The one remaining bright spot, if you could call it that, in Hank’s life was documented in his recordings. Here was where the barely literate farm boy became the eloquent scribe. Here was where he stepped out of the gutter and walked soberly with the giants of music and poetry. Here was the one place where Hank momentarily seized immortality, and it was with a mournful wail that he gave his tortured words flight.
Here was where he so eloquently shared with the world his pain and anguish, and just maybe it was because those simple words were so masterfully crafted that no one seemed to see a frightened and horribly lonely man reaching out for help. Hank Williams died on January 1, 1953 and “Your Cheatin’ Heart” was released six weeks later.
It stayed on Billboard’s country chart for 23 weeks and rested at #1 for six of those weeks. On the pop side, Hank’s record topped out at #25. Pop singer Joni James covered “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and rode it up the national pop playlists to #2, while Frankie Laine, who consistently covered country classics, jumped his version to #18. Since that time, hundreds of artists from all genres of music have scored with the song. Ray Charles had it on the pop and R & B charts in 1962, while Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis did rockabilly versions of it during that period of their respective careers.
Today, “Your Cheatin’ Heart” has even become the fodder for symphonies and “elevator” music. Yet, while hundreds have recorded “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” maybe the greatest testament to just how great Hank’s version turned out on that autumn day in 1952, is the fact that no one has ever again charted with the song on the country side. In country music, “Your Cheatin’ Heart” belongs only to Hank Williams.
