POWERGRAMS

35 Williams sold more than 10 million records the last three years of his life. The next room has many photographs of the Drifting Cowboys, Williams' band that frequently changed members through the years. There are playbills and advertisements for his concerts from coast to coast. The original 1974 steel historic marker from Williams' birthplace stands next to a piano from the church he attended growing up, as well as the little bench he stood on singing as a child. No one is sure which room young Hank slept in, but the second room to the left includes a wrought-iron bed loaned to his mother after their first Georgiana apartment burned down. On the wall is a copy of his birth certificate, issued when Hank was 11. Leaning nearby is part of the driveway gate decorated with metal musical notes from Hank's Nashville estate where his first wife, Audrey Williams, lived until her death in 1975. The kitchen is not original to the Rose house from Hanks' era, but includes memorabilia, such as a $5 world premiere ticket to "Your Cheatin' Heart" at Montgomery's Paramount Theatre on Nov. 4, 1964. A 1949 group photo of stars who performed for U.S. soldiers in Europe includes Hank and Audrey, Roy Acuff, Minnie Pearl and Little Jimmy Dickens. A poster for the Aug. 15, 1952 Hank Williams Day in Greenville advertises prices for the 3 p.m. show as 78 cents for adults and 46 cents for children under 12. The back room includes detailed royalty statements from the sales of Williams' music, ranging from $1,300.58 from the Acuff-Rose Publishing firm for six months in 1950, to one from MGM Records on Feb. 28, 1948, for $14,707.22 for 14 different songs. There's a framed copy of his Oct. 13, 1952, wedding license to his second wife. The front door opens again and another Williams fan walks in. "You're walking on the same floors Hank walked on," says Gaston, who saw Williams perform at the Grand Ole Opry in 1950. "I'm thrilled to be here," says Scott Southworth, of Nashville. "I've always wanted to stop in." "Lovesick Blues" "Long Gone Lonesome Blues" "Why Don't You Love Me" "Moanin' the Blues" "Cold, Cold Heart" "Hey, Good Lookin'" "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive" "Kaw-Liga" "Your Cheatin' Heart" "Take These Chains from My Heart" Hank's No. 1 Hits Gaston talks to Scott and Kate Edwards of Ontario as Spencer, 4, and Cole, 6, view displays.

• Cover