Many of the singles Williams wanted to release were somber recitations that contained dark subject matter unsuitable for the
honky tonks that stocked his releases on their jukeboxes. The Luke the Drifter
alias let the juke operators know which singles were what amounted to moralistic sermons. However, not all the Luke the Drifter songs were necessarily maudlin, such as "Just Waitin'," a
talking blues that Hank adapted from an idea from a musician named Bob Gazzawy from
Happy, Texas. The whimsical song ponders the futility of human expectations and contains humorous, cynical wordplay like, "The congregation's waitin' for the preacher, preacher just waitin' for the groom, the groom's just waitin' for the June bride, and bride's just waitin' for June." Williams biographer
Colin Escott takes a dim view of the song, stating that it "promised more than it delivered...It was a good premise, but a bad song." Williams recorded it on December 21, 1950, in at
Castle Studio in
Nashville - the same session that produced "
Cold, Cold Heart" - with
Fred Rose producing. He was backed by
Jerry Rivers (fiddle),
Don Helms (steel guitar), Sammy Pruett (electric guitar),
Chet Atkins (rhythm guitar),
Ernie Newton or Howard Watts (bass). MGM released "Just Waitin'" again with Williams' unreleased version of "
Roly Poly" as the B-side in 1958. ==References==