On this day (November 4) in 1975, Audrey Williams died from heart failure in her Nashville, Tennessee, home at the age of 52. She is widely remembered as the first wife of Hank Williams and the mother of Hank Williams Jr. Williams was also a successful music publisher and promoter in the 1950s and ’60s.
Williams, born Audrey Sheppard, married her first husband, James Guy, when she was a high school senior. She gave birth to their daughter, Lycrecia, in 1941. Their marriage dissolved soon after. Then, in 1943, she met Hank Williams in Alabama. He added her to his band as a bass player and singer. However, his mother, who was his manager at the time, and the rest of the band tried to talk him out of it. In December 1944, ten days after her divorce from Guy was finalized, Audrey and Hank tied the knot. A justice of the peace officiated the ceremony in his gas station.
According to From the Vaults, she became Hank’s manager shortly after the wedding. She was with him when he traveled to Nashville to meet Fred Rose. That trip led to recording sessions with Sterling Records that yielded “Never Again” and “Honky Tonkin’.” A year later, he signed with MGM and Rose became his manager.
Audrey and Hank Williams’ Marriage
Audrey Williams was with her husband as his star rose. At the same time, she began working toward a career of her own. This started with several husband-and-wife duets. They recorded “Lost on the River,” “I Heard My Mother Praying for Me,” “Dear Brother,” “The Pale Horse and His Rider,” “Where the Soul of Man Never Dies,” and other songs together.
Hank Williams’ biographer noted, “Her duets with hank were like an extension of their married life in that she fought him for dominance on every note.”
Their marriage was rocky, to say the least. She left him in 1948, when his drinking started getting worse. Eventually, they reunited and she gave birth to their son, Randall Hank Williams, later known as Hank Williams Jr., in May 1949.
On December 31, 1951, almost exactly a year before he died, she called Hank and kicked him out of their Tennessee home. “Audrey,” he replied, “I won’t live another year without you.” They divorced in June 1952.
Audrey Continued Working in Nashville
Audrey Williams didn’t walk away from the country music world when she divorced Hank Williams. She worked as a music publisher and booking agent. “Through the 1950s and ’60s, Audrey was a powerful force in the traditionally all-male country music business, with her own record label, publishing and film production companies, talent search, and touring all-star show,” noted one historian.
However, she never saw success as a recording artist. She eventually walked away from the music industry when her singing group, the Cold Cold Hearts, broke up in 1970. Over the next five years, her life was marked by substance abuse, mental health, and financial issues. Notably, she owed the IRS back taxes. She died the day before the IRS came to repossess her home.
Featured Image by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
The post 51 Years Ago Today, We Lost the Woman Who Helped Make Hank Williams a Legend Before Becoming a Nashville Powerhouse in Her Own Right appeared first on American Songwriter.
Author: Clayton Edwards
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