A very rare book that’s hard to find is “Hardrock Gunter: Did I Tell You About…” and the cover lists a number of names, including Hank Williams, Jimmy Dean, Count Basie, Pat Buttram, Tex Williams, Elvis Presley, Lionel Hampton and many, many more.
The book was put together by Rock and his son (listed as John C Wisdom and S.L. Gunter) and is a collection of short stories that talk about people he knew, army life, the WWVA Jamboree, and a few jokes mixed in. (Rock was always known as a storyteller.)
Here are some excerpts (the stories are numbered)…
42 Book Me
Hank continued: “What I’d like you to do is leave Happy and the Boys and I’d like you to do the same thing for me. I want you to book me and become my manager. I’d also like you to take over as band leader…you can play your guitar and you can hire three more musicians. With me playing too that would make it a five piece band and you would share in what we do. If you do this, I’ll give you 15% off of the top for booking, and we’ll cut the rest 50-50 and you’ll pay the band.”
When you put the pencil to it, it is almost a 50-50 split (50% percent to pay your musicians was what the going rate was in those days plus my 15% for booking off the top.)
Hank was bringing in hundreds of dollars, sometimes even over the thousand dollar mark in a day.
I said “Hank, that sounds pretty good but I can’t come down there right away because I got a commission in the army.” He said, “Hell, you’re not in the damn army.” I said “No, but I’m in the Reserves. And what’s happening right now is that I’ve got to get my commission qualified by education, or they will take it away from me. It’s going to expire in 1950.”
It was a commission from ’45 for five years and it would expire–and that would be the end of my commission. See, if I lost my commission and then I got recalled in the Army for any reason, I’d go back in as a Private, and I didn’t much want to do that.
So I had orders to go to Fort Benning, Georgia beginning January of 1949 to go to the Infantry School to qualify my commission. That course would qualify me all the way up through Captain to be ready for a Major’s commission. So I told Hand that what I had to do was to satisfy that, then I’d be free to work. He wanted to know how long that would take. I told him it would last 13 to 14 weeks beginning January. January, February, March–and I would be through sometime during April.
Well, that was fine he said. He would wait for me. That was great! Well I was kind of excited. Hank had always been popular. He had some recordings. He was having success. He was becoming famous with people recording songs that he wrote. There was no question in my mind that Hank Williams was headed for stardom. Whether I could live with his “problem” or not, was something I wasn’t too sure of.
43 I Just Couldn’t Do It
I went back on active duty in January. Then, toward the end of my course, after three months of thinking about it–I finally made up my mind. I called Hank in Shreveport. When I talked to Hank, I was in the phone booth outside the PX in Fort Benning. I called him and told him I wasn’t going to take his offer. I told him that I just couldn’t do it. I wasn’t going to take his offer.
“My God,” he said, “have you heard my record?” Which, by the way, was moving up in the charts. I said, “Hank, I’m just not gonna take it.”
44 I Couldn’t Spend My Part of the Money From Prison
And he said, “You know, Hoss, we’ll get rich. Do you know what you’re cut of that will be?” I said, “Hank, I know that. I just don’t think we could do it because I couldn’t spend my part of the money from prison.”
He said, “What do you mean prison?” I said, “Well, I’d probably kill you.” He said, “We never had a cross word in our life.” I said, “I know that Hank, but I tell you we just been buddies up until now, but I tell you if I become your manager, and we have a deal, which after I pay the boys off, really comes down to a 50/50 split, and I’m going to make several hundred dollars (I didn’t have any idea hot how he was going to get) but you can’t be found because you’re off on your ass drunk…we wouldn’t get paid because of your drinking and I would kill you.”
So, as it turned out, I turned him down and actually probably did more for Hank Williams than any other entertainer or any other producer or any other agent–Fred Rose (God bless you in heaven.)
…
142 Sergeant S Gunter – Killed in Action
This is a remembrance I have of my box car trip from the Orb to Seigenheim, when the Germans moved all the non-commissioned officers. They took us to Seigenheim, where I was kept prisoner until we were liberated. Along the way the Germans gave us a ‘piss” break. So we got out and we’re taking a leak.
The American Army Air Corps planes, flying over, didn’t know that these box cars were full of American prisoners. The American planes started coming in. So the Germans made us get back in the box cars. Well, when we got back in the box cars and they shut the box cars up, the American planes, supposedly mistook the train for a German troop train. They straffed the train! — the planes straffed the box cars.
Nine American soldiers on that train were killed. One of the guys happened to be in my box car. I don’t even know how many box cars were in the train! There were many box cars. There were probably 60 guys in each box car. I believe that happened the first day. I remember we stayed on this train for four days. The Germans didn’t let us out except to relieve ourselves. They gave us something to eat about once a day — just to keep us from starving — just a piece of bread and some water.
I didn’t remember any of the the guys who were killed.
A couple of years later, I learned that another member of Company E of the 422nd Infantry, a Sergeant Sam Gunter was on the same train. My legal name, although most people call me Rock, was Sergeant Sid Gunter. So, not knowing who had gotten killed, or what had happened, it never occurred to me what might later come up.
But it was quite a shock.
In 1947 there was a Division reunion in Indianapolis that I went to. And while at that Division reunion, I met with one of my old buddies who lived in Indianapolis, named Phil Miller. Being a guy who keeps in touch with his old buddies, I picked up the telephone as soon as I got to Indianapolis and called Phil Miller. I told him I was in town for the Division reunion.
Now, Phil wasn’t in that Division. But Phil was with me at Camp Atterbury. I remember when I called him, he says “Who is this?” And I said, “Sid Gunter.” And he aid, “You mean Rock?” And I said, “Yeah.” He repeated, “This is Hardrock?” I said, “Yeah.” He said, “Man, you Gotta be Kidd’n me.” I said, “No—I’m not kidding you. This is me. What’s wrong?” He started laughing and then asked a few questions to be sure it was me. I couldn’t believe it! He said, “Where are you?” And so we made plans to get together. Which we did.
Earlier, when I was at Camp Atterbury before we sent overseas, I had met a girl in Indianapolis through Phil named Jennie Lowe. Jennie Lowe was a very beautiful young lady. I knew her family. They had been a great host and hostess for several functions while I was at Camp Atterbury before going overseas. Several guys and girls ran around with one another. We weren’t dating. We were just friends. But, Jennie Lowe, who later became one of the leading hostesses for American Airlines, for some reason wrote to me overseas. So, I wrote back. She had my overseas military address.
143 After You’re Dead And Gone
Now, back to Phil and me a the time of the 1947 reunion. What happened was, we got together , and not only did we get together, but we went over the Jean Lowe’s house. Jean wasn’t home. She was on the road with the airlines doing something. But Mr. and Mrs. Lowe were there.
They were glad to see me and I was glad to see them.
They got out Jean’s scrapbook and opened it up. And I’ll tell you — my blood ran cold when I saw what I saw! There was a photograph of me, just a snapshot, of Sergeant Sid, Hardrock, Gunter, with a caption, “Killed in a box car while imprisoned in Germany.”
It really shoot me up. What happened was this, Jean Lowe had send some Christmas boxes to a lot of her friends in the service, and I was one of them. She had sent me a small box of cookies. But she hadn’t addressed it to Sergeant Sid Gunter. She had addressed it to Sergeant S. Gunter, 422nd Infantry, Co. E.
That box came back marked “Killed in Action.” Sam Gunter, from Mississippi, was one of the people that had gotten killed during the straffing by the American planes. There were several other things in that scrap book — I’m not vain enough to tell you what all was in there. But, it’s pretty sobering to read about what people think about you after you’re dead and gone.
…
185 Johnny Owes Me $25 Bucks
At one time years earlier, I had decided to go into the mail order musical supply business. I formed a corporation called Ess Gee Sales, which stands for my initials, S.G., for Sid Gunter. I just used the phoenetic spelling of S. G., Ess Gee Sales. My idea was to sell musical supplies wholesale to professional musicians. I didn’t remind Johnny, but he owes me 25 bucks. In fact, if he reads this he’s probably gonna be shocked.
One of the people that responded to our ads for some guitar strings was a young entertainer back then named Johnny Cash. George Mauresburger was handling all the sales for us. He was thrilled and delighted when he came to me one day and said, “Hey Rock, look who we just got an order from?” And I asked, “Who?”. And there it was, he had Johnny Cash’s stationary where he had ordered $25 worth of guitar strings. George shipped them out to him immediately of course. But for some reason, we don’t even care, he never did get around to paying George for the order that he placed for guitar strings. And, by the way, if June or Johnny or anybody reads this, I don’t want the money. I just would like to know what happened. Here’s an order that was filled 25 years ago for some guitar strings… Maybe he hadn’t used the strings up yet.