May You Never Be Alone

"May You Never Be Alone" is a song written and recorded by Hank Williams. It was released as the flipside of "I Just Don't Like This Kind of Living" in January 1950.

"May You Never Be Alone"
Single by Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys
A-side"I Just Don't Like This Kind of Living"
PublishedNovember 25, 1949 Acuff-Rose Publications[1]
ReleasedJanuary 1950
RecordedMarch 1, 1949[2]
StudioCastle Studio, Nashville
GenreCountry, blues
Length2:49
LabelMGM
Songwriter(s)Hank Williams
Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys singles chronology
"My Bucket's Got a Hole in It"
(1949)
"May You Never Be Alone"
(1950)
"Long Gone Lonesome Blues"
(1950)

Background

edit

"May You Never Be Alone" dated back to a 1946 Williams song folio under the title "I Loved No One but You."[3] With its poetic imagery ("Like a bird that's lost its mate in flight," "Like a piece of driftwood on the sea"), the song stands out as one of Williams' first great compositions. He recorded it with Fred Rose producing at Castle Studio in Nashville on March 1, 1950. He is backed by Dale Potter (fiddle), Don Davis (steel guitar), Zeke Turner (lead guitar), Clyde Baum (mandolin), Jack Shook (rhythm guitar), and probably Ernie Newton (bass).[4] Clyde Baum plays the only mandolin solo to be ever featured on a Hank Williams record.

Cover versions

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "U.S. Copyright Office Virtual Card Catalog 1946-1954". vcc.copyright.gov. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  2. ^ "Hank Williams 78rpm Issues". jazzdiscography.com. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  3. ^ Escott, Colin (2004). Hank Williams: The Biography. Back Bay. p. 106. ISBN 0-316-73497-7.
  4. ^ Escott, Colin (2004). Hank Williams: The Biography. Back Bay. p. 332. ISBN 0-316-73497-7.