When George Hamilton IV suffered his fatal heart attack a dozen years ago this week, the first song The New York Times mentioned in his obituary was “Abilene.”
Indeed, that song was a turning point in Hamilton’s life. Recorded in March 1963 at RCA’s Studio B in Nashville, “Abilene” was the biggest hit of George’s long career, helping him transition from a pop teen idol of the 1950s into a traditional country artist.
As reported here earlier, the song, which had a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. country charts, was written by Hamilton’s long-time friend John D. Loudermilk along with folksinger Bob Gibson.
George often talked about how his RCA producer, famed guitarist Chet Atkins, instantly loved “Abilene” and jumped in to play the track’s iconic intro and turnaround on that 1963 release.
Over his near-50-year career, Hamilton frequently called “Abilene” his signature song, the defining hit of his body of work.
But Which Abilene?
George also often noted he didn’t know which town the song was actually about. Since the lyrics mention trains and a nearby crowded city, listeners frequently debated whether it referred to Abilene, Texas, or Abilene, Kansas.
Co-composer Bob Gibson always said he was inspired by a 1946 cowboy movie — Abilene Town — which was set in the historic Kansas cattle town.
Ever the diplomat, though, Hamilton proudly noted the song made him an honorary citizen of both cities, since residents of each adopted it as their unofficial anthem.
The Biblical Connection
On stage, Hamilton — who died at 77 in September 2014 — loved to tell about once singing the song in church. When a preacher asked him to perform it, Hamilton questioned whether it was appropriate for a house of worship. Why, yes, the preacher responded, didn’t he realize the song was “biblical”?
Uh-huh, the minister added with a wink. It was right there in Luke 3:1 — in a verse scholars use to date the start of John the Baptist’s ministry (around 26–29 AD, during the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar) — that it said Lysanias was “the tetrarch of Abilene.”
The Parody
George also had fun spoofing the song. In 2008, when U.S. gas prices soared, Hamilton performed this parody version, entitled “Gasoline”:
(Hmmmm… that one might need to be re-introduced, as we wake up this morning to $4.30 a gallon...)
Classin’ It Up
“Abilene” got dressed up and went to town last week when Danny Cox came to The Flood rehearsal with his sweet Gretsch Super Chet.
Just listen to how Dan uses that classic 1970s hollow body to bring sass and class to this long-time Flood standard.
More from the Room?
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