Mjcpr
11/8/2007, 09:40 AM
I'd never heard of him before but he played a Don Williams concert that I went to a while back. I guess he had a few hits back in the day.
Hank Thompson, often called the King of Western Swing, died Tuesday. He was 82.
Thompson requested that no funeral be held. A celebration of his life, open to fans and friends, will be held Wednesday at Billy Bob's Texas, a Fort Worth honky-tonk.
The country music icon -- whose portrait hangs on the wall of the Cain's Ballroom next to art of such legends as Hank Williams, Bob Wills and Roy Rogers -- lived in the Tulsa area for 18 years.
His honky-tonk baritone churned out a string of country hits during a long career, with 29 hits reaching the Top 10 between 1948 and 1975.
Thompson died at his home in the Fort Worth suburb of Keller just days after canceling his current tour, spokesman Tracy Pitcox, president of Heart of Texas Records, said.
The Country Music Hall of Famer was born Henry William Thompson. His last performance was Oct. 8 in Waco, Texas, his birthplace.
Since the 1940s, Thompson's visits, performances and radio appearances in Tulsa helped to solidify the city's status in Western swing.
"At that time, the Cain's was strictly a dance hall," Thompson said in a 2003 Tulsa World interview.
"There were no tables in it. There was just a bench all the way around the perimeter. People would dance to the music, then go out to the car and have a little nip and come back in.
"That was Oklahoma back in those days."
Thompson was a music veteran and a Navy veteran by the time he first visited the Cain's with his new wife, Ann Thompson, in 1948.
Years earlier, he'd had his own radio show, "Hank the Hired Hand," in Waco, and he'd played clubs and continued broadcasting during his time in the service.
Although he'd had a regional hit with his single "Whoa, Sailor" in 1948, things really got going when he signed with Capitol and began turning out hits such as "Humpty Dumpty Heart" and "Green Light."
Thompson had a career almost unparalleled in country music, with more than 60 million records sold and a list of firsts that includes being the first country act to play Las Vegas and record a live album.
Perhaps his biggest accomplishment was hitting the national charts with at least one single in five consecutive decades -- from the 1940s through the 1980s.
"Well, I just wanted to always keep doing what I was doing -- to play my music, to enjoy it, to see the people enjoy it, and to be able to make a living with it and continue as long as I could," he said.
Thompson is survived by his wife, Ann Thompson.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=071108_1_A16_spanc63558
Hank Thompson, often called the King of Western Swing, died Tuesday. He was 82.
Thompson requested that no funeral be held. A celebration of his life, open to fans and friends, will be held Wednesday at Billy Bob's Texas, a Fort Worth honky-tonk.
The country music icon -- whose portrait hangs on the wall of the Cain's Ballroom next to art of such legends as Hank Williams, Bob Wills and Roy Rogers -- lived in the Tulsa area for 18 years.
His honky-tonk baritone churned out a string of country hits during a long career, with 29 hits reaching the Top 10 between 1948 and 1975.
Thompson died at his home in the Fort Worth suburb of Keller just days after canceling his current tour, spokesman Tracy Pitcox, president of Heart of Texas Records, said.
The Country Music Hall of Famer was born Henry William Thompson. His last performance was Oct. 8 in Waco, Texas, his birthplace.
Since the 1940s, Thompson's visits, performances and radio appearances in Tulsa helped to solidify the city's status in Western swing.
"At that time, the Cain's was strictly a dance hall," Thompson said in a 2003 Tulsa World interview.
"There were no tables in it. There was just a bench all the way around the perimeter. People would dance to the music, then go out to the car and have a little nip and come back in.
"That was Oklahoma back in those days."
Thompson was a music veteran and a Navy veteran by the time he first visited the Cain's with his new wife, Ann Thompson, in 1948.
Years earlier, he'd had his own radio show, "Hank the Hired Hand," in Waco, and he'd played clubs and continued broadcasting during his time in the service.
Although he'd had a regional hit with his single "Whoa, Sailor" in 1948, things really got going when he signed with Capitol and began turning out hits such as "Humpty Dumpty Heart" and "Green Light."
Thompson had a career almost unparalleled in country music, with more than 60 million records sold and a list of firsts that includes being the first country act to play Las Vegas and record a live album.
Perhaps his biggest accomplishment was hitting the national charts with at least one single in five consecutive decades -- from the 1940s through the 1980s.
"Well, I just wanted to always keep doing what I was doing -- to play my music, to enjoy it, to see the people enjoy it, and to be able to make a living with it and continue as long as I could," he said.
Thompson is survived by his wife, Ann Thompson.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=071108_1_A16_spanc63558