''Strong Stuff'' is the thirty-fifth studio album by American musician Hank Williams Jr. It was released by

Elektra Electra was a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra in Greek mythology. Electra or Elektra may also refer to: Greek mythology *Electra (Pleiad), one of the Pleiades * Electra, one of the Danaids, daughter of Danaus and Polyxo * Electra (Oc ...

Curb Records Curb Records (also known as Asylum-Curb and formerly known as MCG Curb) is an American record label started by Mike Curb, originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963. From 1969 to 1973, Curb merged with MGM Records where Curb served as President of ...

in February 1983. "Gonna Go Huntin' Tonight" and "Leave Them Boys Alone" were released as singles. The album peaked at number 7 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Top Country Albums chart and has been certified Gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

Music

The music of ''Strong Stuff'' is predominantly Southern rock, such as the cover of ZZ Top's

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...

-esque song " La Grange".

Critical reception

While he praised the closing cut ("In this stately ballad about a lover's struggle with drugs, Hank's baritone coos, breaks, and flutters like a wounded butterfly as spare accompaniment by piano, harmonica and guitar pushes but never intrudes"), Lee Ballinger of ''Record'' gave the album an overall negative review. He was especially critical of "A Whole Lot of Hank", describing it as "a recitation of unconnected cliches ... carried bumpily along by a plodding instrumental track". He found some of the other songs overly similar to "A Whole Lot of Hank", and referred to "Leave Them Boys Alone" as "the obligatory song about other Southern musicians".

Track listing

Personnel

*Kenny Bell –

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

* David Briggs – keyboards *Paul Hatfield – keyboards *

David Hungate William David Hungate (born August 5, 1948) is an American bass guitarist noted as a member of the Los Angeles pop-rock band Toto from 1976 to 1982 and again from 2014 to 2015, and the son of judge William L. Hungate. Along with most of his T ...

– bass guitar * Waylon Jennings – vocals on "Leave Them Boys Alone" * Terry McMillan –

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

*Kenny Mims – electric guitar *Farrell Morris – percussion * Larry Muhoberac – keyboards *Weldon Myrick –

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

* Steve Nathan – keyboards * Brent Rowan – electric guitar *Gove Scrivenor –

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of ...

* Randy Scruggs –

dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...

, acoustic guitar *Denis Solee – saxophone * Ernest Tubb – vocals on "Leave Them Boys Alone" *Wayne Turner – electric guitar * Billy Joe Walker Jr. – acoustic guitar * Hank Williams Jr. – dobro, acoustic guitar, keyboards, lead vocals *

Reggie Young Reggie Grimes Young Jr. (December 12, 1936 – January 17, 2019) was an American musician who was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studio house band, The Memphis Boys, and was a leading session musician. He played on various recordings with ...

– electric guitar

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control 1983 albums Hank Williams Jr. albums Elektra Records albums Curb Records albums Albums produced by Jimmy Bowen