"Ramblin' Man" is a song written in 1951 by

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

. It was released as the B-side to the 1953 number one hit " Take These Chains from My Heart", as well as to the 1976 re-release of "Why Don't You Love Me". It is also included on the '' 40 Greatest Hits'', a staple of his CD re-released material.

Background

"Ramblin' Man" is one of Williams' few minor key compositions and is sung rather than spoken, unlike the other recitations he recorded as " Luke the Drifter," an alter ego created by Williams and producer Fred Rose to let jukebox operators know that the heavily moralistic recitations were not typical Hank Williams honky tonk singles. The song is notable for the simplicity of its structure, relying upon a 2-chord, minor-key, rhythm guitar figure and alternating minimal accompaniment from

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

and

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

. It also features Williams' trademark "yodel." The song's three verses, all ending in the title line, are sung straight through with no pause for instrumental solos. The song tells the story of a man trapped in his drifting ways, doomed to break his lover's heart. Tales of wanderers were a common theme for Williams, and consequently,

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

as a whole. The haunting spectre of the train - also a recurring image in many of Hank's compositions - is prominent. Country music historian

Colin Escott Colin Escott (born August 31, 1949) is a British music historian and author specializing in early U.S. rock and roll and country music. His works include a biography of Hank Williams, histories of Sun Records and The Grand Ole Opry, liner notes ...

speculates that the folk undertones of the recording may not have been accidental because

the Weavers The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City originally consisting of Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman. Founded in 1948, the group sang traditional folk songs fro ...

' hit version of

Lead Belly Huddie William Ledbetter (; January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, Virtuoso, virtuosity on the twelve-string guita ...

's "Goodnight Irene" "had sparked a short-lived

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

craze, and it's possible that Hank saw the folk craze as an opportunity for Luke the Drifter." Williams' version was recorded in Nashville with Fred Rose producing on June 1, 1951. He was backed by

Jerry Rivers Jerry Rivers (August 25, 1928 – October 4, 1996) was an American fiddle player. Biography Jerry Rivers was born in Miami, Florida. He played fiddle with the Drifting Cowboys, a band who will be forever associated with their "frontman", the leg ...

(fiddle),

Don Helms Donald "Don" Hugh Helms (February 28, 1927 – August 11, 2008) was a steel guitarist best known as the steel guitar player of Hank Williams's Drifting Cowboys group. He was a member of the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame (1984). Biography Helms was ...

(steel guitar), Sammy Pruett (electric guitar), Jack Shook (rhythm guitar), Ernie Newton or "Cedric Rainwater," aka Howard Watts (bass), and possibly

Owen Bradley William Owen Bradley (October 21, 1915 – January 7, 1998) was an American musician and record producer who, along with Chet Atkins, Bob Ferguson, Bill Porter, and Don Law, was one of the chief architects of the 1950s and 1960s Nashville sou ...

(organ). The song should not be confused with

Ray Pennington Ramon Daniel Pennington (December 22, 1933October 7, 2020) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for writing the song "I'm a Ramblin' Man", and for founding the independent Step One Records label. Ca ...

's song "

I'm a Ramblin' Man "I'm a Ramblin' Man" is a song written by Ray Pennington. He recorded the song in 1967 for Capitol Records and took it to number 29 on the country charts. It was later recorded by American country music artist Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings ...

", originally recorded in 1967 and subsequently covered by

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

, who recorded a version in 1974.

Cover versions

Frankie Laine Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American Singing, singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to hi ...

covered the song in 1953. *

Michael Holliday Norman Alexander Milne, known professionally as Michael Holliday (26 November 1924 – 29 October 1963) was a British singer, who was popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He had a number of chart hits in the UK, including two number one si ...

covered the song in 1957 on a Columbia EP SEG 7752. *

Ronnie Hawkins Ronald Cornett Hawkins (January 10, 1935 – May 29, 2022) was an American singer-songwriter, long based in Canada, whose career spanned more than half a century. His career began in Arkansas, United States, where he was born and raised. He ...

covered the song for

Roulette Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...

in 1960. *Williams' ex-wife

Audrey Williams Audrey Mae Sheppard Williams (February 28, 1923 – November 4, 1975) was an American musician known for being the first wife of country music singer and songwriter Hank Williams, the mother of Hank Williams Jr. and the grandmother of Hank Willia ...

recorded the song for her LP ''Ramblin' Gal'' on

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

. *Del Shannon cut the song in 1964. *

Dick Dale Richard Anthony Monsour (May 4, 1937 – March 16, 2019), known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scale (music), scales and experimenting with reverb eff ...

recorded a version of the song. *

Steve Young Jon Steven Young (born October 11, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccane ...

covered the song on his 1975 album '' Honky Tonk Man''. *

Boxcar Willie Lecil Travis Martin (September 1, 1931 – April 12, 1999), whose stage name was Boxcar Willie, was an American country music singer-songwriter, who sang in the "old-time hobo" music style, complete with dirty face, overalls, and a floppy hat. ...

recorded it in 1979. *

Hank Williams Jr. Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of southern rock, blues, and country. He is the son of ...

recorded two versions for MGM and cut the song again in 1980 for

Curb A curb (North American English), or kerb (Commonwealth English except Canada; see spelling differences), is the edge where a raised sidewalk or road median/central reservation meets a street or other roadway. History Although curbs have ...

. He also references the song in his own composition "

Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound ''Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound'' is the thirtieth studio album by American country music artist Hank Williams Jr. and his fourth on the Elektra/Curb labels. The full-length album was Williams' second of 1979, with '' Family Tradition'' released in ...

." *

The Residents The Residents are an American art collective and art rock band best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, ''Meet the Residents'' (1974), they have released over 60 albums, numerous music vi ...

covered the song on their 1986 album '' Stars & Hank Forever'', a double tribute to Willams and

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dist ...

. *Don Williams cut the song for Pulse in 1999. * The Dead Brothers covered the song on their 2000 album Dead Music for Dead People. * Williams' grandson,

Hank Williams III Shelton Hank Williams (born December 12, 1972), known as Hank Williams III, is an American musician, singer and multi-instrumentalist, known for his unique fusion of traditional country music, rockabilly, heavy metal and punk rock. He was the ...

, performed the song with

The Melvins ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

on the 2000 album ''

The Crybaby ''The Crybaby'' is the twelfth studio album by American rock band the Melvins, released in 2000 through Ipecac Recordings. It is the last part of a trilogy preceded by ''The Maggot'' and ''The Bootlicker''. The trilogy was later released on viny ...

''. *

Albert Kuvezin Albert Budachievich Kuvezin (Russian: ''Альберт Будачиевич Кувезин'' / Tuvan: ''Күвезин Альберт Будачи оглу'', Küvezin Albert Budachi oglu, , alternatively spelled ''Kögeezin'' (Көгээзин, ) ...

and

Yat-Kha Yat-Kha is a band from Tuva, led by vocalist/guitarist Albert Kuvezin. Their music is a mixture of Tuvan traditional music and rock, featuring Kuvezin's distinctive ''kargyraa'' throat singing style, the '' kanzat kargyraa''. Biography Yat-Kha wa ...

covered the song on their 2005 album ''Re-Covers''. * The song was released as a single in 2005 by

Isobel Campbell Isobel Campbell (born 27 April 1976) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and cellist. She rose to prominence at age nineteen as a member of the indie pop band Belle & Sebastian, but left the group to pursue a solo career, first as The Gentle Waves ...

and

Mark Lanegan Mark William Lanegan (November 25, 1964 – February 22, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and poet. First becoming prominent as the lead singer for the early grunge band Screaming Trees, he was also known as a member of Queens of the St ...

, and was also included on their 2006 album ''

Ballad of the Broken Seas ''Ballad of the Broken Seas'' is an album by Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, their first collaboration. It made the shortlist for the 2006 Mercury Music Prize and was one of ''NMEs top one hundred albums of the decade. The Mercury nomination ...

''. * Tom Waits performed the song in concert on his 2006 American tour. * The song was also covered by

Cat Power Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall ( ; born January 21, 1972), better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and model. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as a ...

on the 2008 album ''

Jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons, with letters and numbers on them, which are used to selec ...

'' * During a 2008 live performance at the Eden Sessions festival,

The Raconteurs The Raconteurs (, also known as The Saboteurs in Australia) is an American rock band from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 2005. The band consists of Jack White (vocals, guitar), Brendan Benson (vocals, guitar), Jack Lawrence (bass guitar), and Pa ...

used the opening lines of Ramblin' Man as an introduction for their song Blue Veins * Strawfoot covers this song on their 2009 release ''How We Prospered'' *

Mark Eitzel Mark Eitzel (born January 30, 1959) is an American musician, best known as a songwriter and lead singer of the San Francisco band American Music Club. Biography Eitzel spent his formative years in a military family living in Okinawa, Taiwan, Ohi ...

covers this song on his 2010 release '' Brannan Street'' *

Hayseed Dixie Hayseed Dixie is an American band formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2000. Their first album was ''A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC''. The band performs bluegrass cover versions of hard rock songs and also original songs of a mostly satirical or absu ...

covers this song on their 2010 release '' Killer Grass'' *

Ash Grunwald Ash Grunwald (born Ashley Mark Groenewald, 5 September 1976) is an Australian blues musician. He has released nine studio albums and has received five nominations for ARIA Music Awards. Five albums have charted in the ARIA Albums Chart top&nbs ...

covered the song on his 2012 album, ''

Trouble's Door ''Trouble's Door'' is the sixth studio album by Australian blues musician Ash Grunwald. It was released in May 2012, peaking at number 29 on the ARIA Charts; his highest charting album. Upon release, Grunwald said the album involved "some of my mo ...

In popular culture

* The song features in

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any write ...

's 1980 play, '' True West'', playing in the intermission at the close of Act I.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramblin' Man (Song) 2005 singles 1951 songs Songs written by Hank Williams Hank Williams songs Song recordings produced by Fred Rose (songwriter)