Thompson, Hank

▪ 2008

Henry William Thompson 

      American singer and songwriter

born Sept. 3, 1925, Waco, Texas

died Nov. 6, 2007, Keller, Texas

was a pioneering country music star who created his own sound by blending western swing and honky-tonk; he sold more than 60 million records during a career that spanned six decades. Thompson recorded several regional hits in the late 1940s and then hit the national scene in 1948 with “Humpty Dumpty Heart,” the first of 48 of his songs that would make the top 20 on the country music charts. His heyday was the 1950s. Thompson had the number one country song of 1952, “The Wild Side of Life,” which inspired “It Wasn't God Who Made Honky-Tonk Angels,” an answer song that also hit the top spot and launched the career of Kitty Wells. Many hits followed, including “Rub-a-Dub-Dub,” “A Fooler, a Faker,” and “Waiting in the Lobby of Your Heart.” His hit songs of the 1960s, such as “A Six-Pack to Go,” “On Tap, in the Can, or in the Bottle,” and “Smoky the Bar,” reflected Thompson's signature sound, developed and refined during his tours of the dance halls of the Southwest. His last top 20 hit was “Gotta Sell Them Chickens” (1997), a duo with Junior Brown. Even as his success on the charts waned after the 1960s, Thompson continued to perform more than 200 live shows annually. His band, the Brazos Valley Boys, won Billboard magazine's award for top touring band 14 years in a row. Thompson was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989.

* * *