About The Song
Over the course of little more than four years — seven while he was still alive, four after his sad demise — Hank Williams had no fewer than 11 No.1s on Billboard’s country chart. Between them, they racked up an extraordinary total of 82 weeks at the summit, an aggregate of more than 18 months that helped to forge the legend of one of the true country greats.
Around halfway through that sequence, it was on August 11, 1951 that Williams’ latest MGM single took over at the top from Eddy Arnold’s “I Wanna Play House With You.” The song in question, “Hey, Good Lookin’” had a non-consecutive reign of eight weeks and went on to inspire more than one hundred cover versions. One of them was soon bagging the pop chart honors for itself.
Hank’s original “Hey, Good Lookin’” took only five weeks to rise to the country top spot, but as usual, radio and TV format restrictions (and Billboard’s chart methodology) made it almost impossible for him to cross over to a substantial pop audience. He managed just one week on the pop listing with his new country hit, at No.29, by which time one of the biggest mainstream entertainers of the day, Frankie Laine, had secured the big cover, duetting on “Hey, Good Lookin’” with Jo Stafford and climbing to No.9.
“Hey, Good Lookin’” became one of Williams’ most-visited copyrights, also covered in 1951 in country style by Tennessee Ernie Ford and Helen O’Connell, and in a kind of hillbilly, formative rock’n’roll mood by Piano Red.
Williams’ original was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001. In recent times, Tom Hiddleston sang the song as Hank Williams on the soundtrack of the biopic I Saw The Light, credited with the Saddle Spring Boys. “Hey, Good Lookin’” is still lookin’ good some 70 years on.
Video
Lyrics
Say, hey, good-looking
Whatcha got cooking?
How’s about cooking somethin’ up with me?
Hey, sweet baby
Don’t you think maybe
We could find us a brand-new recipe?
I got a hot-rod Ford and a two-dollar bill
And I know a spot right over the hill
There’s soda pop and the dancin’ is free
So if you wanna have fun come along with me, see?
Hey, good-looking
Whatcha got cooking?
How’s about cooking somethin’ up with me?
I’m free and ready
So we can go steady
How’s about saving all your time for me?
No more looking
I know I’ve been tooken
How’s about keeping steady company?
I’m gonna throw my date-book over the fence
And find me one for five or ten cents
I’ll keep it ’til it’s covered with age
‘Cause I’m writing your name down on every page
Say, hey good-looking
Whatcha got cooking?
How’s about cooking something up with me?
