Hank
Thompson

Few country music artists can claim a longevity and track record to equal that of Hank Thompson. Between 1948 and 1974 he scored no less than thirty Top Ten hits, with another nineteen in the Top Twenty, and continued to chart into the 1980s.

In the Singer-Songwriter Tradition

Thompson wrote many of his hits himself, including “Green Light,” “Whoa Sailor,” and “Waiting in the Lobby of Your Heart.” Forging a potent blend of honky-tonk and western swing, Thompson’s influence has long served as a source of continuity amid country’s experimentation with rock and pop sounds.

A Passion for Music and A Curious Mind

Like many country stars, Henry William Thompson took an early interest in music, winning several amateur contests on the harmonica. However, after he became enthralled by cowboy movie idol Gene Autry, the guitar became Thompson’s instrument of choice. With a four-dollar guitar bought at a secondhand store, young Hank was on his way. By the time he finished high school, he was broadcasting on the WACO radio station as “Hank the Hired Hand,” sponsored by a local flour company.

After graduating, Thompson enlisted in the U.S. Navy. While stationed in San Diego, he persuaded his superiors to let him play area clubs, and after putting out to sea, he entertained his shipmates and even broadcasted over a network of small stations organized by American military personnel in the South Pacific. He also took advantage of training programs during his service and studied electrical engineering at Southern Methodist University, the University of Texas, and Princeton University, making him one of the better-educated stars in country music.

“Whoa, Sailor” Anchored a String of Hits

Although he pondered an engineering career after his military stint was over, radio work and his first hit record, “Whoa Sailor,” kept him in show business. Assisted by prominent DJ Hal Horton of the 50,000-watt KRLD in Dallas, the Globe Records release became a minor regional success.  Thompson recorded four songs with the Blue Bonnet label before Tex Ritter, a prominent star on Capitol Records, helped him gain his own contract with the more prominent, major label. During 1948–49 Thompson justified Ritter’s faith in him with hits such as “Humpty Dumpty Heart,” “Green Light,” and a remake of “Whoa, Sailor.”

During the 1950s, Thompson’s songwriting talents, gravelly baritone, precise diction, and powerful combination of western swing and honky-tonk sounds helped him continue his string of hits. 1952 brought his first #1 disc, “The Wild Side of Life,” a song that inspired the hit that launched Kitty Wells’s career, “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky-Tonk Angels.” Subsequent Thompson chart makers of the 1950s included “Waiting in the Lobby of Your Heart,” “Rub-A-Dub-Dub,” “Yesterday’s Girl,” “Wake Up, Irene,” “Honky Tonk Girl,” “Most of All,” “The Blackboard of My Heart,” and “Squaws Along the Yukon,” all in the Top Ten.

Always an Innovator

Thompson hosted a variety show on WKY-TV in Oklahoma City from 1954 to 1957. In addition, he was one of the first country performers to entertain in Las Vegas showrooms, and he recorded one of country’s first live albums, Live at the Golden Nugget, there in 1960. Thompson also brought his engineering knowledge to his stage show and built top-flight sound and lighting systems that heightened his drawing power. Thanks to his musical and technical leadership, his Brazos Valley Boys were Billboard’s top-ranked band from 1953 to 1965.

Through the 1960s and beyond, Thompson’s easy manner made him a welcome guest on network TV shows, as did a dynamic stage presence magnified by his size (he was six feet, two inches tall), a rough-hewn, handsome appearance, and custom-made western outfits for which he became famous. But following “A Six Pack to Go” (#10, 1960) and “Oklahoma Hills” (#7,1961), he didn’t make the Top Ten again until 1968’s “On Tap, in the Can, or in the Bottle” and “Smoky the Bar,” both recorded early in his association with Dot Records, which began after a brief stay at Warner Bros. in the late 1960s. Two more Top Ten hits came in 1974, but the 1970s belonged to country-pop, and Thompson’s chart success dwindled to the point where he pared down his road schedule and spent more time hunting or tending to his various real-estate, broadcasting, and music publishing interests.

In the 1980s, however, as harder-edged sounds enjoyed renewed popularity, Thompson hit the road again in earnest, playing dates in Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, and the United States. He also kept recording and signed with Nashville’s Step One Records in 1987. In 1997, Curb Records released Hank Thompson and Friends, a critically acclaimed collection of duets pairing Thompson with Lyle Lovett, Vince Gill, George Jones, Kitty Wells, and others. Thompson’s 2000 HighTone Records album, Seven Decades, featured his sure handling of new material as well as classic country songs he’d never recorded. Thompson’s hard-core honky-tonk and western swing sound continues to influence country artists such as George Strait, Dwight Yoakam, and Asleep at the Wheel. Hank Thompson was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989 and to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1997. He died of lung cancer on November 6, 2007, at his home in Keller, Texas.

– John Rumble

– Adapted from the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum’s Encyclopedia of Country Music, published by Oxford University Press