I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
{{Infobox song
| name = I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
| cover =
| alt =
| type = single
| published = October 31, 1949 Acuff-Rose Publications{{Cite web|title=U.S. Copyright Office Virtual Card Catalog|url=https://vcc.copyright.gov/browse|access-date=2021-09-09|website=vcc.copyright.gov}}
| artist = Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys
| album =
| A-side = "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It"{{sfn|Escott|Merritt|MacEwen|2004|p=125}}
| released = November 8, 1949
| format =
| recorded = August 30, 1949{{Cite web|title=Hank Williams 45rpm Issues|url=https://jazzdiscography.com/Artists/hank-williams/hank-williams-45-releases.php|access-date=2021-08-19|website=jazzdiscography.com}}
| studio = Herzog Studio, Cincinnati
| genre = Hillbilly, honky-tonk, country blues
| length = {{Duration|m=2|s=48}}
| label = MGM 10560
| writer = Hank Williams
| producer =
| prev_title = You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave)
| prev_year = 1949
| next_title = I Just Don't Like This Kind of Living
| next_year = 1950
}}
"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer-songwriter Hank Williams in 1949. The song has been covered by a wide range of musicians.
Authorship and production
Various writers quoted Williams as saying he wrote the song originally intending the words be spoken rather than sung, as he had done on several of his Luke the Drifter recordings.{{sfn|Escott|Merritt|MacEwen|2004|p=124}} According to Colin Escott's 2004 book: Hank Williams: A Biography, the inspiration for the song came from the title to a different song Williams spotted on a list of forthcoming MGM record releases. The song was recorded on August 30, 1949, at Herzog Studio in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Williams was backed by members of the Pleasant Valley Boys: Zeke Turner (lead guitar), Jerry Byrd (steel guitar) and Louis Innis (rhythm guitar), as well as Tommy Jackson (fiddle) and Ernie Newton (bass).{{sfn|Escott|Merritt|MacEwen|2004|p=}}
= Controversy =
Music journalist Chet Flippo and Kentucky historian W. Lynn Nickell have both asserted that 21-year-old Kentuckian Paul Gilley wrote the lyrics, then sold them to Williams along with the rights, allowing Williams to take credit for it. Gilley also supposedly wrote the lyrics to "Cold, Cold Heart" and other hit country songs before drowning at the age of 27.{{cite book |title=Your Cheatin' Heart: A Biography of Hank Williams |author=Chet Flippo |author-link=Chet Flippo |pages=7, 130, 150 |date=1997 |edition=revised |publisher=Plexo |isbn=9780859652322}}; {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SJJ5wykgvY|title=Songwriter Paul Gilley - Kentucky Life - KET|last=KET - Kentucky Educational Television|date=29 July 2013|access-date=8 August 2018|publisher=YouTube}}; {{cite news |url=https://www.wmmt.org/appalachian-attitude-audio-new-biography-on-morgan-co-songwriter-paul-gilley/ |title=New biography on Morgan Co. songwriter Paul Gilley |date=July 2, 2012 |work=Appalachian Attitude |publisher=WMMT 88.7 Mountain Community Radio |access-date=October 26, 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}; {{cite news |url=https://www.themountaineagle.com/articles/e-ky-writer-penned-two-of-hank-sr-s-biggest-hits/ |title=E.Ky. writer penned two of Hank Sr.'s biggest hits |author=Staff |date=June 6, 2012 |newspaper=The Mountain Eagle |location=Whitesburg, Kentucky }} The claims have not been widely accepted.Tennessee Walt [Geyden Wren], (2020) [https://tennesseewalt.com/2020/09/14/the-curious-case-of-paul-gilley/ “The Curious Case of Paul Gilley”], Tennessee Walt. (Accessed: March 25, 2023): “… there are a small number of people who, quite sincerely, believe that—at least in the case of ‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’ (1949) and ‘Cold, Cold Heart’ (1951)—the answer is Paul Gilley.”
Release and reception
The song was released as the B-side to the blues "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It", because up-tempo numbers were deemed more appropriate for the jukebox trade than melancholy ballads. The single reached number four on the country chart in 1949.[http://www.musicvf.com/song.php?title=My+Bucket%27s+Got+a+Hole+in+it+by+Hank+Williams&id=99955 Hank Williams, "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" Chart Positions], Musicvf.com, Retrieved March 31, 2014
"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" has been identified with Williams's musical legacy, and has been widely praised. In the 2003 documentary The Road to Nashville, singer k.d. lang stated: "I think 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry' is one of the most classic American songs ever written, truly. Beautiful song." In his autobiography, Bob Dylan recalled: "Even at a young age, I identified with him. I didn't have to experience anything that Hank did to know what he was singing about. I'd never heard a robin weep, but could imagine it and it made me sad."{{cite book|last=Dylan|first=Bob |title=Chronicles|date=7 July 2011|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-85720-958-0|page=88}} In its online biography of Williams, Rolling Stone notes:
In tracks like "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", Williams expressed intense, personal emotions with country's traditional plainspoken directness, a then-revolutionary approach that has come to define the genre through the works of subsequent artists from George Jones and Willie Nelson to Gram Parsons and Dwight Yoakam.
Rolling Stone ranked it number 111 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the oldest song on the list, and number 3 on its 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time.
Notable cover versions
Many musical artists have covered the song:
- Johnny Cash covered the song on his 1960 album Now, There Was a Song!
- Johnny Tillotson reached number 89 on the American Billboard charts in 1962.
- Among the most notable is a version by B. J. Thomas and the Triumphs, who took the song to number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966 and number 2 in Canada.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.5724.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - April 18, 1966}}
- In 1972, Charlie McCoy's version charted at number 23 on Billboard{{'s}} Hot Country Songs chart and number 21 in Canada.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.4185.pdf| title=RPM Country Playlist - September 2, 1972}}
- Leon Russell released a version in 1973, which brought him a modest hit at number 78 on the Hot 100.
- Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw recorded the song in 1975 and released it in 1976; it reached number 17 on the country singles chart for two weeks and also number 17 in Canada.{{cite magazine | url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/country-songs/1976-03-27/ | title=Hot Country Songs | magazine=Billboard }}{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.4126.pdf| title=RPM Country Playlist - May 15, 1976}} It broke into the Hot 100 at number 91.
- Jerry Lee Lewis released a cover in 1982, peaking at number 43 on the Hot Country Songs chart.
- Al Green released a cover of this song in 1973.
- Sam Williams, Hank Williams grandson, released his cover on September 15, 2023; two days before what would have been his grandfather’s 100th birthday.{{cite web |last1=Ross |first1=Alex |title=Sam Williams Drops New Cover of Grandpa Hank Williams, Hopes to Follow His Footsteps My Own Way |url=https://people.com/sam-williams-covers-song-by-grandpa-hank-williams-in-his-own-way-7970353 |website=People Magazine |date=September 15, 2023 |access-date=December 11, 2024 |archive-date=July 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718022322/https://people.com/sam-williams-covers-song-by-grandpa-hank-williams-in-his-own-way-7970353 |url-status=live }}
Chart performance
= Hank Williams version =
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
!Chart !Position |
|---|
| 1949
| B-side of "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" |
| 1966
| No. 43 |
Williams' version ranked No. 29 in CMT's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music in 2003.
References
{{Reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book|last1=Escott|first1=Colin |author-link1=Colin Escott|last2=Merritt|first2=George |last3=MacEwen|first3=William |title=Hank Williams: The Biography|year=2004|publisher=Little, Brown|location=New York}}
{{Andy Williams}}
{{B. J. Thomas}}
{{Hank Williams}}
{{Jerry Lee Lewis}}
{{Johnny Tillotson}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Songs written by Hank Williams
Category:Jerry Lee Lewis songs
Category:Tommy James and the Shondells songs
Category:Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients