I've Just Told Mama Goodbye Explained

I've Just Told Mama Goodbye
Published: Acuff-Rose Publications, Inc.[1]
Type:single
Artist:Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys
A-Side:Wedding Bells
Released:May 1, 1949
Recorded:March 20, 1949[2]
Studio:Castle Studio, Nashville
Genre:Country, blues
Label:MGM
Prev Title:Lovesick Blues
Prev Year:1949
Next Title:Mind Your Own Business
Next Year:1949

"I've Just Told Mama Goodbye" is a song by Hank Williams on MGM Records.

Background

"I've Just Told Mama Goodbye" was first released in 1949 on Mercury Records by Slim Sweet, who wrote the song with Curly Kinsey, and it was chosen along with "Wedding Bells" to be Hank Williams' follow-up single to the immensely successful #1 hit "Lovesick Blues." The pairing of these two songs resulted in what may have been the most sentimental single Williams ever released, and while his own compositions were rarely saccharine, he exhibited a weakness for other songs that were. Significantly, the release was timed to coincide with Mother's Day, and as Williams biographer Colin Escott put it, dying mothers "were to hillbilly music what fair maidens walking through the dingly dell were to English folk song."[3] Williams rendition has an unmistakable Roy Acuff influence.Williams recorded it at Castle Studio in Nashville on March 20, 1949 with Fred Rose producing and was supported by Dale Potter (fiddle), Don Davis (steel guitar), Zeb Turner (electric guitar), Jack Shook (rhythm guitar), and Velma Williams (bass).[4]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Library of Congress. Copyright Office.. Catalog of Copyright Entries 1949 Published Music Jan-Dec 3D Ser Vol 3 Pt 5A. 1949. U.S. Govt. Print. Off.. United States Copyright Office. English.
  2. Web site: Hank Williams Sessions. 2021-10-19. jazzdiscography.com.
  3. Book: Escott, Colin . Colin Escott . Hank Williams: The Biography . Back Bay . 2004 . 0-316-73497-7 . 107.
  4. Book: Escott, Colin . Hank Williams: The Biography . Back Bay . 2004 . 0-316-73497-7 . 332.