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>> Bob Wills was a sort of musical
subversive who created this style called Western Swing.
Which was, sort of, a combination of Country and Swing Jazz.
His band was called the Texas Playboys.
And look at all those musicians.
It was a big band with a horned section, multiple vocalists, and a
fiddler, Bob Wills himself, who also, Bob Wills also did a lot of the vocals.
Now, this song we are going to hear, was written
by the Mississippi Sheets, but Bob Wills made it a hit.
As did Les Paul and Mary Ford and about a dozen others.
It's called Sittin' on Top of the World.
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And how about Hank Williams?
He was probably the single most responsible individual
for the popularity of hill billy and country music.
A legend.
And he begat a family with three generations of musicians.
One of Hank Williams' compositions is called Move It On Over.
Let's hear that now from 1947.
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That song was covered by George Thoroughgood and The Destroyers in 1978.
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To give you an even better feel for how, Hank Williams
sounded, let's hear one of his most famous songs called Honky Tonkin'.
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Hey, Good Looking is a very well known song as well.
You may find this hard to believe, actually,
but here's a little story about Hank Williams.
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Eric Clapton, three great British
rock stars, all have said Hank Williams was a major influence on them.
Jagger said that he and Richards quote, loved his music.
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The little baby in this picture is Hank
Williams, Jr., who was, of course, his son.
And the grandson, Hank Williams, the Third plays, currently
plays hardcore country, sludgy country, cow punk, whatever you want to call that.
His impact has not been as great as that
of his father or grandfather, but he's still young.
Now, Hank Williams also, sadly, was one of the
first big stars to die from alcohol and drug addiction.
He died in the back of his car on New
Years Eve, 1953 while being driven to his next gig.
In the next video, we will talk about what was
happening a little farther out on the fringes of music.
I'll see you then.