On This Day in 1981, Hank Williams Jr. Released the Fish Out of Water Single That Would Become His Fourth No. 1

Hank Williams Jr. started out his career carefully treading the same ground as his famous father, whose name he also carries. Although assuming the role of a glorified Hank Williams impersonator brought him commercial success, it did not yield artistic fulfillment. The Louisiana-born artist shifted gears in the mid-1970s, adopting a more country-rock approach in his music. The following decade brought unprecedented commercial success for Bocephus, with nine albums simultaneously on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart in 1982 alone. On this day (May 30) in 1981, the country singer released “Dixie On My Mind”, his fourth career number-one hit and second straight off his album Rowdy.

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Hank Williams Jr. Shunned Urban Life on this “Rowdy” Single

The rollicking, unabashedly Southern sound that would come to define Hank Williams Jr.’s’ career is in full force on Rowdy, released in January 1981. Its lead single, “Texas Women”, gave Williams his first country chart-topper in nearly a decade, following 1972’s “Eleven Roses”.

In “Dixie On My Mind”, our narrator has decided to leave country life behind for the hustle and bustle of New York City. By the song’s first verse, he has already realized his mistake.

All the stations up here don’t sign off with Dixie / The way they did in sweet home Alabama, Williams Jr. sang. The people here don’t sip Jack Daniels whiskey / The way they do in that Tennessee mountain land.

“Dixie On My Mind” spent nine weeks on the country songs chart, including one at number one. The success of its two singles sent Rowdy soaring up the country albums chart, where it peaked at number two.

How a Near-Fatal Accident Changed His Career Trajectory

Although Hank Williams Jr. wasn’t yet 4 years old when his father died, the elder Williams cast a long shadow.

From the first time he took the stage, it was clear the Country Music Hall of Fame musician was nothing more than a stand-in for his late parent.

“If I did anything different, I would get booed off the stage,” Williams Jr. told the Virginian-Pilot in 2017.

For the first part of his career, he dutifully toed the line. In August 1975, a near-fatal accident forced him to reconsider his priorities.

While climbing Ajax Peak in southwestern Montana, Williams plummeted nearly 500 feet when the snow collapsed beneath him. He spent the next two years learning how to walk and sing again, undergoing 17 surgeries to repair his skull and reconstruct his face.

[RELATED: Born in Louisiana 77 Years Ago Today, the Country Rocker Who Stepped Out of His Legendary Father’s Shadow To Blaze His Own Path]

“I think since then I have separated myself from Daddy, and we both created our own sound and fan bases that have kept our music alive for all these years,” Williams said.

Featured image by David Redfern/Redferns