RE: Rank the Hank question
Barry Mazor nailed part of what makes Snow so enjoyable for me, and the perceptive comment about Snow being a very "white" singer explains part of what made his stuff so interesting to me when I discovered him, along about 1971, when I came across a copy of his Travellin' Blues album, a collection of songs (some or all of which may have been previously released) from country music's early days, notably Jimmie Rodgers numbers. Snow had a lot of Rodgers to him, both the sentimental trash (-per Mr. Dylan) side and the blues side, too. Now, Jimmie Rodgers' blues stuff often has that straight, non-note-bending "white" side to it around the 3rd (less so around the 7th), but Snow's almost always has it, and to someone like me, who had listened to a lot of Black blues, it was fascinating how the rhythms were changed and the bends straightened out. Barry mentions his nasality, but what has always struck me more is his precise enunciation, a real model of clarity like Hank Thompson's. You get every damn syllable with these Hanks, with nary a "what was that line?" in their thousands of combined recordings. That's my idea of serving the song g. BTW, I was the one who expressed a preference for Hank Snow over Hank Williams, and I was pretty careful to qualify it in terms of simple enjoyment. I wouldn't care to make a case that he's more important or better; I just find that if I'm going to go on a Hank listening jag, it's more likely to be Snow or Thompson than the Senior guy. Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/ Website revised 2/1/99
RE: Rank the Hank question
...part of what made his stuff so interesting to me .. Snow had a lot of Rodgers to him,...Now, Jimmie Rodgers' blues stuff often has that straight, non-note-bending "white" side to it around the 3rd (less so around the 7th), but Snow's almost always has it, and to someone like me, who had listened to a lot of Black blues, it was fascinating how the rhythms were changed and the bends straightened out. Jon Yeah, that's very much like my experience also--fascinated..and fascinated that it worked... There was also that recognition that with the Rodgers blues take, "Well, I could sing THAT, comfortably, without sounding like I'm trying to be something I'm not...I could be at home with that"-(Since I AM, of course, not a black fieldhand , but a singing brakeman from Mississippi.!..) -- I suspect that a reaction something very much like that was part of the impact that Rodgers' music had on a lot of country singers--certainly bigtime fan/followers like Snow and Tubb (and Autry Cliff Carlisle, etc. and some day Merle Haggard)...this was a doable way--as well as a really potent way. As a singer, I'd take Rodgers over Snow for sure--but then, Snow probably would too! Barry
Re: Rank the Hank question
You know, I don't listen to a lot of Hank W. myself because, frankly-in what can only be considered a pretty high compliment-he just scares the hell out of me. Dan Bentele
Re: Rank the Hank question
Hank Thompson ,well.a tiny maybe..but taking Hank SNOW over Hank Williams is beyond my comprehension... (I'm not sure we rally need to Rank the Hanks at this late date anyway!) I start out pretty much agreeing with Joe Gracey on this one...Mr. Snow, to my ear, has one of the less soulful and sometimes plain duller SINGING styles of major country starsk--but still somehow you can't let those records go. I'd coincidentally just picked up that Essential Hank Snow disc Don described earlier, about a week ago, to update what I'd had (an import disc with the hits and some ol' tapes., The "Essential" offers sound that's very good, besides a better selection of cuts than most discs in that odd series--and this is the interesting thing to me. Snow has these great SONGS...some he wrote, more he surely had a role in selecting, and the records are infectious anyway--with Atkins and anybody else at work on 'em at RCA, that whole apparatus, yes, they make some really good records out of the stuff. After a while, you start to feel some real affection for the often comically-imitated Snow nasality...you just give in. I think they're good records made by a singer with some real limitations. (Ever heard Elvis do his Snow on the Million Dollar Quartet session? Affectionate--but funny.) Barry 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
RE: Rank the Hank question
I don't recall actually expressing a preference for Hank Snow over HANK WILLIAMS at any stage, but if it came down to it, poor old Mr Snow would we left at the roadside - fortunately, I feel confident in asserting that they both have a welcome place in my record collection and, in fact, any good country music record collection would be incomplete without at least a version of I'm Movin' On. In retrospect, Hank Snow has been quite influential upon modern music but in less of an obvious way than Hank Williams Sr. I love ALL the Hanks except maybe Hank Jr - don't know why exactly but his brand of country music don't excite me none. Junior Walker -- From: Barry Mazor[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Reply To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, 3 February 1999 12:34 To: passenger side Subject: Re: Rank the Hank question Hank Thompson ,well.a tiny maybe..but taking Hank SNOW over Hank Williams is beyond my comprehension... (I'm not sure we rally need to Rank the Hanks at this late date anyway!) I start out pretty much agreeing with Joe Gracey on this one...Mr. Snow, to my ear, has one of the less soulful and sometimes plain duller SINGING styles of major country starsk--but still somehow you can't let those records go. I'd coincidentally just picked up that Essential Hank Snow disc Don described earlier, about a week ago, to update what I'd had (an import disc with the hits and some ol' tapes., The "Essential" offers sound that's very good, besides a better selection of cuts than most discs in that odd series--and this is the interesting thing to me. Snow has these great SONGS...some he wrote, more he surely had a role in selecting, and the records are infectious anyway--with Atkins and anybody else at work on 'em at RCA, that whole apparatus, yes, they make some really good records out of the stuff. After a while, you start to feel some real affection for the often comically-imitated Snow nasality...you just give in. I think they're good records made by a singer with some real limitations. (Ever heard Elvis do his Snow on the Million Dollar Quartet session? Affectionate--but funny.) Barry 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
Re: Rank the Hank question
There's an interesting program being shown on our local PBS station about the contribution of African Americans to American popular culture. It's a documentary by Spike Lee called "I'll Make Me A World" (http://www.pbs.org/immaw/ for more). The doc ain't by Spike Lee but by the guy who did the wonderful "Eyes on the Prize" series some years ago and who recently passed on to documentarian heaven. Spike is featured in it, tho. Just keeping records straight. It's in my nature. NW
