When it comes to Halloween music, normally country music doesn’t come to my mind. You’ve got songs like “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, “Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett & The Crypt Kickers, and even “Paint It, Black” by The Rolling Stones. But here at Get Western, we tend to focus more on country music. So for Halloween, I wanted to find a country song that spooks me and write about it, which wasn’t hard, because for my whole life, one song has always stood out, “The Ride” by David Allan Coe.
“The Ride” was written by Gary Gentry, J.B. Detterline, and supposedly the ghost of Hank Williams. Now, I’m not here to convince anyone that ghosts are real or anything, but I want to share a little bit of the story behind the song as well as talk about why the song spooks me. So let’s jump into it, starting out with the story behind the song.
So the story behind “The Ride” is one that’s hard for some to believe, but nonetheless one that many people know. It’s one that I’ve known for a long time thanks to my grandpa loving history and country music. It goes like this, there was a film being made as a tribute to Hank Williams called Hank Williams: The Man and His Music. While the film was in production, Gentry, who was a big fan of Hank’s, met Detterline. Long story short, the two decided to write a song about Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell. So the two start writing, and after all is said and done, Gentry decided it wasn’t enough to honor Hank. The two disagree and both go back to their homes.
Gentry, still wanting this to be a song for Hank, basically performs a séance to summon the spirit of Hank Williams. Now, before I go any further, it’s important—Gentry was, and has admitted to being, pretty intoxicated during all this, which I think is why some people find it hard to believe. But as the story goes, Gentry is trying to change this song to make it a song in honor of Hank, and does this drunken séance and gets pissed off and starts screaming at Hank, trying to get him to appear, even saying, “Hank! Why were you so big? Just because you died young? Show yourself!” Then, as Gary Gentry puts it, he looked down his hallway and saw the ghost of Hank Williams sitting on his couch… shirtless? I’m still not sure why he was shirtless, but yeah.
Following all that, Gentry says the song came about around four in the morning, completely throwing out the original. So Gentry writes the song he wants and calls Detterline to play it for him. Detterline apparently liked it so much he woke up his pregnant, sleeping wife to have her listen to it. While J.B. Detterline didn’t exactly write this song with Gary Gentry, Gentry gave him credit as a writer for inspiring the song. Now, a few years later, David Allan Coe goes on to cut “The Ride,” and it’s a success.
Now, to end this story behind the song, I’ll leave you with this, The Ryman Auditorium is said to be haunted by the ghost of Hank Williams. There are many different stories of encounters, but there is one that ties back to this song and Gary Gentry. As the story goes, after the success of “The Ride,” Gentry was set to play at the Ryman for the Grand Ole Opry, and while performing the song, when he got to the line “You don’t have to call me mister, mister, the whole world calls me Hank,” right as he said “Hank,” the power went out! Now, was it just an old building having a power surge? Maybe. Was it the ghost of Hank Williams? More than likely.
Now, the song spooks me for many reasons. One, the lyrical side doesn’t match the instrumental side to me. You have these lyrics about a hitchhiker going from Montgomery to Nashville when a somewhat creepy man described as “Half drunk and hollow-eyed” and “ghost-white pale” picks him up. So you have that side of the song with an instrumental side behind it that you could’ve put on any fun, good-time honkytonk song from that time, but instead you have it on this ghost story song, and it creeps me out a little, almost like they are trying to play down the interaction (I’ll hit on this later).
Now to focus on the story being told, let’s start over on the lyrical side and try to look at it as if you’ve never heard the song. It starts with, “I was thumbin’ from Montgomery I had my guitar on my back, when a stranger stopped beside me in an antique Cadillac. He was dressed like 1950 Half drunk and hollow-eyed.” Most would think, “Damn, that’s a beautiful car and a weirdly dressed man,” until you remember Hank Williams died in the back of a 1952 Cadillac on New Year’s Day 1953 due to heart failure. But again, looking at it as if you’ve never heard this song, you don’t think much of it.
He said, “It’s a long walk to Nashville. Would you like a ride, son?” This is where the story starts to get weirder. “I sat down in the front seat, he turned on the radio and them sad old songs comin’ out of them speakers was solid country gold.” Now to pause the whole “never heard the song” bit, this is something I think most overlook, even if they know the song, but to me, I think this is a nod to Hank and his music. Okay, resume. So, not much there.
Here’s where it gets spooky, “Then I noticed the stranger was ghost-white pale when he asked me for a light and I knew there was something strange about this ride.” In my head, if I saw someone so pale I’d refer to them as “ghost-white,” I’d start to think about who they are and why they are so pale. Even the narrator picks up on the eeriness of the driver. Skipping over the chorus and picking up at the spooky, you get the lines, “Then he cried just south of Nashville and he turned that car around. He said, “This is where you get off, boy ’cause I’m goin’ back to Alabam’””
Now, never hearing this song, you’re sitting there thinking, “Okay, this weird man is dropping off the hitchhiker and heading home.” However, knowing the song and who the driver was, you remember Hank Williams is from Alabama. So maybe his ghost is picking up hitchhiking musicians on their way to Nashville from Alabama? Then the bombshell is dropped in the next part of this verse; it goes like this, “As I stepped out of that Cadillac I said, “Mister, many thanks” He said, “You don’t have to call me Mister, Mister The whole world called me Hank”” This is where you find out who this mysteriously creepy, ghost-white, vintage-dressing, Cadillac-driving man is, the ghost of Hank Williams. And when you know Hank’s history and life, when you find out he, or his ghost rather, is the driver, it all becomes more clear and makes for a creepy, spooky song that’s great for Halloween.
Now, if you don’t want to hear me talk about my conspiracy theory, then thank you for reading. If you do, then let’s get into it. Earlier, when I said you have “this ghost story song and it creeps me out a little almost like they are trying to play down the interaction,” between 1953 and 1980 there were a number of artists and writers and people in general who came to Nashville from Alabama. What if this song wasn’t written because of a séance summoning Hank but because of a story Gary Gentry was told?
Between 1953 and 1980, there was a lot that happened in this country, and one thing was a high intake of drugs, specifically psychedelic drugs. I believe that “The Ride” was written because Gentry was intoxicated, wanting to write a song about Hank Williams, and recalled a story he was told while under the influence by someone who thinks they got picked up by the ghost of Hank Williams. Now Gentry admitted that he used to party pretty hard up until 1954, so it is very easy someone told him a story along these lines.
Now, do I think that whoever told him this story actually got picked up by the ghost of Hank? No. Do I think someone hitchhiking from Alabama to Nashville was tripping on some psychedelics and met an older man who drove a Cadillac, and said older man offered a ride, and during the ride the older man was talking to the hitchhiker about Nashville and Hank Williams, which led the hitchhiker to believe they were picked up by the ghost of Hank Williams? Yes, I do.
I think it adds up. You have an older man who grew up in the ’50s, so they dress in that fashion, driving a Cadillac, picking up a high hitchhiker on their way to Nashville, and because it’s Nashville, they talk country music. To me, it adds up, and I think this happened, and the hitchhiker met Gary Gentry at a bar or party and told him this encounter. Gentry somewhat remembers, wants to write a song to honor Hank Williams, and while doing the seance drunk, “sees” the ghost of Hank Williams, recalls the story he was told years ago, and writes the song that becomes one of David Allan Coe’s biggest songs, “The Ride.” Thank you.
Get Western 
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