Hank Thompson

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William Henry "Hank" Thompson (* 3. September 1925 in Waco , Texas ; † 6. November 2007 in Fort Worth , Texas) was an American country - singer , who for several decades in the hit parade was represented. His biggest success was The Wild Side of Life .

Beginnings

Hank Thompson's first instrument was a harmonica . Out of enthusiasm for the singing cowboys in the then very popular musical westerns , he saved the money for a cheap guitar and began to play their songs. It didn't take long for him to make public appearances. He earned his first money at a local radio station as "Hank, the Hired Hand". During a three-year service with the US Navy , during which he was trained as a radio technician, he began to write songs. After his military service he studied in 1945 at Princeton and at the University of Texas . He put together his own band, the Brazos Valley Boys, and made frequent radio appearances and records for smaller labels.

Career

One day Tex Ritter heard him on the radio and recommended him to his record company. In 1947 a contract was signed with the Capitol label . The first single, Humpty Dumpty Heart , made it onto the country charts in 1948 . It was the beginning of a long series of successes that lasted into the 1980s. The high point in 1952 was the song The Wild Side of Life , which stayed at number one for fifteen weeks. Kitty Wells recorded a so-called answer song, It't Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels , which also became a classic.

Even after that, Hank Thompson was regularly represented in the charts. He was usually supported by guitarist Merle Travis , with whom he released the instrumental hit Wildwood Flower . He had started with western swing with his Brazos Valley Boys , later he switched to honky tonk and occasionally played rockabilly songs.

In 1965 he switched to the Warner Brothers label and shortly afterwards to Dot, where he recorded another series of top 10 hits. The last time he was in the charts was in the early 1980s. His hit parade presence spanned five decades. Between 1948 and 1980, 60 singles made it into the top 40 of the country charts, including 29 top ten hits. In 1989 he received the greatest honor in country music: he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame . Thompson died of lung cancer in November 2007 at the age of 82 ; a few days after he announced his departure from the stage.

Discography

  • 1955 - Songs of the Brazos Valley (Capitol)
  • 1956 - North of the Rio Grande (Capitol)
  • 1956 - New Recordings of Hank Thompson's All-Time Hits (Capitol)
  • 1957 - Hank (Capitol)
  • 1958 - Hank Thompson's Dance Ranch (Capitol)
  • 1959 - Favorite Waltzes By Hank Thompson (Capitol)
  • 1959 - Songs for Rounders (Capitol)
  • 1960 - Most of All (Capitol)
  • 1960 - This Broken Heart of Mine (Capitol)
  • 1961 - Hank Thompson & The Brazos Valley Boys (Capitol)
  • 1961 - An Old Love Affair (Capitol)
  • 1961 - Hank Thompson at the Golden Nugget (Capitol)
  • 1962 - The Number 1 Country & Western Band (Capitol)
  • 1962 - Cheyenne Frontier Days (Capitol)
  • 1963 - Hank Thompson & The Brazos Valley Boys at the State Fair of Texas (Capitol)
  • 1963 - Singing Country Classics (Capitol)
  • 1964 - Golden Country Hits (Capitol)
  • 1964 - It's Christmas Time With Hank Thompson (Capitol)
  • 1964 - Especially For You (Capitol)
  • 1965 - Breakin 'In Another Heart (Capitol)
  • 1965 - The Luckiest Heartache In Town (Capitol)
  • 1966 - A Six Pack To Go (Capitol)
  • 1966 - Breakin 'The Rules (Capitol)
  • 1966 - Where Is The Circus (& Other Heart Breakin 'Hits) (Warner Brothers) (Capitol)
  • 1967 - The Best Of Hank Thompson Vol. 2 (Capitol)
  • 1967 - Just An Old Flame (Capitol)
  • 1967 - The Countrypolitan Sound Of Hank Thompson's Brazos Valley Boys (Capitol)
  • 1967 - The Gold Standard Collection (Warner Bros)
  • 1968 - Country Blues (Capitol)
  • 1968 - Hank Thompson Sings The Gold Standards (Dot)
  • 1968 - On Tap, In The Can Or In The Bottle (Dot)
  • 1969 - Smokey The Bar (Dot)
  • 1969 - Hank Thompson Salutes Oklahoma (Dot)
  • 1970 - The Instrumental Sound Of Hank Thompson's Brazos Valley Boys (Dot)
  • 1971 - Next Time I Fall In Love (I Won't) (Dot)
  • 1972 - Cab Driver-Hank Thompson (A Salute To The Mills Brothers) (Dot)
  • 1972 - Hank Thompson's 25th Anniversary Album (Dot)
  • 1973 - Kindly Keep It Country (Dot)
  • 1973 - Country For The People
  • 1974 - A Six Pack To Go (Dot)
  • 1974 - Movin 'On (Dot)
  • 1975 - Hits Of Nat "King" Cole (Dot)
  • 1976 - Back In The Swing Of Things (ABC)
  • 1977 - The Thompson Touch (ABC)
  • 1977 - Doin 'My Thing (Dot)
  • 1977 - Country Comes To Carnegie Hall (Dot)
  • 1978 - Brand New Hank (ABC)
  • 1980 - Take Me Back To Tulsa (MCA)
  • 1983 - 1000 And One Nighters (Churchill)
  • 1984 - 20 Golden Pieces (Bulldog)
  • 1986 - Hank Thompson (MCA Dot)
  • 1988 - Here's To Country Music (Step One)
  • 1991 - Country Music Hall Of Fame (MCA)
  • 1995 - Hank Thompson's Greatest Hits Vol. I (Step One)
  • 1995 - Hank Thompson's Greatest Hits Vol. II (Step One)
  • 1995 - The Best of Hank Thompson 1966–1979 (Varense Sarabande)
  • 1996 - Hank Thompson And Friends (Curb)
  • 1999 - Hank World (Bloodshot Records)
  • 2000 - Seven Decades (Hightone Records)
  • 2004 - Hank Thompson On Standard Time
  • 2004 - Hank Thompson Drinkin 'Songs
  • 2006 - Hank Thompson And The Brazos Valley Boys - The Instrumentals
  • 2006 - Hank Thompson And The Brazos Valley Boys - My Personal Favorites

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel: Top 40 Country Hits 1944-2006. 2nd updated and expanded edition. New York: Billboard Books, 2006, pp. 244f
  2. ↑ "Hank Thompson died at the age of 82" , derStandard.at, November 7, 2007

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Thompson, Hank
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thompson, Henry William (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American country singer
DATE OF BIRTH September 3, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Waco , Texas
DATE OF DEATH November 6, 2007
Place of death Fort Worth , Texas