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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZTHOMPSON, Hank(b Henry William Thompson, 3 September 1925, Waco TX; d 6 November 2007, Keller TX of lung cancer) Country singer and bandleader, the most successful exponent of western swing from late 1940s. He sold 60 million records, had 29 top ten country hits from 1948 to 1975 and 19 more in the top 20. From 'Humpty Dumpty Heart' in 1948 to 'Gotta Sell Them Chickens', a duet with Junior Brown in 1997, he made the charts in six consecutive decades. With his offbeat wit he said in an interview that it was 'a lot easier than doing it in six nonconsecutive decades.' The new sort of country music that emerged in the late 1940s was dance music, heard in the juke joints favoured by oil-field roughnecks, mixing big band, vocalists, fiddles and steel guitars. Thompson was tall, had a booming baritone voice and an outsized personality to match, and dominated each appearance, despite the excellence of his band. He was a radio technician in the US Navy, studied electronics after WWII, and was later the first country star to have a variety show on TV in colour, the first to release a live album and the first to tour with a high-tech light and sound show. He appeared on radio as a teenager '42-3 on WACO, and had own show as 'Hank The Hired Hand' on KWTX Waco '46-7. His record debut on Globe with his own 'Whoa Sailor' '46 led to a contract with Capitol '47-65 and his first top ten hit with a remake of 'Whoa Sailor' '49. He went to Nashville to to join the Smokey Mountain Hayride '48, formed band the Brazos Valley Boys, toured heavily and had hits almost every year from '52, picking up every award possible in the genre. To name the top five hits: 'Wild Side Of Life' '52 (no. 1, leading to Kitty Wells's answer hit 'It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels'), 'Waiting In The Lobby Of Your Heart' '52, 'Rub-A-Dub-Dub' and 'Wake Up Irene' '53, 'Don't Take It Out On Me' '55, 'Squaws Along The Yukon' '58; later top tens were 'A Six Pack To Go' and 'Oklahoma Hills' '60-61. No hits in '65; switched to WB and came back to top 20 '66-7, to Dot and top ten with 'On Tap, In The Can Or In The Bottle' and 'Smokey The Bar' '68, lesser hits '69-76 included 'The Older The Violin, The Sweeter The Music' and 'Asphalt Cowboy'. Dot was taken over by MCA and his records were on that label; he switched to Churchill and carried on with remake of '57 hit 'Rockin' In The Congo', contemporary 'Cocaine Blues', 'Once In A Blue Moon' '81-3. A prolific album seller, he was the first country artist to record in stereo. Elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame '89. Compilations etc include At The Golden Nugget on Liberty, made live '61 with Spade Cooley; complete twelve-CD Hank Thompson And His Brazos Valley Boys '96 on Bear Family with a book. He was making an album for Curb in '97 with younger artists like Vince Gill and Reba McEntire. |