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“Get Them Boots Off” – Waylon Jennings Thought He Was Haunted After He Was Gifted A Pair Of Hank Williams’ Boots
Haunted cowboy boots? Talk about an all-time great country music Halloween story…
Waylon Jennings famously owned a pair of Hank Williams’ cowboy boots, which were gifted to him by Hank’s son and Waylon’s close friend, Hank Williams Jr.
They were black and white with a cool red design, and made by famous designer Nudie Cohn, who invented the rhinestone covered “Nudie Suits” that became so popular in country music thanks to Hank Sr., Porter Wagoner, Gram Parsons’ and even Elvis.
Here’s a photo of them:
Guernsey’s
And on The Ralph Emery Show back in the mid-90’s promoting his book Waylon: An Autobiography, Waylon recalled a spooky night at the studio when he first felt Hank’s presence. He wore the boots there, a prized possession, obviously, and things went sideways quickly:
“Hank Jr. gave them to me, and he came back in a couple of days and said, ‘Did they fit?’ And I said, ‘How did you know I tried them on?’ And he said, ‘I knew they’d fit!’ And so I got to wearing them every once in a while, ‘cuz they were Hank’s.
And one night, I was recording, and it was raining really bad, and I had these boots on. And a guy that worked for me came in and said, ‘Chief, it’s real bad.’ I said, ‘What do you mean it’s real bad?’ He said, ‘It’s just real bad.’ And I said, ‘Well what is it?’ You know? He said, ‘You know that new Cadillac you just bought?’ I said ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘There’s a tree on it.'”
Waylon’s longtime drummer Richie Albright immediately felt that it might have something to do with the fact that Waylon had on Hank Sr.’s boots and made him take them off right away:
“And Richie Albright, who played drums, said ‘Get them boots off!’ That’s the first thing. And I went out there, and I said, ‘Lookie there, the whole tree is all over that car.’ I got out there, and I said ‘Raise that branch.’
There was one branch over it. And I said ‘Raise up that branch,’ and they did and I backed it out. And right to this day, there’s not a scratch on that car.”
In the book, Waylon has the story written a bit differently, saying the tree fell first, they went back into the studio after assessing the damage, and then lighting struck the recording tape inside the studio. He says there was ash on the ground of the studio from the electricity and burning, and it was then that everyone made him take the boots off.
Regardless, it’s a spooky story, and either Waylon got really lucky, or if you’re into ghosts and spirits, maybe you think it was Hank Sr. himself who had something to do with Waylon’s brand new Cadillac coming out unscathed after a tree fell all over it (and the subsequent lightning).
Waylon informed Ralph that the boots were a size 9.5, and he was determined to make them fit no matter what:
“I was gonna make ’em fit… I just kinda had a feeling they might. I had seen one picture of him with them on.”
Actually, Waylon mentions several times throughout the autobiography that Hank Williams’ ghost haunted him throughout his life, and he recalled seeing Hank’s Cadillac for the first time and laying down in the back seat. He doesn’t outright say that’s where he might’ve picked up the “haint,” which is what a lot of Southerners call spirits or ghosts, but kind of implies that being the first time he was up close and personal with an important Hank artifact.
Superstitious people believe you can get a haint “on you,” so to speak, and that they’ll follow you around causing things like Hank Sr. might’ve done to Waylon. In fact, if you’re ever visiting the South and go to either a restaurant or even someone’s house with a porch, you’ll likely notice the ceiling on the porch is painted a light blue color called haint blue. Some believe doing that will stop the spirit from coming through the front door.
Waylon also mentions in his book that he could feel Hank’s spirit on his tour bus, and he could always sense when he was there, so it seems like he’s a believer in the fact that his spirit was still around, which is a pretty common belief when it comes to Hank Sr.’s fans.
There have been numerous reports of sightings of the ghost of Hank Williams over the years at the Ryman Auditorium, in his hometown of Montgomery, Alabama where he was laid to rest, and there are also rumors that he haunts the alley behind Tootsie’s.
Whether you’re into that kind of stuff or not, it certainly makes for an interesting story about two all-time country icons. I like to think that if Hank did follow Waylon around in spirit, it’s because he was proud of what he was doing for country and the kind of music he was making…
Here’s the clip of the interview where Waylon tells Ralph about the boots, it’s really interesting and the perfect story with Halloween festivities getting underway this week
Also, if you want another spooky Hank Sr. story. “The Ride,” which was first recorded by David Allan Coe in the 80’s, was written by Gary Gentry along with John Blayne Detterline, Jr.), after Gary says he saw Hank Sr. in his apartment. You can read more about that HERE.
And it only feels right to leave you with this…
The post “Get Them Boots Off” – Waylon Jennings Thought He Was Haunted After He Was Gifted A Pair Of Hank Williams’ Boots first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
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