Jon Weisberger wrote:
>
> I realize I'm probably in the minority on this, but for sheer enjoyment,
> I'll take Hank Thompson over Hank Williams just about any day.
Well, yeah. HT wasn't drenched in angst. Actually, though, HW did his
share of goofy novelty stuff too, it's just not what you think of when
you think of listening to him.
Thompson falls into an odd place for me- he's too goofy to take very
seriously but too accomplished and soulful to dismiss. He took Bob
Will's playfulness and Ernest Tubb's soulfulness and kind of merged
them, and of course he was one of the only singers who could also play
his own lead solos. He liked to experiment with recording techniques-
witness the weird reverbs being turned up in certain spots in his
records. I think if he hadn't seemed to descend into painfully forced
novelties on his way out of the charts, he would be remembered more kindly.
> Hank Snow,
> too, for that matter. Ain't taste a wonderful thing?
I for one can only attribute Hank Snow's success to the power of the
Opry apparatus to foist mediocre talent on people for 'way too many
years.
--
Joe Gracey
President-For-Life, Jackalope Records
http://www.kimmierhodes.com
