“I Don’t Want Anybody Ever Telling Me I’m Not Country” – Hank Williams Jr. Describes His Sound In 1979 Interview

An outlaw through and through. Growing up in the shadow of one of country music's best voices makes for a daunting life. And no one knows the highs and lows of creating your own image when you are the heir to country music royalty than Hank Williams Jr. Entering the scene at a ripe eight years old, Williams Jr. got his career by covering his father's songs and carrying on his legacy. However, the pressure of becoming a mini Hank Williams eventually got to Bocephus, leading him to almost end his life . However, once he escaped Music City and moved to Alabama, surrounded by the woods, he reconnected with his love for music and began pioneering his own sound. Bocephus had to fight tooth and nail to get the country music world to respect his sound, but once he got their attention, they never stopped listening. His outlaw spirit shines through in each of his songs, and Williams Jr. pioneered a sound unlike many others of his time. In a 1979 interview, four years after his near-fatal fall , Williams was one of the hottest names in country music. Even then, people didn't know how to categorize his sound. Williams had the perfect answer, knowing that his music would shape the direction country would move in. "I think radio stations like to call it progressive country. Some of them like to call it country rock. Uh...We call ours new South mostly, new country. I've been around a long time, and there are a LOT of different faces between '66 and '76 in the country music audience. I saw a thing in 'Billboard Magazine the other day: there are 2,000 stations airing country now. Country is bigger than it's ever been. But yet, when you look at the top ten albums of Willie Nelson, or Tanya Tucker, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, you have to think that they're not really the hardcore country artist... I'm not going to mention any names, but you know what I mean. But, still, those people and this person, we've all rolled around in buses and station wagons with trailers on the back. And we've paid our dues, and we live in little country towns...Anne Murray and Neil Diamond don't, but they get played on country stations. So I don't want anyone telling me, as long as they play Neil Diamond or Anne Murray or whatever, I don't want anybody EVER telling me I'm not country." He's not wrong with that last sentence. Hank Williams Jr. is country to his core. History indeed does repeat itself, as many artists today have to fight that they are considered "country" because there are so many sub-genres within the whole genre. Now, pop country...that's a whole other story, but Americana and Appalachian artists fall into that niche facet of country music that Williams Jr. once found himself in. No one does it quite like Bocephus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGXjfNajA8Q