Some user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. Despite the evidence pointing to the lyrics being written by Paul Gilley, in the Williams episode of American Masters, country music historian Colin Escott states that Williams was moved to write the song after visiting his wife Audrey in the hospital, who was suffering from an infection brought on by an abortion she had carried out at their home unbeknownst to Hank. Start the wiki, I tried so hard my dear to showThat you're my every dreamYet you're afraid each thing I doIs just some evil schemeA memory from your lonesome…. This blues ballad is both a classic of honky-tonk and an entry in the Great American Songbook. For other uses, see, "The 10 Best Hank Williams Songs, Ranked", "Songwriter Paul Gilley - Kentucky Life - KET", "New biography on Morgan Co. songwriter Paul Gilley", "E.Ky. Let us know what you think of the Last.fm website. But that was a prank – in fact, Williams liked Bennett's version[9] and played it on jukeboxes whenever he could. 1, Sings the Country Music Hall of Fame Hits, Vol. 'You sorry son of a bitch,' she is supposed to have said, 'it was you that caused me to suffer like this.' The first draft of the song is dated November 23, 1950, and was recorded with an unknown band on May 5, 1951. This article is about the Hank Williams song. Scrobbling is when Last.fm tracks the music you listen to and automatically adds it to your music profile. This blues ballad is both a classic of honky-tonk and an entry in the Great American Songbook. The story of the Williams–Bennett telephone conversation is often related with mirth by Bennett in interviews and on stage; he still performs the song in concert. A Google Doodle featured Bennett's recording of the song on its Valentine's Day doodle in February 2012. He is introduced by his idol Roy Acuff. "Cold, Cold Heart" is a country music and pop song recorded by Hank Williams. Allmusic writer Bill Janovitz discusses this unlikely combination: "That a young Italian singing waiter from Queens could find common ground with a country singer from Alabama's backwoods is testament both to Williams' skills as a writer and to Bennett's imagination and artist's ear.". writer penned two of Hank Sr.'s biggest hits", "Show 9 - Tennessee Firebird: American country music before and after Elvis. Escott also speculates that Audrey, who carried on extramarital affairs as Hank did on the road, may have suspected the baby was not her husband's. Do you know any background info about this track? Connect your Spotify account to your Last.fm account and scrobble everything you listen to, from any Spotify app on any device or platform. In his autobiography The Good Life, Bennett described playing "Cold, Cold Heart" at the Grand Ole Opry later in the 1950s. Williams featured the song on his Mother's Best radio shows at the time of its release and performed the song on The Kate Smith Evening Hour on April 23, 1952, which ran from September 1951 to June 1952; the appearance remains one of the few existing film clips of the singer performing live. During the credits for the 2013 videogame Batman: Arkham Origins, the Joker, voiced by Troy Baker, can be heard singing the song. In the liner notes to the 1990 Polygram compilation Hank Williams: The Original Single Collection, Fred Rose's son Wesley states, "Hank earned two major distinctions as a songwriter: he was the first writer on a regular basis to make country music national music; and he was the first country songwriter accepted by pop artists, and pop A&R men. "[3], The song would become a pop hit for Tony Bennett, paving the way for country songs to make inroads into the lucrative pop market. Hank went home and told the children's governess, Miss Ragland, that Audrey had a 'cold, cold heart,' and then, as so often in the past, realized the bitterness in his heart held commercial promise.[3]. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Although a notorious binge drinker, Williams appears remarkably at ease on front of the cameras, with one critic noting, "He stared at the camera during his performance of 'Cold, Cold Heart' with a cockiness and self-confidence that bordered on arrogance. [10], The popularity of Bennett's version has been credited with helping to expose both Williams and country music to a wider national audience. 2, In Loving Memories: The Jerry Lee Lewis Gospel Album, The Session...Recorded in London with Great Artists, By Request: More of the Greatest Live Show on Earth, She Still Comes Around (To Love What's Left of Me), What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me), When He Walks on You (Like You Have Walked On Me), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cold,_Cold_Heart&oldid=948027355, Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles, Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles of the year, Pages using infobox song with unknown parameters, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 29 March 2020, at 19:42. It first reached the Billboard magazine charts on July 20, 1951, and lasted 27 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 1. Gilley also wrote the lyrics to "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and other songs before drowning at the age of 27. Go directly to shout page. [4][5][6][7], That same year, it was recorded in a pop version by Tony Bennett[9] with a light orchestral arrangement from Percy Faith. This recording was released by Columbia Records as catalog number 39449. "You sing and we'll follow you," they said, and Bennett says they did so beautifully, once again recreating an unlikely artistic merger. "Dear John" peaked at #8 after only a brief four-week run on Billboard magazine's country music charts, but "Cold, Cold Heart" proved to be a favorite of disc jockeys and jukebox listeners, whose enthusiasm for the song catapulted it to #1 on the country music charts. Javascript is required to view shouts on this page. Williams subsequently telephoned Bennett to say, "Tony, why did you ruin my song?" Let us know what you think of the Last.fm website. In 1997, the first installment of A&E's Live By Request featuring Bennett (who was also the show's creator), special guest Clint Black performed the song, after which Bennett recounted it.

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Norah Jones, born on March 30th 1979 in New York City, is one of the most popular … ", Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington, A Rockin' Good Way (to Mess Around and Fall in Love), Sings the Country Music Hall of Fame Hits, Vol. "Cold, Cold Heart" is a country music and pop song recorded by Hank Williams. A quest in the 2010 post-apocalyptic open world action-RPG Fallout: New Vegas uses this song as its name. In 2012 Bennett recorded once again "Cold, Cold Heart" in a duet with Argentinian singer-songwriter Vicentico for Viva Duets, a studio album of Bennett in collaboration with Latin American music stars, released in October 2012. Williams adapted the melody for the song from T. Texas Tyler's 1945 recording of "You'll Still Be in My Heart," written by Ted West in 1943.[3]. Bennett re-recorded the song as a duet with Tim McGraw for the 2006 album Duets: An American Classic. [Part 1]", "Jazz Goes Honky-Tonkin': The Songs Of Hank Williams", "Nashville Skyline: Where Was Norah Jones? Florida bandleader Pappy Neil McCormick claims to have witnessed the encounter: According to McCormick, Hank went to the hospital and bent down to kiss Audrey, but she wouldn't let him. [3] Like his earlier masterpiece "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," it was released as the B-side (MGM-10904B) to "Dear John" (MGM-10904A), since it was an unwritten rule in the country music industry that the faster numbers sold best.

Leave feedback, Norah Jones, born on March 30th 1979 in New York City, is one of the most popular contemporary. He had brought his usual arrangement charts to give to the house musicians who would be backing him, but their instrumentation was different and they declined the charts. ", Music journalist Chet Flippo and Kentucky historian W. Lynn Nickell have each described how 21-year-old Kentuckian Paul Gilley wrote the lyrics, then sold them to Williams along with the rights, allowing Williams to take credit for it.