Hank Thompson

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Hank Thompson, in full Henry William Thompson, was an American country singer and songwriter. He was born on 3 September 1925 in Waco, Texas and was active for seven decades until his death on 6 November 2007. As a child he played harmonica in competitions. After his service in the navy in the Second World War as a radio operator and a course in electrical engineering at Princeton, he decided to go into music.

Music and breakthrough

His first number one came in 1952 with The Wild Side of Life, with the line about honky tonk angels. That line inspired an answer song, It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels, which became the first hit for Kitty Wells. From 1947 to 1964 he recorded for Capitol Records, and later for Warner Bros., Dot and MCA. Albums include Songs for Rounders and Smoky the Bar.

Influence

His style is called honky tonk western swing, with fiddle, electric guitar and steel guitar and his smooth baritone voice. His backing band, the Brazos Valley Boys, was voted best country band by Billboard fourteen years in a row. He brought a light version of Bob Wills's western swing, with the emphasis on the danceable beat. Thompson was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989. The 1987 novel Crazy Heart is based on his life, and was filmed in 2009.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1952Favorites
• 1955Songs of the Brazos Valley
• 1959Songs for Rounders
• 1960Most of All
• 1968Country Blues
• 1968On Tap, in the Can, or in the Bottle
• 1969Hank Thompson Salutes Oklahoma
• 1969Smoky the Bar
• 1971Next Time I Fall in Love (I Won't)
• 1972Cab Driver: A Salute to the Mills Brothers
• 1973Kindly Keep It Country
• 1974Movin' On
• 1976Back in the Swing of Things
• 1977Doin' My Thing
• 1977The Thompson Touch
• 1978Brand New Hank
• 1980Take Me Back to Tulsa
• 1991Here's to Country Music

See also

• Songs of the Brazos Valley