THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

555-Hank Williams-Jambalaya.

1952-It has never charted in the UK.

Best Bit-At-0.30. A Jambalaya is a Creole rice dish of West African, French, and Spanish influence, consisting mainly of meat and vegetables mixed with rice, but what the hell am I going on about, this is a music countdown, not recipe pamphlet.

Hank Williams was born Hiram Williams on September 17th, 1923, in Mount Olive, Butler County, Alabama, United States, he died at the age of 29, on January 1st, 1953, from alcohol abuse, and prescription drugs. Williams had been born with ‘Spina Bifida occulta,’ a birth defect of the spinal column, which had given him lifelong pain.Both of Williams parents were followers of ‘Freemasonry,’ and had named their son ‘Hiram 1’ after a king in the Hebrew Bible, however his name was misspelled on the birth certificate. Although dying at a young age Williams is considered a great influence in the development of Country Music, writing, or co-writing around 167 songs. Artists who he inspired, and have covered his songs include Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, and Jerry Lee Lewis.

‘Jambalaya (On the Bayou’) was co-written by Hank Williams, and the Country and Western singer/songwriter Moon Mullican (1909-1967.) Because Mullican was under contract to ‘King Records’ at the time he was not credited as co-writer so that he wouldn’t have to pay royalty’s to the record label. The song has been covered many times down the years, with two versions reaching the UK top 40, in 1952 Jo Stafford took her recording to Number 11, and in 1974, The Carpenters version made Number 12. In 1962 the recording by Fats Domino just missed out on being a hit, when peaking at Number 41.

Williams and Mullican based the songs melody on an old Cajun song called ‘Grand Texas,’ but whereas that songs lyrics tell of a lost love, where the narrator is left by his woman for another,’ Jamalaya (On the Bayou,’) is about celebration. The narrator attends a party with his girlfriend Yvonne, where he is introduced to her family, as a possible future husband. At the party they are treated to Cajun cuisine, notably Jambalaya, crawfish pie, and file gumbo.’

‘Thibodaux Fontaineaux, the place is buzzin’, a kinfolk come to see Yvonne by the dozen.Dressed in style they go hog wild, me oh my oh, son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the Bayou.’