… but fortunately, so do The Little Willies, as seen in this 2007 clip shot at The Living Room in NYC.
“Lovesick Blues” was Hank Williams’ first #1 hit, and a song that earned him six encores when he debuted on the Opry.* Coincidentally, I count 6 non-Hank versions in my collection: Charley Pride, Patsy Cline, Floyd Cramer, Dolly/Loretta/Tammy (Honky Tonk Angels), LeAnn Rimes, and George Strait.
* Blast from the past, discovered via Google: Brady Vercher on “Lovesick Blues” in the early days of The 9513. This was around the time I first found the site via the CMT Blog. And seeing it again gives me an idea…
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A freelance writer and humorist with an abiding love of country music, C.M. Wilcox's cutting, clear-eyed take on the genre has drawn the attention of Country Weekly, The Washington Post, and The Tennessean in the years since this site began. He lives near Sacramento and can be reached by email at CMW (at) countrycalifornia.com.
What, six versions and you don’t have the Ryan Adams version from the mostly hokey Hank tribute album “Timeless”? Now I’m not a Ryan Adams fan but he does a darn good job solo acoustic with this song. The other two tracks on that album worth a download are by Sheryl Crow and Tom Petty, but that’s about it.
I’ve got Hank, Wylie & the Wild West, Wayne The Train Hancock (live), Patsy Cline, Hank Jr., and George Strait. So six versions of Lovesick also. I’d have thought I had more.
Rick recommending Ryan Adams? Never thought I’d see the day…
I thought I’d find more versions too, Mike. I should track down the Wayne Hancock recording.
Its a barroom recording. I found it through the “live music internet archive”. I think. If you aren’t familiar with it, it is a website that catolouges donated recordings of artists, but only with the artists permission. So lots of Dale Watson and Wayne, but not much Tim McGraw.
I’m surprised that I only have Hank’s version on my iPod.
I still live in hope of a second Little Willies record.
Me too, Jeremy. I love the first one. I wonder if they’ll do another one though, since Norah Jones and her boyfriend (who was in the group) broke up, last I heard.
It’s been recorded many times – it actually started out as a Tin Pan Alley song – the first country version was Emmett Miller during the 1920s. If you don’t consider Miller as being country (It’s a close call), then Rex Griffin during the late 1930s or 1939. Slim Whitman and Stonewall Jackson did a pretty good job with it, Glen Campbell not so much.