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A song that wasn't even
going to be recorded is making it's way overseas. The song 'Hank Is
Dead' written by John Moore and recorded by The Moore Brothers along
with other original songs by the group will soon be released in
Europe by Misty Records out of Houston, Texas. Misty records picked
up on the group due in part to the powerful song 'Hank Is Dead.' It
is a song about the telegram that Hank's mother wrote to her
daughter Irene when Hank died. The telegram simply read, "COME
AT ONCE HANK IS DEAD." The following is an account of how the
song came to be written in the writers own words.
"I was in
Nashville with my family trying to make professional contacts in the
music business and at the same time visit some of Nashville's most
famous historic country music spots. Having visited the Country
Music Hall of Fame several years earlier myself, I wanted to go
again with my wife and children. I had read about a new addition to
the Hall of Fame devoted exclusively to Hank Williams and I really
wanted to see it."
"When we got to the Hank Williams display my
wife and I were so caught up in the memorabilia and old sound
pictures of Hank singing live that we stayed in the Hank display for
well over an hour. Still not wanting to leave, we browsed around a
little longer despite the kids begging us to go. We kept hanging on,
looking at everything over and over again. Finally, we stopped to
look at a glass display case that we hadn't really looked at as well
as we wanted."
"I think my wife saw the note first and drew
my attention to it. But I couldn't get over what I was looking at.
Right there in the display case was an old Western Union note that
Hank's mother had sent to her daughter telling her that Hank had
died. The words were so brief but so sad. I really couldn't get over
it. The note just said, "Come at once, Hank is dead."
"I must have looked at the note for a half
hour more. It affected me so much that I didn't want to leave the
display room. So many things went through my mind. I had always
thought about Hank's tragic death as a very sad thing and great loss
and sadness to country music. But all of a sudden I felt the pain
that a broken-hearted mother must know. The feeling was
overwhelming. If I didn't shed tears right there it was only because
I secretly contained myself."
"We finished our trip to Nashville and went
home to Pennsylvania. The whole time I kept thinking about the note.
Weeks later I told my wife that I just had to write a song about it.
It was actually some time before I wrote it - maybe a year or more.
But it kept bothering me until I knew I had to write it so I could
live with myself. It almost felt like an obligation. And that‘s
how the song Hank Is Dead came about. And every time I sing it, I
still get the same feeling that I did when I first saw that
telegram."
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