Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way

"Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way"
One of A-side labels of the U.S. vinyl single
Single by Waylon Jennings
from the album Dreaming My Dreams
B-side	"Bob Wills Is Still the King"
Released	August 1975
Genre	Outlaw country [1]
Length	3:02
Label	RCA Nashville
Songwriter(s)	Waylon Jennings
Producer(s)	Waylon Jennings Jack Clement
Waylon Jennings singles chronology
"Dreaming My Dreams with You" (1975) "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" (1975) "Can't You See" (1976)

"Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Waylon Jennings. It was released in August 1975 as the first single from the album Dreaming My Dreams . An outlaw country anthem, the song was Jennings' third number one on the country chart as a solo artist, spending sixteen weeks on the chart. ^[2]

The B-side to "Are You Sure ..." was "Bob Wills is Still the King", a tribute to the music of Wills.

Content

Jennings, one of the driving forces of outlaw country, released Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way at the height of the movement's success. The song, penned by Jennings on the back of an envelope, captured the singer's frustration with the direction country music had taken over the previous two decades, largely as a result of the control country record labels held over their artists, and the resultant "Nashville sound".

The song pays homage to the influence of country music singer Hank Williams, and criticizes the glitz that had come to characterize top-selling country artists in the 1970s, through references to "rhinestone suits" and "new shiny cars". ^[3]

Rolling Stone labeled it the "closest things outlaw country has to a mission statement". ^[4]

Chart performance

Waylon Jennings

Chart (1975)	Peak position
US Hot Country Songs ( Billboard ) [5]	1
US Billboard Hot 100 [6]	60
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	21

Alabama

Chart (2011)	Peak position
US Hot Country Songs ( Billboard ) [7]	53

References

1. Pitchfork Staff (August 22, 2016). "The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s". Pitchfork . Retrieved October 13, 2022. Like the best outlaw country, "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?" looks backwards and forwards simultaneously...
2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 174.
3. Ronnie D. Lankford Jr. "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way - Waylon Jennings | Song Info". AllMusic . Retrieved 2016-10-10.
4. https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/the-200-greatest-country-songs-of-all-time-60414/waylon-jennings-are-you-sure-hank-done-it-this-way-60582/
5. "Waylon Jennings Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
6. "Waylon Jennings Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
7. "Alabama Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.