Joe,
I have to say that I take great exception to your assessment of Hank Snow as
a mediocre talent. Far from it - this country music legend overcame a number
of obstacles - being very much an outsider to the Grand Ole Opry as a
Canadian, he none the less spent years travelling the United States to break
in to the exclusive country music scene.
His songs are an odd mixture of pathos, bathos and weird humour not to
mention his phenomenal lead guitar skills - like Hank Thompson he played his
own lead breaks. He recorded a number of award-winning instrumental albums
with none other than Chet Atkins, who says that he thinks Snow is one of the
most distinctive lead guitarists he's ever heard.
IMO, a mediocre talent he definitely is not.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Joe Gracey [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Wednesday, 3 February 1999 8:58
> To: passenger side
> Subject: Re: Hank question
>
> 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
