Too Many Parties and Too Many Pals

Background

"Too Many Parties and Too Many Pals" was written by Tin Pan Alley songwriter Billy Rose with New York City songwriters Mort Dixon and Ray Henderson, and had already been recorded by one of the first singing cowboys, Carl T. Spargue, as the "Wayward Daughter." The song contains the testimony of a man defending a "social enemy, a lady of the evening" who is on trial for her promiscuous ways. Williams biographer Colin Escott deems it "a morality play in one mercifully short act..." The song contains a similar theme as Hank's own "Men with Broken Hearts" but, like "The Funeral," somehow lacks the down-to-earth gravitas that characterized his own lyrics. Williams recorded the song in Nashville at Castle Studio at the first Luke the Drifter session on January 10, 1950 with Fred Rose producing. He was backed on the session by Don Helms (steel guitar), Hillous Butrum (bass), and probably Owen Bradley or Rose (organ).