Hank Thompson
Henry William Thompson (September 3, 1925 – November 6, 2007) was an American country music singer-songwriter and musician whose career spanned seven decades. Thompson's musical style, characterized as honky-tonk Western swing, was a mixture of fiddles, electric guitar, and steel 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 by Billboard. Thompson pursued a "light" version of the Western swing sound that Bob Wills and others played; the primary difference between his music and that of Bob 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 novel Crazy Heart by Thomas 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 a successful film directed by Scott Cooper and starring Jeff Bridges in an Academy Award-winning performance. |
Birth and Death Data: Born Waco (city in and seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States), Died November 6, 2007 (Fort Worth (city and county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, United States) )
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1947 - 1955
Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, songwriter
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor | E0VB-3093 | 10-in. | 1/13/1950 | Give a little, take a little | Montana Slim | Male vocal solo, with string band | composer | |
| Victor | D7VB-2851 | 10-in. | 12/18/1947 | Whoa sailor | Rosalie Allen ; Black River Riders ; Billy Williams | Female-male vocal duet, with string band | composer | |
| Columbia | CO53194 | 10-in. | 3/19/1955 | Dial l-o-v-e for me | Leon McAuliffe and his Western Swing Band | String band, with male vocal solo | songwriter |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Thompson, Hank," accessed December 24, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/357103.
Thompson, Hank. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 24, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/357103.
"Thompson, Hank." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 24 December 2025.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Hank Thompson
Discogs: Hank Thompson
Allmusic: Hank Thompson
Apple Music: Hank Thompson
Grove: Hank Thompson
IMDb: Hank Thompson
Britannica: Hank Thompson
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Thompson, Hank - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n91073390
Wikidata: Hank Thompson - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q706422
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/74035946
MusicBrainz: Hank Thompson - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/80f22a87-7a82-4aff-a60d-8ef0d025ce96
Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/289163 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/289163
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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