Hank Williams Jr. plans to surrender on assault charges.

The above link is just an excuse to link to video of a very young Hank Jr. singing a song called “Cajun Baby” on Hee Haw. (I’ll look past the stereotypes of my people for a moment, although I continue to be amazed people seem to think Cajuns pronounce “bayou” as “buy-oh.” It’s “buy-you,” people.)

Before Hank Jr. took on his outlaw, Monday-Night-Football-singing persona, he tried being a carbon copy of his dad. If you’ve ever wondered why he always wears dark sunglasses and a beard, here are some details on the accident that wrecked his face [and, for a while, his career] in 1975.

And I don’t want to hear any hatin’ on Hee Haw. Once you get past the corny jokes, it was a good show! (And the girls were hottt.) I watched it every week as a kid. Buck Owens, R.I.P. Here’s some classic Hee Haw video, best viewed after watching Altman’s Nashville.

Even though I grew up in a Cajun family, my grandmother didn’t much care for Cajun music (or “French music,” as her generation called it). Post-World War II, the push for Cajun cultural integration led to an adoption of Nashville country as the music of the realm — particularly in western Cajun country, where I was, which always had an identification with Texas/cowboy culture. (There’s a saddlery and “Western wear” shop across the street from the house I grew up in.)

It wasn’t really until around the time I was born that Cajun music started to become respectable. But the country flavor held on in a lot of families, including my own. (There are a number of embarassing photos of me in cowboy garb.)

04 April 2006

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