"Family Tradition" | ||||
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Single by Hank Williams Jr. | ||||
from the album Family Tradition | ||||
B-side | "Paying on Time" | |||
Released | May 28, 1979 | |||
Recorded | 1978 | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 4:00 | |||
Label | Elektra/Curb | |||
Songwriter(s) | Hank Williams Jr. | |||
Producer(s) | Jimmy Bowen | |||
Hank Williams Jr. singles chronology | ||||
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"Family Tradition" is a song written and recorded by American musician Hank Williams Jr. It was released in May 1979 as the fourth and final single and title track from his album of the same name. It peaked at No. 4, and is one of his most popular songs. It has sold 909,000 digital copies as of April 2016. [1]
The song is a Williams' statement of rebellion, not only in his lifestyle and living out the lyrics of his songs, but of his musical identity and direction.
With the latter point, the lyrics state Williams' unapologetic desire to forge his own style, particularly in response to criticism for his change from countrypolitan and covers of his father's songs. At the same time proclaiming how proud and honored he is to be part of his father's musical legacy, the younger Williams makes clear that his musical style – southern rock fused with honky tonk – is very different from the blues-oriented honky-tonk popular during Williams' lifetime.
Taking off on the point of his father, the younger Williams notes that the hard-living lifestyle is a "family tradition," referring to the alcohol and drug use that became associated with his personal life.
Charlie Daniels performed the fiddle-led bridge between the second and third verses. [2]
When played in concert, at parties, or sung at karaoke, "Family Tradition" frequently becomes a call-and-response song during the chorus. [3] One typical example:
Punk rock musician GG Allin did a cover of "Family Tradition" called "Scumfuc Tradition".
In 2024, Rolling Stone ranked the song at #83 on its 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time ranking. [4]
For the 2008 US presidential campaign, Williams wrote a version of the song called "McCain-Palin Tradition" which included a line pointing out that Barack Obama had radical friends, like Bill Ayres whose Weather Underground bombed the US Capitol, and Jeremiah Wright, the "pastor" whose teaching the Obamas sat under for years preaching "God damn America". [5]
Chart (1979) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Hot Country Songs ( Billboard ) [6] | 4 |
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles ( Billboard ) [7] | 4 |
Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 16 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United States (RIAA) [8] | 3× Platinum | 3,000,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
HiramKing "Hank" Williams was an American singer-songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century. Williams recorded 55 singles that reached the top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, five of which were released posthumously, and 12 of which reached No.1.
Randall Hank Williams, known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style has been described as a blend of rock, blues, and country. He is the son of country musician Hank Williams and the father of musicians Holly Williams and Hank Williams III, and the grandfather of Coleman Williams. He is also the half brother of Jett Williams.
A honky-tonk is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano used to play such music. Bars of this kind are common in the South and Southwest United States. Many prominent country music artists such as Jimmie Rodgers, Ernest Tubb, Lefty Frizzell, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Johnny Horton and Merle Haggard began their careers as amateur musicians in honky-tonks.
Outlaw country is a subgenre of American country music created by a small group of iconoclastic artists active in the 1970s and early 1980s, known collectively as the outlaw movement, who fought for and won their creative freedom outside of the Nashville establishment that dictated the sound of most country music of the era. Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Paycheck and David Allan Coe were among the movement's most commercially successful members.
Honky is a racial slur used to refer to white people, predominantly heard in the United States.
Faron Young was an American country music producer, musician, and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s. Hits including "If You Ain't Lovin' " and "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young" marked him as a honky-tonk singer in sound and personal style; and his chart-topping singles "Hello Walls" and "It's Four in the Morning" showed his versatility as a vocalist.
"Your Cheatin' Heart" is a song written and recorded by country music singer-songwriter Hank Williams in 1952. It is regarded as one of country's most important standards. Williams was inspired to write the song while driving with his fiancée from Nashville, Tennessee, to Shreveport, Louisiana. After describing his first wife Audrey Sheppard as a "cheatin' heart", in minutes he dictated the lyrics to Billie Jean Jones. Produced by Fred Rose, Williams recorded the song at his last session at Castle Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 23.
"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" is a 1952 country song written by J. D. "Jay" Miller, and recorded by Kitty Wells. It was an answer song to the Hank Thompson hit "The Wild Side of Life." First performed by Al Montgomery as "Did God Make Honky Tonk Angels" on the Feature label which was owned by songwriter J.D. Miller.
"Honky Tonk Women" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was released as a non-album single on 4 July 1969 in the United Kingdom, and a week later in the United States. It topped the charts in both nations. The song was on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
40 Greatest Hits is a two-record greatest hits compilation by American singer-songwriter Hank Williams. It was released in 1978 by Mercury Records – who under PolyGram became responsible for the MGM tape vault – on the 25th anniversary of Williams' death. Significantly, it was the first anthology in quite some time that did not subject Williams' recordings to either rechanneled stereo, posthumous overdubs, artificial duets with family members, or most or all of the above. Because of both this, and the value-for-money attraction of having a deeper song selection than single-disc compilations issued previously by MGM Records, many reviewers consider this anthology to be the perfect starting point for newcomers to Williams' recorded legacy. The album remains, to this day, the best-selling record of Williams' career.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1952.
Mark Nelson Chesnutt is an American country music singer and songwriter. Between 1990 and 1999, he had his greatest chart success recording for Universal Music Group Nashville's MCA and Decca branches, with a total of eight albums between those two labels. During this timespan, Chesnutt also charted twenty top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, of which eight reached number one: "Brother Jukebox", "I'll Think of Something", "It Sure Is Monday", "Almost Goodbye", "I Just Wanted You to Know", "Gonna Get a Life", "It's a Little Too Late", and a cover of Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing". His first three albums for MCA along with a 1996 Greatest Hits package issued on Decca are all certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA); 1994's What a Way to Live, also issued on Decca, is certified gold. After a self-titled album in 2002 on Columbia Records, Chesnutt has continued to record predominantly on independent labels.
"Honky Tonk Blues" was a hit country and western song written and performed by Hank Williams. The original 1952 recording was a major hit, and it later became a hit for Charley Pride.
Honky Tonk Masquerade is the second album by country singer-songwriter Joe Ely, released in 1978.
My Favorites of Hank Williams is an album by American country music artist George Jones. It was released in 1962 on the United Artists record label. It was Jones' second tribute to the music of Hank Williams.
"Honky Tonkin'" is a 1947 country music song, written and recorded by Hank Williams. His song went to #14 on the Billboard country music chart in 1948. In 1982, it became the sixth chart topping single for Williams' son, Hank Williams Jr.
"I'm Sorry for You, My Friend" is a song written and recorded by Hank Williams. It was released as the flipside to his single "Honky Tonk Blues" in 1952 on MGM Records.
"I'm a Honky Tonk Girl" is the debut single by American country music artist Loretta Lynn, released in March 1960. The song was among the first to not only be recorded by Lynn, but also to be penned by her. She composed the song while living in Washington State, maintaining her role as a housewife and occasional member of a local country music band. The composition was later recorded in California after Lynn was given money by a local businessman, who was impressed by her singing. "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl" was then issued as a single under the newly founded and independent Zero Records label in March 1960.