"(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle" is a song written by Hank Williams and Jimmie Davis. It became his fourteenth consecutive Top 10 single in 1951.

Background

Hank Williams was a Jimmie Davis disciple, who scored big hits on Decca Records with "Nobody's Darlin' But Mine," "

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" and "Worried Mind." It is unclear when he and Hank Williams wrote "(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle." On one of his ''Mother's Best'' radio shows, recorded between January and March 1951, Williams tells his audience that he's going fishing with Jimmie Davis the next week, so the song may have been composed then. Containing two of country music's major themes, trains and prison, the song is notable for the way Hank mimics the sound of a train whistle on the word "lonesome." The song was likely an inspiration for Johnny Cash's "

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." It was recorded at Castle Studio in Nashville on July 25, 1951, with Fred Rose producing and backing from

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(steel guitar),

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(fiddle), Sammy Pruett (lead guitar), Howard Watts (bass) and probably

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(rhythm guitar).

Acuff-Rose Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. was an American music publishing firm formed in 1942 by Roy Acuff and Fred Rose in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Acuff-Rose's honest behavior towards their writers set them apart from other music publishing firms ...

songwriter Helen Hudgins later recalled the stiflingly hot summer session: "Hank had his shirt unbuttoned all the way, and he was absolutely soaking wet. It seemed that all he was...was voice. It came up from I don't know where." In a June 2014 online ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' article, Joseph Hudak wrote of the song, "The sound is so stark, so unsettling, that it's easy to feel exactly what Williams was getting at in the performance: simple heartbreak." The song's title was truncated to "Lonesome Whistle" so that it could be listed on jukebox cards. It peaked at number 8 on the '' Billboard'' country singles chart. The B-side, Fred Rose's "Crazy Heart", outperformed it, peaking at number four.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:I Heard That Lonesome Whistle Songs about loneliness 1951 songs Hank Williams songs Song recordings produced by Fred Rose (songwriter) Songs written by Jimmie Davis Songs written by Hank Williams Songs about trains