Disco de Hank Williams III: “Lovesick, Broke & Driftin'”

I bought HANK 3'S debut album in 1999 when it first came out and for 3 long, loooong years I had to wait for his sophomore effort "LOVESICK BROKE & DRIFTIN... 3 WORDS: WORTH THE WAIT! I knew after the first song that HANK III had hit the nail on the head. THERE IS NOT ONE DUD ON THIS ALBUM. EVERY TRACK DELIVERS. While country radio is playing bubble gum, watered down, country pop artists, HANK WILLIAMS III is bringing country that's REAL AND RAW AND DOESN'T CARE WHOSE FEET IT STEPS ON. If you love Hank SR., I will give you a money-back guarantee that you will love his grandson just the same. IF YOU ARE NOT A HANK SR. FAN... SEEK THERAPY. If you do buy this album, LISTEN FOR THE HIDDEN TRACK AT THE END OF THE ALBUM. Also listen for track 4: LOVIN' & HUGGIN'; If that song doesn't make your feet itch, well, seek therapy. NEEDLESS TO SAY THIS ALBUM COMES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FROM THIS "REAL" COUNTRY FAN!!!

I like country music. Let me rephrase that. I like REAL country music. Forget the Shania Twains and Rascal Flatts out there. I don't like country watered down with pop influences. I like the hard core honky tonk old school country music. That's Hank III, and he carries on a fine tradition started a long time ago by his grandfather.

A bit of a departure from his first CD (which was good in it's own right), Hank III pens all but one tune on this CD, and his talent truly shows. Not only that, he has the absolutely amazing sounds of Mr. Kayton Roberts on steel guitar, a man who has played with many country music legends. I think he's playing for a future legend on this album.

You probably won't hear Hank III on mainstream country music radio, but if you want to hear the real deal, pick up this CD. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Hopefully he is the herald of what 21st century country holds in store for us.

What a great follow up!! He doesn't care about what the world thinks about his music and for that I have the greatest respect. He continues with a traditional sound and with his follow up it sounds like he's started to wander towards the Hank Jr. classic lyrics along with the sound that his father (until his recent release) has been unable to see is great! I think it's great when people buck the system and go for a sound that's them and not what Nashville wants. Keep up the great sound III!

So, ...I'm going to see Hank Williams III live on a Wednesday night in March of 2002. I received a promotional copy of this, then newly released CD, and got through about the first 2 tracks on the way to the show. I remember thinking that this would be a fun, learning experience for me since I don't get exposed to too much Country too often. Listening to the first 2 tracks, I knew I would be seeing a traditional Country show. It had a sound from the "good old days," when Country music didn't "rock." This wasn't Garth Brooks style stuff, I was thinking. This is more along the lines of Hank Williams, Sr., or George Jones. Classic style Country. Well, I was right...kind of.

Hank III covers a lot of bases here; he also covers the low key Bruce Springsteen tune "Atlantic City." You get a little bit of everything with this one.

He kicks off the lp with a traditional "foot tapper." "7 Months, 39 Days" is a rollicking barn burner that makes this set flow wonderfully right from the start. As the record rolls on, you get a lot of traditional cryin' and beggin' going on. All of it done extremely well. There's got to be something heretic with musicianship. This young gun comes from a bloodline much like Lisa Marie Presley is the offspring of one of Rock And Roll's inventors. This guy is kin to 2 of Country's biggest and brightest stars; and it shows. A musician of Hank III's age, doing the old traditional styles of Country, is unheard of these days. He is definitely old school, and he had a helluva teacher!

With songs such as "Trashville," in which he slams the up & coming Country "rockers," he sounds his most conformative, ironically. This tune has a more modern style to it. It rocks. It has Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top on electric guitar. "Nighttime Ramblin' Man" and "Lovin' And Huggin'" are other songs that might fit into the "new" Country genre. And, lo and behold, they are both rockers. The "new" Country sound pretty much ends there though. On songs such as the title cut, and "Callin' Your Name" we get the heartbroken, "crying in his beer" traditional Country sound. On songs such as "One Horse Town" and "Walkin' With Sorrow," we actually get some yodelling!!! This guy does it all!!

Yes, I enjoy this record a lot. It is a very versatile Country record. I would say most Country records are not very versatile in stylings. The artist usually has a formula, and utilizes that formula on each and every track. This is an artist that does not stick to that theory.

So, now that I told you about the record, let me tell you about the most bizarre show I have ever seen...Hank III.

He takes the stage and rolls through the record, probably in it's entirety, and does a great job with it. Now, I had been "clued in" to the fact that he does a "Southern Rock-type" set besides the Country set, but I really didn't know what to expect. I was thinking along the lines of ZZ Top, or Lynyrd Skynyrd. The show progressed nicely; he gave warning to those who don't like hard rock, a few times during the Country set, that they may want to "find the exits" when the Country set ends. I found this to be very peculiar, leaving me even more curious as to what I was in for. At this point, I had no idea. His appearance during the Country set was, like his music, traditional. Dark blue Western shirt with white piping around all the pockets, ...long straight hair pulled back in a ponytail, ...and a big acoustic guitar settled on his lap. Exactly what you might expect. The Country set ended. It was time.

Next thing I know, after a fifteen minute break, all hell broke loose! The singer, with his electric guitar strapped on his bare chest and his incredibly long hair engulfing his entire head, is thrashing out power chords with Slayer-like intensity!!! It was extremely heavy stuff. It would probably be categorized as Death Metal by some. It was the most bizarre transformation I had, or have, ever seen.

OVERALL RATING: 7 (1-10 scale)

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Hank III has put out two solid albums of "real" country that do hark back to the days of his grandfather. Drawing on influences such as his dad and granddad, Johnny Cash, Wayne "The Train" Hancock (who often plays guitar in his touring band), Merle Haggard, David Allen Coe and other traditional country artists, III takes the genre a step further by blending it with his rock, punk, and metal influences. On this album he even covers the Bruce Springsteen song "Atlantic City". In response to the criticism that he needs to go his own way, you can see that he has forged his own path when you see him live. His band performs many covers such as "Cocaine Blues" and "Rambling Man." He also mentions influences such as the Eagles and the Rolling Stones, bands that certainly did not influence the rest of his family. Then when his other band Assjack takes the stage it is very clear that he has taken his own route. Assjack puts on one of the loudest shows I've ever seen (and I love metal and punk) by combining influences such as the Misfits, Slayer, Pantera, Metallica, and others. Also, in response to III's distancing himself from Nashville (w/ songs such as "Trashville"), he has good reason. The music coming out of Nashville right now is exactly that...trash. It is dance music with acoustic guitars and cowboy hats, not country. The real country artists out there are not getting the attention they deserve. Even III has had a tough time with his record label which refuses to release his Assjack albums (III burns the cds and sells the bootlegs on his own at his shows). If you like traditional outlaw country then this album will please you. Also, even if you don't like metal (you can leave before Assjack b/c they're last), you should definitely make a point of seeing Hank III b/c his show is phenomenal. It is extremely entertaining, rowdy, and one hell of a good time.