Remembering Hank Williams Sr. [VIDEO]

If you were to ask most of today's Country Music stars, they probably will tell you that their musical influences are Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, George Strait and for some of the younger ones, Garth Brooks or perhaps guys like Tim McGraw. What I find interesting is that if you asked the name just mentioned, they would most likely tell you that it was Hank Williams Sr. that got them hooked on Country Music.This weekend marks 59 years since the passing of Hank Sr. Known for his unique style of voice and lyric, everyone that knew Country Music back in the day, loved Hank. It always amazes me to think about the amount of music we got from Hank in just a short amount of time. Although he lived a life that seemed to be filled with booze, drugs and darkness, he was a lyrical GENIUS. His music was way ahead of his time. Although much of the industry turned their back on him during his career, his music was able to stand the test of time and critics.

Truly an amazing talent. Even after hundreds of songs and stories, I can only imagine what else he could have had inside his creative mind. It's a shame that he passed so young. Hank Williams Sr had a way of not only writing the words that hit so close to home for so many, but when he sang you could feel his emotions pouring into the microphone. Today's stars have talent and passion and some can even write pretty well. Yet, I would be willing to say that no one in years has been able to take the emotions and feelings from inside them and transport them into the listeners minds and hearts like Hank. In my opinion, hank didn't do it for the fame or fortune, he wasn't out to get people to "like" him. What made him HANK was that he sang and wrote from the heart. From making you cry, to making you want to dance, to making you want to flat out feel pain like no other inside, Hank Williams should forever be on any ones list of "inspiring influences."

I had a chance to visit his grave in Montgomery, Alabama a few years back. It wasn't what I expected. There wasn't some grand entrance to it. There was not security surrounding it. There was no admission fee or anything like that. It was just a large, yet simple and  reverent  head stone.

Here is one of the rare videos of Hank...