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Hank Thompson
Thompson in 1966
Background information
Birth name	Henry William Thompson
Born	(1925-09-03)September 3, 1925 Waco,Texas, U.S.
Died	November 6, 2007(2007-11-06) (aged 82) Keller,Texas, U.S.
Genres	Country
Occupations	Singer songwriter
Instruments	Vocals guitar
Years active	1946–2007
Website	www.hankthompson.com

Henry William Thompson (September 3, 1925 – November 6, 2007)^[1] was an Americancountry music singer-songwriter and musician whose career spanned seven decades.

Thompson's musical style, characterized ashonky-tonkWestern swing, was a mixture of fiddles, electric guitar, andsteel guitar that featured his distinctive, smooth baritone vocals.

His backing band, The Brazos Valley Boys, was voted the top Country Western Band for 14 years in a row byBillboard. Thompson pursued a "light" version of theWestern swing sound thatBob Wills and others played; the primary difference between his music and that ofBob Wills was that Thompson, who used the swing beat and instrumentation to enhance his vocals, discouraged the intense instrumental soloing from his musicians that Wills encouraged; however, the "Hank Thompson sound" exceeded Bob Wills in top-40 country hits.

Although not as prominent on the top country charts in later decades, Thompson remained a recording artist and concert draw well into his 80s.

The 1987 novelCrazy Heart byThomas Cobb was inspired by Thompson's life, specifically by his practice of picking up a local band to back him when he toured. In 2009, Cobb's novel was turned into asuccessful film directed byScott Cooper and starringJeff Bridges in anAcademy Award-winning performance.^[2][3]

Born inWaco, Texas, United States,^[4] Thompson was interested in music from an early age, and won several amateur harmonica contests. He decided to pursue his musical talent after serving in theUnited States Navy inWorld War II as a radioman and studying electrical engineering at Princeton University before his discharge. He had intended to continue those studies on theGI Bill following his 1946 discharge, and return to Waco.^[4] Later that year, after having regional hits with his first single "Whoa Sailor" for Globe Records, Dallas (Globe 124) and almost simultaneously "California Women" for another Dallas label (Blue Bonnet 123), he chose to pursue a full-time musical career.^[4]

1952 brought his first number-one single, "The Wild Side of Life", which contained the memorable line, "I didn't know God made honky-tonk angels".^[4] (This line inspired songwriterJ. D. "Jay" Miller to write the 1952answer song "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", which became the first hit single for pioneer female country vocalistKitty Wells.) Other hits for Thompson followed in quick succession in the 1950s and 1960s.^[4]

Thompson began singing in a plaintive honky-tonk style similar to that ofErnest Tubb, but, desiring to secure more engagements in the dance halls of the Southwest, he reconfigured his band, the Brazos Valley Boys, to play a "light" version of theWestern swing sound thatBob Wills and others made famous, emphasizing the dance beat and meticulous arrangements.^[4]

From 1947 to 1964, he recorded forCapitol Records,^[5] then joinedWarner Bros. Records, where he remained from 1966 through 1967. From 1968 through 1980, he recorded forDot Records and its successors, ABC Dot andMCA Records. In 1997, Thompson releasedHank Thompson and Friends, a collection of solo tracks and duets with some of country music's most popular performers. In 2000, he released a new album,Seven Decades, on theHightone label. The title reflected his recording history from the 1940s to 2000s.

Thompson was elected to theCountry Music Hall of Fame in 1989,^[5] and was inducted into theNashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1997. He continued touring throughout the U.S. until shortly before he became ill. Often, he worked with a reconstituted version of the Brazos Valley Boys that included a few original members.

Thompson's last public performance was on October 8, 2007, in Waco, Texas, his birthplace. A smoker for most of his adult life, Thompson was admitted into a Texas hospital in mid-October for shortness of breath. He was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form oflung cancer. On November 1, 2007, two days after being released, Thompson cancelled the rest of his 2007 "Sunset Tour" and retired from singing. He went intohospice care at his home inKeller, Texas, and died five days later, on November 6, 2007, aged 82.^[1]

According to Thompson's spokesman, Tracy Pitcox, president of Heart of Texas Records, Thompson requested that no funeral be held. On November 14, a "celebration of life", open to both fans and friends, took place atBilly Bob's Texas, aFt. Worth country and western nightclub that bills itself as the World's Largest Honky-Tonk.^[6]

• Academy of Country Music
• List of country musicians
• Country Music Association
• List of best-selling music artists
• Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame (1989 Inductee)

• Rumble, John. (1998). "Hank Thompson". InThe Encyclopedia of Country Music 1st edition 1998. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 536–7.

• Official Website
• Thompson at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
• Obituary inThe Times of London, 16 November 2007
• Hank Thompson atFind a Grave

• 1925 births
• 2007 deaths
• American country singer-songwriters
• American male singer-songwriters
• Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
• Western swing performers
• United States Navy personnel of World War II
• Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma
• Musicians from Waco, Texas
• American bandleaders
• Deaths from lung cancer in Texas
• 20th-century American singer-songwriters
• Singer-songwriters from Texas
• People from Keller, Texas
• Country musicians from Texas
• Country musicians from Oklahoma
• 20th-century American male singers
• Waco High School alumni
• United States Navy sailors

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