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Hank Williams Jr. & Johnny Cash Used To Fire Civil War Cannons Off In His Backyard: "We Rattled Franklin Road, Me And Johnny"
Lacey West
May 5, 2023
Hank Williams Jr. is what you would describe as a cannon himself. But did you know the "Country State of Mind" singer actually collects true blue, historical cannons? I'm talking 1800s military collectibles – a whole slew of them that he's managed to accumulate as mementos, and they're definite conversation starters. In rare footage of Hank from an Audience Network special, Bocephus walked the cameramen around his private collection and shared a few stories about his hobby: He described a cannon he called a 10-pound-Parrott to the group: "You could put this through somebody's kitchen window 1,000 yards out here. The Civil War had 'em real accurate, that's why it was so awful…" And for Hank the history behind the weapons is really what draws his interest, as he's expanded his collection to include several pieces of unique war history: "I have Robert Parrott's appointment papers to West Point, signed by John C. Calhoun, the Secretary of War. And Parrott was a really famous cannon inventor."
And when it comes to his unique pastime, it turns out that some of his "rowdy friends" shared the same interests, including the one-and-only Johnny Cash: "Ya know, Johnny Cash, you talk about someone that loved history. We would get out, and he loved metal detecting. He loved it. When I was fifteen years old, he would come over to the house and I had a cannon in the front yard. And I mean a real cannon – a real U.S., three inch rifle, Civil War cannon. And I grew up around all these guys doing these reenactments and stuff…So we put the charge in there… and we pack it really hard with this newspaper, so that when it goes off it'll just jump in the air and roll back like crazy… you think it's going to come apart, you know. Man did he love that. So we would do that… And the neighbor would ring, 'Mrs. Williams, hello, this is Mr. Akins next door, would you mind asking Randall if he could point that barrel in a different direction, ALL the books in my living room are on the floor. Thank you.' Yeah we rattled Franklin Road, me and Johnny, let me tell you."
Full article with pics and vid here - https://www.whiskeyriff.com/2023/05...kyard-we-rattled-franklin-road-me-and-johnny/
Cheers,
USS ALASKA
Lacey West
May 5, 2023
Hank Williams Jr. is what you would describe as a cannon himself. But did you know the "Country State of Mind" singer actually collects true blue, historical cannons? I'm talking 1800s military collectibles – a whole slew of them that he's managed to accumulate as mementos, and they're definite conversation starters. In rare footage of Hank from an Audience Network special, Bocephus walked the cameramen around his private collection and shared a few stories about his hobby: He described a cannon he called a 10-pound-Parrott to the group: "You could put this through somebody's kitchen window 1,000 yards out here. The Civil War had 'em real accurate, that's why it was so awful…" And for Hank the history behind the weapons is really what draws his interest, as he's expanded his collection to include several pieces of unique war history: "I have Robert Parrott's appointment papers to West Point, signed by John C. Calhoun, the Secretary of War. And Parrott was a really famous cannon inventor."
And when it comes to his unique pastime, it turns out that some of his "rowdy friends" shared the same interests, including the one-and-only Johnny Cash: "Ya know, Johnny Cash, you talk about someone that loved history. We would get out, and he loved metal detecting. He loved it. When I was fifteen years old, he would come over to the house and I had a cannon in the front yard. And I mean a real cannon – a real U.S., three inch rifle, Civil War cannon. And I grew up around all these guys doing these reenactments and stuff…So we put the charge in there… and we pack it really hard with this newspaper, so that when it goes off it'll just jump in the air and roll back like crazy… you think it's going to come apart, you know. Man did he love that. So we would do that… And the neighbor would ring, 'Mrs. Williams, hello, this is Mr. Akins next door, would you mind asking Randall if he could point that barrel in a different direction, ALL the books in my living room are on the floor. Thank you.' Yeah we rattled Franklin Road, me and Johnny, let me tell you."
Full article with pics and vid here - https://www.whiskeyriff.com/2023/05...kyard-we-rattled-franklin-road-me-and-johnny/
Cheers,
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