This week marks the arrival (April 29, 1937) and unfortunately the departure (April 25, 2005) of The Wildest One Man Band Hunch Machine that ever stalked the planet. Hasil "The Haze" Adkins wrote, performed and lived out his wild-ass rock & roll dreams with a sincere ferocity unmatched by fellow humans north or south. Rattling the walls of his Madison, West Virginia shack, Hasil would croon sweet odes to commodity meat and serenade the fickle moon above with his hot dog reverie. Early on, he'd mail out his home-recorded concoctions to the country music stars of the day, hoping to place a song or grab a plum spot on a traveling package show. Like the rest of the world, Nashville would have to wait a few decades to get hep to Hasil's chicken walk-inspired genius.
She Said (Streaming Real Audio link)
Here's three rejection letters from three equally talented performers. (Thanks, Norton Records!)
er, is it just me, or does it look like this dude invented the devilock?
Posted by: Davin | April 30, 2008 at 12:22 PM
Wow, the mere thought of Johnny Cash performing "No More Hot Dogs" at Folsom/San Quentin. That would have surely started a riot.
Posted by: Brian Turner | April 30, 2008 at 03:02 PM
excellent
Posted by: Holland Oats | April 30, 2008 at 07:44 PM
thank you so very much for sharing this, hasil was without doubt, an amazing person.
Posted by: daisy mae | May 01, 2008 at 02:55 AM
Great post for an exceptional talent. For a brief potted history see http://artdecade.blogspot.com/search?q=hasil+adkins.
Posted by: ib | May 22, 2008 at 11:24 AM
Ernest Tubb was a patronising bastard, wasn't he?!?
Posted by: Charlie Davidson | March 24, 2010 at 11:28 PM