On This Day in 1952, Hank Williams Recorded Three Posthumous Chart-Toppers During His Final Session

On this day (September 23) in 1952, Hank Williams walked into the recording studio for the final time. During the session, he recorded three songs that reached the top of the country chart following his death. One of the songs, “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” became a country standard.

Williams’ abuse of alcohol and painkillers, as well as his failing health, was well known to most in the music industry. However, no one could have guessed that he would be dead just months after his September recording session at Nashville’s Castle Studio.

Chet Atkins, who played on William’s June 13 recording session in 1952, recalls that the singer was in poor health. While Atkins’ description of his condition in Hank Williams: The Biography may have been exaggerated, it still paints a vivid picture. “After each take of ‘I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive,’ he’d sit down in a chair. I remember thinking, ‘Hoss, you just not jiving.’ He was so weak that all he could do was just sing a few lines, then just fall in the chair.” At the time, he was recovering from a botched back surgery. To cope with the pain, he was taking strong narcotics and drinking liquor. His condition couldn’t have been much better during his final session.

Hank Williams Still Sounded Strong

Hank Williams’ deteriorating condition didn’t bleed into his recordings. No matter how weak his body felt, his voice remained just as strong as it had ever been. Moreover, his voice was strong enough to propel three of the four songs he recorded that day to the top of the country chart.

That day, he cut “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Kaw-Liga,” “Take These Chains from My Heart,” and “I Could Never Be Ashamed of You.” The latter was released as the B-side to “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive,” the last single he released before his death and his first posthumous No. 1.

[RELATED: Chet Atkins’ Heartbreaking Description of Hank Williams Gives New Meaning to This Classic Country Track From 1952]

The other three songs were released as A-sides. “Kaw-Liga” and “Your Cheatin’ Heart” appeared on Memorial Album and went to No. 1 in 1952. “Take These Chains from My Heart” was released later that year as a single later that year and also topped the chart.

Featured Image by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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