Williams subsequently telephoned Bennett to say, "Tony, why did you ruin my song?" But that was a prank – in fact, Williams liked Bennett's version and played it on jukeboxes whenever he could. That a young Italian singing waiter from Queens could find common ground with a country singer from Alabama's backwoods is testament both to Williams' skills as a writer and to Bennett's imagination and artist's ear. Allmusic writer Bill Janovitz discusses this unlikely combination: The popularity of Bennett's version has been credited with helping to expose both Williams and country music to a wider national audience. It first reached the Billboard magazine charts on July 20, 1951, and lasted 27 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 1. This recording was released by Columbia Records as catalog number 39449. That same year, it was recorded in a pop version by Tony Bennett with a light orchestral arrangement from Percy Faith. Tony Bennett version "Cold, Cold Heart"Ĭolumbia 30th Street Studio, New York City United States Billboard Hot Country Singles The claims have not been widely accepted. Gilley also claimed to have written the lyrics to " I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and other songs before drowning at the age of 27. Lynn Nickell both have asserted that 21-year-old Kentuckian Paul Gilley wrote the lyrics, then sold them to Williams along with the rights, allowing Williams to take credit for it. Music journalist Chet Flippo and Kentucky historian W. In the liner notes to the 1990 Polygram compilation Hank Williams: The Original Single Collection, Fred Rose's son Wesley states, "Hank earned two major distinctions as a songwriter: he was the first writer on a regular basis to make country music national music and he was the first country songwriter accepted by pop artists, and pop A&R men." The song would become a pop hit for Tony Bennett, paving the way for country songs to make inroads into the lucrative pop market. Although a notorious binge drinker, Williams appears remarkably at ease on front of the cameras, with one critic noting, "He stared at the camera during his performance of 'Cold, Cold Heart' with a cockiness and self-confidence that bordered on arrogance." Williams featured the song on his Mother's Best radio shows at the time of its release and performed the song on The Kate Smith Evening Hour on April 23, 1952, which ran from September 1951 to June 1952 the appearance remains one of the few existing film clips of the singer performing live. "Dear John" peaked at #8 after only a brief four-week run on Billboard magazine's country music charts, but "Cold, Cold Heart" proved to be a favorite of disc jockeys and jukebox listeners, whose enthusiasm for the song catapulted it to #1 on the country music charts. Like his earlier masterpiece " I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," it was released as the B-side (MGM-10904B) to "Dear John" (MGM-10904A), since it was an unwritten rule in the country music industry that the faster numbers sold best.
The first draft of the song is dated November 23, 1950, and was recorded with an unknown band on December 21, 1950. 'You sorry son of a bitch,' she is supposed to have said, 'it was you that caused me to suffer like this.' Hank went home and told the children's governess, Miss Ragland, that Audrey had a 'cold, cold heart,' and then, as so often in the past, realized the bitterness in his heart held commercial promise. Florida bandleader Pappy Neil McCormick claims to have witnessed the encounter:Īccording to McCormick, Hank went to the hospital and bent down to kiss Audrey, but she wouldn't let him. Escott also speculates that Audrey, who carried on extramarital affairs as Hank did on the road, may have suspected the baby was not her husband's. In the Williams episode of American Masters, country music historian Colin Escott states that Williams was moved to write the song after visiting his wife Audrey in the hospital, who was suffering from an infection brought on by an abortion she had carried out at their home unbeknownst to Hank. Texas Tyler's 1945 recording of "You'll Still Be in My Heart," written by Ted West in 1943.
Williams adapted the melody for the song from T. This blues ballad is both a classic of honky-tonk and an entry in the Great American Songbook. " Cold, Cold Heart" is a country music and pop song written and first recorded by Hank Williams. Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys singles chronology Single by Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboysįebruary 16, 1951 ( ) Acuff-Rose Publications Ĭountry & Western, Honky-tonk, Country blues 1951 song by Hank Williams "Cold, Cold Heart"
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