B-side "Just Waitin'" Genre Country, Gospel Label MGM Records | Released April 1951 Length 3:08 | |
Recorded December 21, 1950, Castle Studio, Nashville | ||
"Men with Broken Hearts" is a song written and recorded by Hank Williams under the pseudonym "Luke the Drifter." It was released on MGM Records in 1951.
Contents
Background
"Men with Broken Hearts" was a song of which its composer was extremely proud; in the liner notes to the 2001 Mercury album Hank Williams as Luke the Drifter: Beyond the Sunset, he is quoted asking journalist Allen Rankin, "Ain't that the awfulest, morbidest song you ever heard in your life? Don't know how I happen to write that thing, except that somebody that fell, he's the same man as before he fell, ain't he?" In the American Masters film, Danny Dill recalls, "He was simply overwhelmed by that song, 'Men with Broken Hearts.' And it was so sad, it was awful! But he loved it." The song, like most of the Luke the Drifter recordings, is a recitation, and Hank's delivery, infused with compassion and sadness, gives it a moral authority that is immediately arresting and would influence countless singers from George Jones to Bob Dylan. Williams recorded the song on December 21, 1950 in at Castle Studio in Nashville - the same session that produced "Cold, Cold Heart" - with Fred Rose producing. He was backed by Jerry Rivers (fiddle), Don Helms (steel guitar), Sammy Pruett (electric guitar), Chet Atkins (rhythm guitar), Ernie Newton or Howard Watts (bass). It was released as a single in 1951 with "Just Waitin'" as the B-side.