Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way

"Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Waylon Jennings. It was released in August 1975 as the first single from the album Dreaming My Dreams. An outlaw country anthem, the song was Jennings' third number one on the country chart as a solo artist, spending sixteen weeks on the chart.^[2]

"Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way"
One of A-side labels of the U.S. vinyl single
Single by Waylon Jennings
from the album Dreaming My Dreams
B-side	"Bob Wills Is Still the King"
Released	August 1975
Genre	Outlaw country[1]
Length	3:02
Label	RCA Nashville
Songwriter(s)	Waylon Jennings
Producer(s)	Waylon Jennings Jack Clement
Waylon Jennings singles chronology
"Dreaming My Dreams with You" (1975) "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" (1975) "Can't You See" (1976)

The B-side to "Are You Sure ..." was "Bob Wills is Still the King", a tribute to the music of Wills.

Content

Jennings, one of the driving forces of outlaw country, released Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way at the height of the movement's success. The song, penned by Jennings on the back of an envelope, captured the singer's frustration with the direction country music had taken over the previous two decades, largely as a result of the control country record labels held over their artists, and the resultant "Nashville sound".

The song pays homage to the influence of country music singer Hank Williams, and criticizes the glitz that had come to characterize top-selling country artists in the 1970s, through references to "rhinestone suits" and "new shiny cars".^[3]

Rolling Stone labeled it the "closest things outlaw country has to a mission statement".^[4]

Chart performance

Waylon Jennings

Chart (1975)	Peak position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[5]	1
US Billboard Hot 100[6]	60
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	21

Alabama

Chart (2011)	Peak position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[7]	53

Cover versions

Country band Alabama covered the song in 2010 for the Waylon Jennings tribute album, The Music Inside: A Collaboration Dedicated to Waylon Jennings, Volume One, which was released on February 8, 2011. Alabama's version was released as a single on December 13, 2010, via The Valory Music Co.

• Pat Green and Cory Morrow covered the song on the album Songs We Wish We'd Written in 2001.
• Clint Black covered the song on his 1999 album D'lectrified, inserting Jennings' name in place of Williams'. Black's version adds an extended instrumental section, and features Jennings as a guest vocalist.
• Chequered Past, featuring singer/actor Michael Des Barres, covered this song on their 1984 eponymous album.
• Robert Earl Keen contributed a cover of the song to Lonesome, On'ry and Mean: A Tribute to Waylon Jennings.
• Morrissey performed a cover of the song at a concert in 2015 in Visalia.^[8] It later became the B-Side to his 2018 single "My Love, I'd Do Anything for You".
• Jack Ingram performed a cover of the song on the 2003 album Live at Billy Bob's Texas.
• Uncle Tupelo released a cover of the song on the 2003 reissue of the album Anodyne.
• Hank Williams Jr. released a cover of this song on his 1981 album Rowdy and added/changed lyrics.
• The Mavericks cover it on their 2019 album “The Mavericks Play the Hits”.
• Charley Crockett closed his set with this song at Farm Aid 2024.

In popular culture

• The song is included on "The Highwaymen Live" movie from 1990.
• The song was also included on the soundtrack for the 2009 film Crazy Heart.
• The song appears on Rebel Radio, the country music themed station, in Grand Theft Auto V. The song was also used in a promotional trailer showcasing the character Trevor Philips.