Hank Williams – Hey, Good Lookin’

I got a hot rod ford and a two dollar bill
And I know a spot right over the hill
There’s soda pop and the dancin’s free
So if you want to have fun come along with me

 If you had told me that Chuck Berry wrote those lyrics I would have completely believed you. I have to wonder how often this line has been used in the history of dating since this song came out?

Little Jimmy Dickens said that Williams wrote the song in just 20 minutes while on tour with Dickens and Minnie Pearl. He intended the song for Dickens but decided to keep it for himself after realizing its potential.

The song was released in 1951. It was recorded at Castle Studio in Nashville with his backing band The Drifting Cowboys. After the release, he was on the Kate Smith Evening Show to debut it. The video is at the bottom and the girl beside him is June Carter…later to be June Carter Cash. 

Williams was making inroads into a more crossover audience. He was the first country star to make an appearance on the Perry Como show at the time. He was wildly popular in the early 1950s. He probably would have helped broaden country music’s popularity had he lived longer. 

This song is very popular, to say the least. It has been covered 252 times and more than once by his son as well.  Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Gene Vincent all tackled it in 1958. Other versions have included those by George Jones (1959), Ray Charles (1962), Del Shannon (1964), Roy Orbison (1970), and Waylon Jennings (1985). A 1973 live version by Van Morrison was on the expanded 2016 reissue of his It’s Too Late To Stop Now set.

Hank Williams took 12 songs to #1 and had 55 charted singles in his career, which ended too soon when he died on Jan. 1, 1953, at the age of only 29. He is listed as the writer or co-writer of 167 songs in his lifetime. 

The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles at the time. In 2004 it peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with Jimmy Buffet singing and also #63 on the Billboard 100. 

The man lived hard…look at the bottom video. He is just 27 years old in that clip…he could be easily mistaken for much older. He was one of the best songwriters in the 20th Century. 

Hank Williams:  “If a song can’t be written in 20 minutes, it ain’t worth writing.”

Hey Good Lookin’

Say hey, good lookin’ whatcha got cookin’?
How’s about cookin’ something up with me?
Hey, sweet baby don’t you think maybe
We can find us a brand new recipe?

I got a hot rod ford and a two dollar bill
And I know a spot right over the hill
There’s soda pop and the dancin’s free
So if you want to have fun come along with me

Hey, good lookin’ whatcha got cookin’?
How’s about cookin’ something up with me?

I’m free and ready so we can go steady
How’s about saving all your time for me
No more lookin’ I know I been cookin’
How’s about keepin’ steady company?

I’m gonna throw my date book over the fence
And find me one for five or ten cents
I’ll keep it ’til it’s covered with age
‘Cause I’m writin’ your name down on every page

Say hey, good lookin’ whatcha got cookin’?
How’s about cookin’ something up with me?

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

38 thoughts on “Hank Williams – Hey, Good Lookin’”

  5. The Master! I had/have a buddy in Idaho Falls that he & his Dad took the time to sit me down & play Hank Williams’ music & explain to me his importance to not just Country/Western music but all of popular music. You’ve met Al Green, he always mentions Hank Williams as an influence on him. One of those folks that God sent to us to learn from & admire but only to be here for a blink of an eye in his lifetime. I couldn’t wait to see the episode on Hank on Ken Burn’s ‘Country Music’ documentary a couple of years ago.

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    1. The Hillbilly Shakespeare… yea as I said… if you look at these lyrics…you could reasonably say that Chuck Berry could have written these…. so they all tie in with each other.

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  9. June carter looks so goofy in that video. I used to go see the country group called Kinderhook creek when I lived in New Jersey, and they played this song all the time. I found a video of them, and I think they are still together, but much older now.

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  12. Oh, I’m all nostalgic now. This is one Mum used to half sing and bumblingly hum through the words she didn’t know while fixing dinner or whatever.

    He lived his life on his face, that’s for sure.

    That verse about throwing his date book over the fence is genius. Every word- perfect.

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      2. I don’t know if you can tell but yes…that is why I’m always late to Daves now and sometimes a no show at others. It’s busy…which is a good thing because I hate saying this…but it goes much quicker than those slow days.

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  14. Glad you pointed out that was June Carter! Kind of a Hee Haw flavor to that little cameo. I love me some Hank Williams. Man could write. Man could sing. His son ain’t no slouch neither.

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  16. another great tune from my youth…..the man had a passion….just rewatched the Last of Us, and they played Alone and Forsaken….I’d feel uncomfortable trying to cover that, even though I’d like to, but you can’t redo something so torchered

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