A Tear in Your Beer

Category: Obituary

In 1952 Hank Williams gave one of his band members an acetate because the man said he wanted a "beer-drinkin' song" to record. The man recorded the song after Hank's death and had a hit with it.

Decades later, the man found that acetate and gave a copy to Hank Williams Jr., who cleaned up the vocals and added his own for a "duet" with his father.

The song: "There's a Tear in My Beer."

The man who first commercially recorded that song, Big Bill Lister, died December 1 in Texas.

Lister was called "Big Bill" for a good reason: he was 6'7". He had a record deal with Capitol and recorded a number of regional hits (including "RC Cola and a Moon Pie").

As recently as October 2009 Lister was still performing.

Big Bill Lister was 86.