuff never grabbed me, and he has dabbled in it before
June 17, 2022 @ 11:45 am
I agree. His release .44 Special Blues sound lazy and uninspired to me. I love real blues, and this seemed like a Cracker Barrel version of it. No offense to all the great Cracker Barrel exclusive albums country artists have released.
June 17, 2022 @ 9:30 am
I like what I’ve heard so far. I am not a huge fan of the persona Hank Jr, but it was his 1982’s greatest hits that first got me to liking country music. Even now, 40 years later, I still know every word to every song. So to give credit where credit is due, the man is a living legend.
June 17, 2022 @ 9:39 am
Super fun record and probably his best release in 20 years.
June 17, 2022 @ 10:21 am
Good and fair review Trigger. Maybe a little heavy on the disclaimers about Hank but I get your point (just wondering when we can talk about Hank Jr. without apologizing).
One point I’d like to make is that this is a 72 year old Hank Jr. He first started talking about a blues album in the 80s. Part of me will always wonder how good this could have been if it had come from a younger, prime Hank Jr. Thanks for covering this.
June 17, 2022 @ 10:37 am
Fair criticism and I sort of knew this when I was writing it. But I’ve seen a lot of chatter in the journalism/Academia class about how this racist has no business recording a blues album, and how dare Dan Auerbach support it. People who love Hank Jr. don’t need a lecture from me about his history with the blues, but the people who don’t know his history do.
June 17, 2022 @ 11:01 am
I wonder if Hank will be invited to appear on any of the late-night network talk-entertainment shows to do a track from the album. I suspect that the album title alone will make it too traumatic for the woke pearl clutchers to risk having him on.
BTW, Jr. is succeeding or failing entirely on his own. I’ve noticed that younger people today have never heard of Hank Williams or don’t know who he was. I was once with a few people and there was a reference to Hank Williams, and somebody said “Oh, he’s the guy with the beard and the hat who does that song on Monday Night Football.” I said, “No, that’s Hank Williams Jr.” The people looked at me like I’m making some pedantic point. They were totally unaware that there’s “another” one.
June 17, 2022 @ 11:18 am
I love that he’s using the word Honky. If anyone has ever watched that movie Black Dynamite, it’s funnier.
June 17, 2022 @ 11:33 am
“I done told them honkies in the CIA that Black Dynamite was out of the game!”
June 17, 2022 @ 11:31 am
That saddens me greatly.
June 17, 2022 @ 1:15 pm
How is Hank Jr. racist? Because he didn’t like Obama???! Stop repeating what dummies say you keep giving it cred it doesn’t deserve
June 17, 2022 @ 2:15 pm
I didn’t say Hank Jr. was racist. I don’t think he is. But he did put out multiple songs like “If The South Would Have Won,” and mass produced Confederate flags with his mug in the middle, so he is a common target for the accusation.
June 18, 2022 @ 3:48 pm
Listen to “If The South Would Have Won” a little more closer. It’s actually satire. People that don’t get it just look at the title and come to a conclusion without even listening to it.
Not an overall bad review of Hank Jr but it still comes across as more backhanded compliment than anything else.
June 20, 2022 @ 4:53 am
You are nothing but a typical liberal that screams racism. You and your garbage site are a joke.
June 20, 2022 @ 7:37 am
Man, some folks just don’t understand the art of persuasive writing and nuance.
June 18, 2022 @ 8:45 am
Trigger,
By apologizing for Hank, you essentially accept the communist’s premise that him being a racist is a reasonable conclusion. You are basically saying, “Yeah, you’ve got a good point. I can see why you’d think he’s a racist, but here’s why you’re wrong…”
Instead, what you should do, is laugh at the communist, and mock his feeble attempt at causing destruction. You still don’t seem to understand a couple of very important things about the communist. One, the communist doesn’t actually care about race. And two, the communist doesn’t actually believe Hank, or anyone else, is a racist, because of number one.
The communist tries to leverage race for the purpose of destruction. That’s all. That’s his religion. Destroy and advance. Destroy and advance.
Oh, and congratulations. Now that you’ve apologized for Hank, you’re a racist too. You need to now apologize for yourself, and explain to us why you’re not.
June 19, 2022 @ 11:40 am
Honest question: who is the communist that you are talking about? The media?
June 19, 2022 @ 2:42 pm
Jason,
I’m using the singular noun “communist” in a general sense by adding “the” in front of it. I wasn’t referring to a specific communist, but to anyone who practices communism.
June 19, 2022 @ 4:05 pm
King Honky – I get that you just used the singular, but I still don’t get who you are saying are the communists in this comment. Trigger? The PC Police? People who apologize for racism?
I have a feeling you just like saying “communist” whenever possible
June 19, 2022 @ 5:05 pm
Jason,
The folks that Trigger is apologizing to, on behalf of Hank Jr., are communists, as are the majority of people who use race for destruction. The ones who aren’t communists are useful idiots. And race is just one tool in their belt. They have an entire toolbox that I won’t go into here.
I would absolutely love it if I never had to use the word “communist” again, because that would mean that religion no longer existed.
June 19, 2022 @ 5:41 pm
King – Thanks for answering. I still don’t quite get it but it’s probably just me. Anyway, I’m enjoying listening to a live Ernest Tubb record right now and boy those guys were good!
June 17, 2022 @ 10:48 am
I understand what you’re saying about Hank Jr. doing this while his voice was still in it’s prime, but on the other hand at this point in Hank Jr’s life his 72 year old weathered vocals might give this album a more authentic feel. He might be a rich white honky, but Hank Jr. has definitely seen more than his share of tragedy, especially over the past few years. A blues album from him now seems fitting and I am enjoying it very much.
June 18, 2022 @ 6:43 pm
I tell people the same thing. Today’s country does not realize the history and people that Hank Jr. has done and seen since he was old enough to get on stage.
He is the last of the original country crowd.
July 1, 2022 @ 8:34 am
Here is the problem with Hank Jr. Look at all the greats before him or during his time like Waylon, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and George Jones(to name a few). All great artists and class-acts. Hank Jr is a total clown. He can’t even compliment someone like Waylon without talking about himself. I think the great Hank Williams Sr. would be disappointed in how Jr. carries himself. He sounds like a total goof during interviews. Go listen to Waylon Jennings conduct an interview. Gracious and humble.
June 17, 2022 @ 10:32 am
This album is good shit! I love everything about it, especially the devil-may-care attitude it takes to release this in 2022. Good review here, Trig. And good stuff.
June 17, 2022 @ 11:18 am
The multiple disclaimers on this review is laughable but expected. Nonetheless, I think the review is solid as is the album.
Wayne’s Disclaimer: I don’t know what Americana is, I am right-of-center and politically incorrect. I am a redneck with a master’s degree, play guitar, bass, and pedal steel, and I appreciate this website and valuable content. Trigger does a great job and is patient with us.
June 17, 2022 @ 11:23 am
And, we are patient with him.
June 17, 2022 @ 12:51 pm
Di,
Ha. Correct. We gotta stick together in Hoosierland!
June 17, 2022 @ 1:16 pm
But, more importantly, Trig does a good job.
& all of us everywhere need to love one another.
: D just sayin’
So – Wonder if anyone will catch Tyler farting around on the fiddle, this weekend.
Maybe at an after party bonfire, or wherever
June 17, 2022 @ 12:36 pm
In 70’s live shows Hand did a solo spot that hit me as Lightning Hopkins inspired..He’s self sabotaged himself to a point of contemptuous view by many..But this is fun in it’s ragged presentation..Kenny Brown was R.L. Burnside co guitarist and his participation here adds much to the hill country sound.
June 17, 2022 @ 12:46 pm
How does he say Thunderhead Hawkins in “Japanese”?
June 17, 2022 @ 12:52 pm
Inside joke, but a good one.
June 20, 2022 @ 12:47 am
I love inside jokes. Hope to be a part of one someday.
June 20, 2022 @ 7:34 am
There’s been an ongoing discussion about how Hank Jr. used to call Waylon Jennings “Watasha,” which according to Hank, translated to “Ol’ #1” in Japanese. Some dispute that translation.
July 1, 2022 @ 8:36 am
Jr should carry himself more like the great “Watasha” and he wouldn’t turn so many people off.
June 20, 2022 @ 10:35 pm
Prison Mike, hat tip.
June 17, 2022 @ 12:50 pm
I already read an article this morning about how the new Elvis movie and how we benefitted off the backs of black performers and such and how he appropriated their culture. Now we have people talking how hank is stealing from black people, though not this article itself. People need to get over it. That’s how music goes. Elvis and Hank for that matter never tried to hide the fact they learned from black artist. Same with the Beatles. They never shyed away from their influences. I’ll listen to the album. I’m not a huge blues fan, but I enjoy some. We have a blues festival going on now over in Henderson Kentucky and would be down there already if not for the heat wave we are currently under. Hopefully it’s a good album, I’ll give my thoughts later.
June 18, 2022 @ 3:55 pm
Nobody owns music. Music travels through culture and morphs along the way. Enslaved Africans and their ancestors didn’t come over to the New World singing the blues or playing guitars (although the banjo was in Africa in some form but it got to Africa most likely from India). Africans saw southern whites playing the guitar and fiddle (which came into Europe probably from middle east or somewhere) and those Africans learned to play those instruments and made it into something else. And then somebody else came along and changed it and somebody else and the cycle repeats over and over.
Nobody owns music. It’s like the air. You can play music. You can change music. But you don’t own music in the sense of what music is.
June 19, 2022 @ 6:12 pm
Well said.
Just honor your debts. That’s all.
June 17, 2022 @ 1:44 pm
Im cranking my autographed vinyl copy as i type. Yes!!! This gets it. Eric, you have some good comments from time to time, but man Cracker Barrell???? Get real brother. This is greasy nasty, low down hill country juke joint , shakin it with a cheap bottle blues!!! Even got some very legit players in it…Killer album…
June 17, 2022 @ 2:36 pm
I have to say after listening to it, I really like it. Maybe two or three not so good but everything else it mighty fine.
June 17, 2022 @ 6:13 pm
I have heard but a few songs from this album on YouTube & so far this beats anything Hank has put out in the last 15 years. Hank is as good as they come & he can sang just about any genre there is a true musician.
I know exactly what you mean Trigger, the SJW’s can scream about racism all they want but not everyone who waves a confederate flag is a racist & I doubt Hank is one.
June 17, 2022 @ 6:32 pm
Only listened to the 4 tracks released early so far but I’ve loved it. “Georgia Women” is a dang good song. Hank is energetic and fun on this album. Big fan of this. Looking forward to listening to the rest. Told my wife that Hank Jr feels like the grandpa I never had haha. I’d love to sit around and hunt elk and drink whiskey with the old geezer, and listen to good music. I’ll take Thunderhead Hawkins over Chris Gaines.
June 17, 2022 @ 6:58 pm
How the hell do any music critics today take issue with the usage of “whore” and “Gatling gun” when Cardi B is releasing trash like “WAP” and other artists release other garbage for the enjoyment of teenagers? And those same critics defend those songs on the grounds of empowerment and artistic freedom?
It doesn’t go one way, folks.
Hank Jr is releasing this album for himself and his aging fan base. Not teenagers. Forgo the pearl clutching.
What a bunch of hypocrites. It really shows that for them it isn’t about the message. It is about the messenger. If Drake drops this album, he is a hero paying homage to the roots of music.
It is a good album. I will be adding some tracks next to the Mississippi John Hurt tunes on my playlists.
June 17, 2022 @ 8:04 pm
I keep thinking we’ve seen the worst of the cognitive dissonance, but they keep outdoing themselves.
June 20, 2022 @ 1:25 pm
Man I listened to this album from front to back at work today and loved every second of it! Like two songs in I looked at my buddy and said “that sounds like some dirty ol burnside shit” and about that time Hank Jr. Howled his name. Best thing I’ve heard out of Jr. In a long time. We also listened to the IV & The Strange Bands album. Really just made me want to hear some new Hank 3 but it definitely had some good moments on it.
July 10, 2024 @ 3:32 pm
Heck, I’m a teenager and I enjoy this more than any of the crap they have nowadays..
June 17, 2022 @ 8:37 pm
This is pedestrian, just a notch up from sports bar blues. It may be of interest to Hank Jr. fans, country fans, and maybe even fans of pseduo-blues like Joe Bonamassa. Blues fans aren’t going to buy into this. Kudos for hiring Kenny Brown on guitar, a true North Mississippi bluesman. The distorted vocal is a sure sign of “let’s make the voice sound gritty.” Good for Hank for doing his thing and good for Auerbach for adding Hank Jr. to the credits list but is anyone really going to listen to this?
June 18, 2022 @ 12:08 am
Im diggin it, have been since I heard the first single. Will be listening to it for a while.
June 18, 2022 @ 4:39 am
Pseudo-blues, really? You are a joke mate and not a funny one. Kenny brown on guitar, son of junior kimbrough on drums, eric deaton on bass and Auerbach himself is as real as it gets in terms of true blues music nowadays. You are a complete moron!
June 18, 2022 @ 7:27 am
I mentioned that it was great to use Kenny Brown. I don’t agree with your assessment of Auerbach. I probably could have made a better case by saying: “You can hire a group of great musicians, but the vocals are great blues vocals, and the songs are anything new.” I love the classic Hank Williams Jr. albums. I’m a huge fan of his best work. He’s a great country singer with blues influences but he’s not a great blues singer. I don’t think there are any modern singers that have the ear and skills to sing with the vocal shading and rhythmic phrasing of black singers that grew up hearing those “notes in the cracks of the piano” and complex polyrhythms. The further we get away from a culture where people were exposed to field hollers, chain gains, and country black gospel, the further we get away from what made the blues what it was. It goes back to a direct connection to West Africa. You could compare it to how we are slowly losing regional dialect due to the world becoming much smaller with the internet, etc. I’m not hating on Hank; this just isn’t that good. I’m happy for him to live out his dreams but I couldn’t stand to listen to this. Now, I will put on his country song called “The Blues Man” and listen to that shit all night long. That’s what he’s great at: country music with a blues influence.
June 18, 2022 @ 8:05 am
You can disagree with my assessment of Auerbach but he is arguably one of the most important figures for blues music in the 21 century considering the impact he is making on popularisation of this genre from his platform with the Black Keys and by producing such records as Dr John Locked Down, jimmy Duck Cypress Groove, Robert Finley Sharecropper Son, etc.
June 18, 2022 @ 8:19 am
And as for this particular album it’s pure fun, hip-shaking juke-joint blues explosion with such an attitude and swagger from Hank that you can rarely hear nowadays which is all backed by some of the fined blues practitioners of North Hill Mississipp style on the planet. Top notch!
June 18, 2022 @ 8:26 am
Man, I like this long-haired guy. He knows stuff.
June 18, 2022 @ 5:20 am
It has that problem of “if I want to listen to R. L. Burnside, I’ll listen to R. L. Burnside, not Hank Jr.”
June 18, 2022 @ 6:06 am
Jesse, who cares if blues purists dont listen to it? Its a passion project for Williams, nothing more. How many hardcore reggae fans bought Willie Nelsons Countryman album? Probably none. It too was a passion project for Willie, and his fan base somewhat supported it. Jr has a big and loyal fan base, no doubt many will check it out.
I have listened to a fair amount of blues in my lifetime, and own records by James Cotton, Mississippi John Hurt, Junior Kimbrough, Buddy Guy, Howlin Wolf and others. I know ” the real stuff”. There is room in my world for Bocephus covering hill country blues. No big deal…its fun music..
It probably wont sell huge, and thats ok.
June 18, 2022 @ 6:50 am
Kevin, if you own and listen to records by James Cotton, Mississippi John Hurt, Junior Kimbrough, Buddy Guy, Howlin Wolf, why on earth would you waste your time listening to this? Life is short. I feel the same way about Margo Price fans. They claim to love Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton, Lee Ann Womack, and Patty Loveless but they also love Margo who has a lesser voice, bad phrasing, and sophomoric songwriting skills. It just doesn’t make sense why you would waste time listening to music that mediocre when you could be listening to music that is great. Just one asshole’s opinion!
June 18, 2022 @ 10:43 am
Cause you can like different sounds. Would be kind of boring to just listen to the same stuff all the time.
June 21, 2022 @ 7:23 pm
Come on Jessie let your hair down you old fart! Ha Ha! This is just a good fun album. I knew people like you would pop up!
June 18, 2022 @ 10:37 am
Anyone that likes good music.
June 17, 2022 @ 8:46 pm
I listened. It’s not terrible. It’s not John Mayall as it comes to the white man’s blues, but I liked it. The vie does make wonder if he is wearing a toupee.
June 17, 2022 @ 10:10 pm
I like that the author didn’t sugarcoat the first two paragraphs. Hank has indeed become a caricature of himself over the past 15-20 years and few point that out. I lost interest in him when he started going on the news and saying stupid shit, and he’s become so full of himself. Nowadays he literally walks out on stage with a hat and guitar strap that say ICON in all caps. Humble much? That being said, his music from 1977-1987 is untouchable. Those are some of the greatest records ever, in any genre. Anyway, I listened to his new blues album, and I don’t mind it. It’s basically the same blues style Hank has always played. He has blues medleys akin to this album on his old records. 7.3/10 is a fair rating. It’s not flawless, but diehard Hank fans will love it, and fans of the blues should give it a listen.
June 18, 2022 @ 9:59 am
Isn’t ICON his label?
https://theboot.com/hank-williams-jr-nash-icon-records/
June 18, 2022 @ 10:20 am
NASH Icon has since gone defunct, part of Scott Borchetta at Big Machine biting off more than he can chew. I think Jr. was wearing that hat before he signed though.
June 18, 2022 @ 3:34 am
Unfiltered, unhinged (“I’m going back to Huntsville to get him some of that thunder pussy”) filthy, swampy blues. I haven’t heard this much energy from Jr. (or his super alter ego Thunderhead Hawkins as he refers to himself no less than a dozen times on the album) in 20 + years. It’s fantastic. What’s funny to me is Dan Auerbach has been dabbing into the country arena for some time no with lukewarm results and all he had to do was stay to true the original Black Keys blue print of Thickfreakness and Rubber Factory to finally get success. Props to both artists. I’m leaning towards more of AOY material than side project, but I may feel differently in a few months.
As for the your review, Jr. has earned all those disclaimers. You can’t talk about the Dixie Chicks without their disclaimers. Let’s be fair and balanced.
While I listened to this album I thought a lot about your review of Ray Wylie Hubbards Co-Starring Too:
“What Ray Wylie Hubbard seems to be doing here is righting an injustice found historically in blues music by presenting the opposite side of the coin. You think that classic rock is full of misogyny? It’s because it was influenced by old blues music where women are regularly cast as the devil. As a blues man first and foremost, Ray Wylie looks to offer a spirited counterpoint to this long-standing blues tradition of disparaging women by instead putting them on a pedestal, both with his lyrics, and his collaborations.”
I think one can love “Rich White Honky Blues” while also allowing it to give more credence to Co-Starring Too mission (what Hubbard was doing seems more important now).
June 18, 2022 @ 11:54 am
“…by presenting the opposite side of the coin. You think that classic rock is full of misogyny? It’s because it was influenced by old blues music where women are regularly cast as the devil. As a blues man first and foremost, Ray Wylie looks to offer a spirited counterpoint to this long-standing blues tradition of disparaging women by instead putting them on a pedestal, both with his lyrics, and his collaborations.””
Not trying to butt in on your conversation – but i love this.
Let’s face it. Women can be devils.
My husband used to say, “You little devil…” With a s*** eating grin, on his face. i’d walk away, laughing.
But, you better dam* sure treat us like a lady, as well. Pull our chair out for us, when we’re out for the evening, etc.
Make no doubt about it, women can be purely evil when we want to, and when the need arises.
All the *itching & moaning from girls/women about men, are just girls/women, wanting attention. They don’t have enough going for themselves, so they have to create all this drama.
Bitching about men, is best saved for laughing with your friends over a glass of wine.
Because let’s face it.
We damn sure don’t want men going away.
*P.S. Love Ray Wylie Hubbard
– Would love to slap the ever-lovin’ shit out of Hank, Jr. for his whole mic drop thing.
June 18, 2022 @ 11:21 am
This just sounds like another Fat Possum Hill Country album with some dopey white guy singing on it instead of RL or Junior. Hard pass for me. Not surprising, I’ve always thought that HWJ was a clown. I’m surprised Auerbach would be involved in this farce.
June 18, 2022 @ 12:05 pm
Really a great album. The only song I don’t care much for is “I Like it When It’s Stormy”. I wouldn’t mind a volume 2 of blues songs by Hank Jr. This probably is his best release in 20 years.
June 18, 2022 @ 12:08 pm
Funny how people talk about Hank being racist but I see a lot of what appears to be racist people commenting here.
June 18, 2022 @ 4:01 pm
No doubt. Two comments above yours for example. Jjazznola wouldn’t have the balls to call someone he didn’t like dopey black guy. But I’d love to see hm get the deserved smackdown if he did. And Jazz id awesome and so is Nola. Stop tarnishing both with you username and silly comments.
June 20, 2022 @ 3:40 pm
Are you of the belief that black guys can’t be dopey, and that if someone calls one dopey, it’s because they hate the black race and believe it inferior to their own race?
FYI: This is a thought experiment. I want to know if by clearly stating what you are implying, I can get you to see how impressively retarded you sound.
@Jason,
I don’t believe the individual I’m replying to here, is a communist. This individual would fall into the other category I mentioned.
June 20, 2022 @ 6:37 pm
What does this have to do with Hank Jr.’s album? Let’s please stay on topic.
June 19, 2022 @ 8:45 am
Great CD I always hoped Hank would release a blues album. Also his grandson released his debut CD the same day called Southern Circus and I must say it is a lot better than any new music I have heard in a long time.
June 19, 2022 @ 9:21 am
I’m liking the IV and The Strange Band debut album a lot.
June 19, 2022 @ 9:52 am
Will probably have a review for this up soon. Busy release day on Friday, even just for the Hank family.
June 19, 2022 @ 10:04 am
Lots of thought provoking discussions here, I listened to this album a couple of times at the beach today and had a couple of fellas ask me what I was playing, went on to tell me about their love of the blues (all white guys, not that, that matters). I should at this point divulge that I am in the UK. We don’t really have an issue of racial divide anymore fortunately. I do have a couple of thoughts based on the discussion here though. This album is fun, and it’s clearly intended to be; the tounge is firmly (and blatant) in cheek. The vast majority of black recording artists nowadays are not attempting to play the blues, also the vast majority of people who try to play the blues are not black. This is not to distract from what current black artists are producing but the fact is that tastes, influences and creativity are in movement all the time, and rightly so. On the other hand to say that a white guy shouldn’t try to play the blues, is as ridiculous as saying that there shouldn’t be any black country artists.
As usual I reckon Trigger has got his review bang on (as we say in the UK, meaning just right).
June 19, 2022 @ 3:20 pm
Self-absorbed and bombastic from top to bottom. The humility of the guy who wrote and sang songs like “Stoned at the Jukebox” and “Living Proof” is so far removed at this point that it’s hard to even listen.
June 19, 2022 @ 4:05 pm
Well living proof is the caricature of a self absorbed song in most respects.
June 20, 2022 @ 9:29 am
Hmmm. Different ears hear different things, I guess. When he sings “the life I sing about now and the one I live is the same” in Living Proof, I hear a young man (in his mid-20s at the time) trying to stake out an identity in the face of a career that, up to that point, had cast him as little more than a tribute act to his legendary father. It’s a sort of surrender, a plea for understanding and a declaration of independence all at once. A genuine and moving song that certainly doesn’t sound like “caricature” to me.
June 20, 2022 @ 2:21 pm
Well said. My sentiments exactly concerning the best song (well, tied with “Montana Song”) on a diamond of an album.
June 20, 2022 @ 12:56 am
If Jack White had produced this record, it would be 10/10. Auerbach is balls deep in shitty hipsterisms. Everything about that clown reeks of smug self satisfaction.
June 20, 2022 @ 10:28 am
Really? I suspect most Loretta Lynn fans found her Jack White-produced “Van Lear Rose” album to be unlistenable.
June 20, 2022 @ 11:59 am
For me the “Van Lear Rose” album is my favorite of hers. Love that one
June 30, 2022 @ 4:05 pm
Do you really think so? I find that interesting. I’ve been a big fan of the stuff coming out of Dan’s Easy Eye studio; Marcus King, Robert Finley, etc. and haven’t felt a “smugness” from it at all.
June 20, 2022 @ 11:00 pm
At this point I have heard nearly every track on the album & I have to say I like this album. Good Job Bocephus on this one (been a long time since I have said that about one of his albums). I think Hank Jr. should stick with this sound & style, reinvent himself like Cash did late in his career. I love Hank’s Country/Southern Rock style but I think he has pushed it as far as he could go. While I don’t think he would have the same level of success in this direction as Cash did with his change of direction, I do think however, Hank could maybe redeem himself with change in direction, from top to bottom he did good with this record not great, but good. I give this a solid 7/10. I must say my favorite track is Jesus Won’t You Come By Here I really feel like Hank knocked it out of the park on that one.
June 21, 2022 @ 3:03 am
Hands down Hank Jr’s. best album in years.
I absolutely love it.
June 21, 2022 @ 9:23 am
Hank can sing blues if he wants to. He doesn’t give a rats ass what anyone says, it’s his he’s been wanting to cut a blues record for a long time and he finally did it. And it’s good, he’s good, one of the best, not a silly ass imposter!
June 22, 2022 @ 6:54 pm
Oh Boy…Let the weirdo’s say whatever…This record is my favorite so far this year!
June 23, 2022 @ 4:58 am
I like this record. It sounds to me like back porch music, a thing I don’t get to do near as often as I’d like.
June 23, 2022 @ 8:34 am
I feel this is his best record since The Almeria Club Recordings, which to my knowledge was the first mention of Thunderhead Hawkins, so that’s cool.
I’ve played Rich White Honky Blues three times through since purchase. Love it.
August 6, 2022 @ 8:56 pm
I take exception to the writer/reporter’s reference to Hank, Jr as a joke, caricature, etc… of himself. That’s only his view. Opinions are opinions and facts are facts and we’d all do well to remember there’s a difference. IMO he’s talented, real, and a legend. I think he does a great job singing the blues. No, he didn’t live them, but he’s honoring what he appreciates and doing a good job of it too. Black American History is not just Black American History. It’s American History too, and Hank, Jr. appreciates what he’s heard, as do many of us. He’s not like some artists who, for example claim to be country musicians but know diddly about country music and don’t even actually like it–they want to make it into something else (which puzzles me why). And Hank, I know you’ll never read this, but I still want to say thank you for speaking to real people, talking like we really do and for not being afraid of all the whiny, pushy, anti-smoking, anti-real, controllers out there. You could sound like Tiny Tim and I’d love you for that alone.
August 6, 2022 @ 9:11 pm
I don’t see where I can edit, but I would like to add that I’m not a fan of F* Bombs. In fact, outside of crude vulgarity (not as bad as some words in phrases to me) and taking the Lord’s name in vain, it’s my least favorite word. Not everyone uses it. That said, Hank did not ask my opinion and he didn’t contradict himself. He said, “You can’t say the F-word in country music”. This ain’t country, the blues is older, I believe. AND he’s not using it for shock value, which is always obvious and just pitiful when people do that. It’s how he talks (tsk, tsk, LOL).
August 6, 2022 @ 9:24 pm
This reporter most certainly did not refer to Hank Jr. as a joke. He simply presented what is a prevailing opinion in parts of popular culture to then refute it. It’s a rhetorical tool.
August 7, 2022 @ 3:34 am
I got my CD of this recently, gave it a full spin, I’m digging it.
But, I like the blues too.
Sounds like he’s having a blast, which to me makes the music more fun.
-Woog