"Men with Broken Hearts" is a song written and recorded 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 ...
under the pseudonym "
Luke the Drifter." It was released on
MGM Records
MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...
in 1951.
Background
"Men with Broken Hearts" was a song of which its composer was extremely proud; in the liner notes to the 2001
Mercury
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
album ''Hank Williams as Luke the Drifter: Beyond the Sunset'', he is quoted asking journalist Allen Rankin, "Ain't that the awfulest, morbidest song you ever heard in your life? Don't know how I happen to write that thing, except that somebody that fell, he's the same man as before he fell, ain't he?" In the ''
American Masters
''American Masters'' is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and those who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the ...
'' film,
Danny Dill
Horace Eldred "Danny" Dill (September 19, 1924 – October 23, 2008) was an American country music singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975.
Biography
Dill, born in Clarksburg, Tennessee, got h ...
recalls, "He was simply ''overwhelmed'' by that song, 'Men with Broken Hearts.' And it was so sad, it was awful! But he loved it." The song, like most of the Luke the Drifter recordings, is a recitation, and Hank's delivery, infused with compassion and sadness, gives it a moral authority that is immediately arresting and would influence countless singers from
George Jones
George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...
to
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
. Williams recorded the song on December 21, 1950 at
Castle Studio in
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
- the same session that produced "
Cold, Cold Heart
"Cold, Cold Heart" is a country music and pop song written and first recorded by Hank Williams. This blues ballad is both a classic of honky-tonk and an entry in the ''Great American Songbook''.
Hank Williams version
Williams adapted the melody ...
" - with
Fred Rose producing. 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),
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music s ...
(rhythm guitar),
Ernie Newton or Howard Watts (bass).
It was released as a single in 1951 with "
Just Waitin'" as the A-side.
Cover versions
*
Jim Reeves
James Travis Reeves (August 20, 1923July 31, 1964) was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well known as a practitioner of the Nashville Sound. Known as "Gentleman ...
covered the song for
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
in 1961.
*A film clip of Hank's 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 ...
reciting the song is widely available.
*
Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen (born Christian Ludolf Ebsen Jr., April 2, 1908 – July 6, 2003), also known as Frank "Buddy" Ebsen, was an American actor and dancer, whose career spanned seven decades. One of his most famous roles was as Jed Clampett in the CBS ...
recorded the song for
Reprise
In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repea ...
.
*
Ferlin Husky
Ferlin Eugene Husky (December 3, 1925 – March 17, 2011) was an early American country music singer who was equally adept at the genres of traditional honky-tonk, ballads, spoken recitations, and rockabilly pop tunes. He had two dozen top-20 hit ...
recorded the song for
Capitol
A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity.
Specific capitols include:
* United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
* Numerous ...
in 1964.
*
Porter Wagoner
Porter Wayne Wagoner (August 12, 1927 – October 28, 2007) was an American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour.
In 1967, he introduced singer Dolly Parton on his television show, ''The Po ...
cut the song for RCA in 1966.
*
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 a version in 1970. It later became the title of the 1995 album ''
Three Hanks: Men with Broken Hearts'', containing overdubbed duets with Hank Sr., Hank Jr., and
.
*
Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...
performed a rendition of the song on his
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
television show.
*In August 1970 in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
,
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
spoke a few lines from "Men with Broken Hearts" as an introduction to the song "
Walk a Mile in My Shoes
"Walk a Mile in My Shoes" is a song written by Joe South, who had a hit with it in 1970. South was also producer and arranger of the track and of its B-side, "Shelter." The single was credited to "Joe South and the Believers"; the Believers includ ...
" (as can be heard on the 1995 box set ''Walk a Mile in My Shoes: The Essential '70s Masters'').
*
Sneezy Waters
Sneezy Waters (born Peter Hodgson; March 1, 1945) is a Canadian folk musician, singer, songwriter and actor who is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Hank Williams Sr. in the play and film ''Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave''. He also w ...
sang a slightly different version of the song in the 1980 film
Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave.
*
Stompin Tom Connors also recorded a version of the song on his ''Roads of Life'' album in 2012.
Discography
References
{{reflist
Songs written by Hank Williams