Photo by Wade Payne // Buy this photo
Pam Sutton, wife of Popcorn Sutton, talks with Hank Williams Jr. before a memorial to her late husband Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009.
Hank Williams Jr. never got to count legendary moonshiner Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton as one of his rowdy friends, but the country singer will be the first to be able to sell Sutton’s liquor legally.
Williams and business partners J&M Concepts and Pam Sutton held a party in Nashville on Tuesday, Nov. 9, to celebrate the launch of Popcorn Sutton’s Tennessee White Whiskey. Celebrities attending the event included Kid Rock, Martina McBride, Zac Brown, Colt Ford, Travis Tritt, Eddie Montgomery, Josh Thompson, Jamey Johnson, Randy Houser, Tanya Tucker and Rodney Atkins.
Sutton, who died in 2009, was renowned for the quality of his illegal liquor. According to a press release, Williams and his partners obtained Sutton’s white whiskey recipe and will produce the liquor “by hand” in individual batches. Sales will begin in Middle Tennessee and the partners hope to expand the availability of the product in the future.
Williams, who never met Sutton but attended his Oct. 24, 2009, memorial service, was a fan of the moonshiner and his product.
“He was the last of the real mountain moonshiners that went back,” said Williams in a Nov. 10 press release. “Popcorn was part of the real ‘Thunder Road’ legend, and that is a real part of country music history.”
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Comments » 17
OldRedneck writes:
Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!
jmr68ut writes:
Kinda tugs at my heart strings!! What next??? I guess part of the profits will go to the "Popcorn, Thunder Road" memorial, right??
brauhuff#295403 writes:
I have never liked Hank Williams Jr and the redneck element he always wallowed in but Popcorn is a COOL dude
noxcounty writes:
Sutton "died"? uh yeah - he killed himself. He's not a hero, he's a felon
Cvett69 writes:
So a suicidal felon can't make good whiskey? Some real felons are the white collar criminals that steal/embezzel more money from employers, churchs and friends than "Popcorn" ever made from whiskey sales, but judges typically parole them, tell them to be good and not do it again.
OldRedneck writes:
Back when I lived in Bristol for eight years, I found the best time to go to the liquor store was Wednesday nights.
Less crowded then because all the Baptists were at prayer meeting and choir practice.
Candygirl writes:
Popcorn Sutton was thought as a "moonshiner" for making moonshine but now that he is dead, Hank Williams, Jr. and his buddies can legally sale the moonshine? Does not sound right to me. A lot in this country does not sound right.
chromehorn13 writes:
the stuff they will be peddling is not moonshine. It will be legally distilled whisky.
And nothing like advocating a felon, nice.
OTPVol writes:
It's a tribute to a figurehead of a piece of southern culture. I think it's pretty neat. This is how people used to supplement their income. It is a part of our heritage, whether you agree with it or not. Good luck Bocephus.
jonathan#509413 writes:
Too bad Williams and his backers didn't step in and help Sutton sell his whiskey legally while he was still alive. Some folks are on their high horses talking about how, "This isn't moonshine, it is legal whiskey, blah, blah, blah..." Well, it's the same stuff. The only difference is a government tax stamp (the same kind of stamp that, on tea, was a major cause of the start of the Revolutionary War) and the only difference between Williams and Sutton is that Williams has a lot more money.
jonathan#509413 writes:
Should have said, "The only difference between Williams selling this whiskey and Sutton selling it is that Williams has a lot more money."
voodoochile writes:
The article said that Sutton was renowned for the quality of his illegal liquor. If it's illegal, how can anyone sell it? For that matter, how can anyone make it? Oh, I forgot, the state will levy a heavy tax on it. Same old song and dance. As long as the state gets their cut..... Don't they call that a bribe?
Funkmeister writes:
I am guessing they had to pay his widow something to get the recipe. As for you jerks hatin' on Popcorn because he was a FELON, wth?
A real menace to society--making liquor without paying tax on it. Wow.
noxcounty writes:
I don't "hate" him. just don't gloss over the facts.
If you don't like the law, change it. You don't get ot pick and choose which ones you like and break the others.
kygonzo writes:
Everyone picks and chooses the laws they like and break others. I'd imagine you've jaywalked once or twice. Maybe even driven over the speed limit. I've been known to park temporarily in fire lanes myself, just call me "outlaw"!
If Hank Jr. was such a fan of Popcorn's work, why didn't he offer up his celebrity and his money to help the man market his moonshine before he killed himself to avoid going to prison?
Oldegnus writes:
Let me tell you barefoot butt scratchers about another felonious criminal moonshiner. George Washington. Made good homemade rye. The Brits said he was a traitor. Oughta be hung. But he made good whiskey. The Scots-Irish came to the land of the free and found out they couldn't even have the same freedoms they enjoyed in the "oulde" country. They found out they were in the "land of the overtaxed" and the "home of the sheared sheep." Men like Marvin Sutton got in Uncle Sam's face. We need about 5 million more like him. This country is owned and operated by felons. Legal, respectable felons. Who shear sheep. Can you say, "BAAAA"? Popcorn couldn't.
dj1955 writes:
i hope Hank Williams Jr.brings the tradition to cocke county,Tn.of moonshine because alot of my descendants had to make their survival on the income they made off of moonshine.and thats where the movie thunder road was made off.It was my cousin the law chased on ashville hwy.with a run of moonshine.I hope Hank notifies me and ill introduce him to some of the old timers that knows the facts about moonshine and moonshine runs.this is history that i hope is told truthfully.Pop corn sutton did what he knew best.
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