On New Year's Day 1953, Hank Williams—numbed by a deadly combination of whiskey and narcotics—died in the back seat of his Cadillac en route to a performance in Canton, Ohio. He was only twenty nine years old at the time of his death and his passing appeared to bring his rags-to-riches success and destructive lifestyle to an abrupt end. Few figures before or since have cast as long or as broad a shadow over American popular music.

Today, Hank Williams is considered by many to be the greatest...