Classic Track: Hank Thompson, Yesterday's Girl (1953, original version)

Hank Thompson (September 3, 1925 November 6, 2007)

Henry William Thompson, known professionally as Hank Thompson, was a country music entertainer whose career spanned seven decades. He sold more than 60 million records worldwide.

October 21, 1989 marked a major milestone in Hank Thompson's career, when he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. His induction was paved by many years of performing songs that kept him in the Top-40 charts. Hank's chart run ended in 1982 with the accumulation of more than eighty singles.

Thompson is one of the select few country music stars who have managed to perform and record in five decades. Beginning in the late Forties, Hank and his Brazos Valley Boys began a run on Billboard and Cashbox popularity polls. From 1953 through 1966, they were voted the No. 1 Country and Western Dance Band.

Hank recorded his very first record, Whoa Sailor, with Globe in 1946. In 1947, Capitol Records added him to their roster and released the single Humpty Dumpty Heart, the following year. By 1952, Thompson was on the charts with The Wild Side of Life - the biggest hit in country music that year. He also set attendance records at the Texas State Fair that year. From the mid-'60's through the late-'70's, Hank and his band traveled to all 50 states, Canada, the Far East and Europe.

In a career spanning five decades and with record sales in excess of 60 million, Hank Thompson is truly a living legend in country music. Tex Ritter said in jest of the man he helped get started as an entertainer, "Hank Thompson took a six pack of beer and a book of Mother Goose and made a career of them."

When Hank accepted his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, he said: "If this was the Horizon award, it would mean I'd have all this exciting and rewarding stuff ahead of me. That isn't to say this is the end of the line. I intend to keep doing the music I love for a long time to come." As of 1999, he was still actively touring.

Thompson's music catalog is quiet extensive. Bear Family Records released a 12CD box set on Hank, entitled Hank Thompson & His Brazos Valley Boys. The set is all of his recordings from 1946 - 1964. Capitol Records issued Hank Thompson Collector Series (1989) and Hank Thompson & His Brazos Valley Boys(1996) with their Vintage Collections series. Varese Sarabande Records issued The Best of Hank Thompson 1966 - 1979. On the CD are such standards as On Tap, In the Can, Or In the Bottle, The Mark of a Heel and Smoky the Bar to name a few. In 1997, Hank released a CD of new material on the Curb label, entitled Hank Thompson and Friends. He is joined on the CD by Vince Gill, George Jones and Kitty Wells and others. Any of these selections will soothe your craving for Hank Thompson music.

On November 1, 2007, Thompson canceled the rest of his 2007 "Sunset Tour" and retired from singing, two days after being released from a Texas hospital and diagnosed with aggressive lung cancer. He went into hospice care at his home in Keller, Texas. Thompson's last performance had been on October 8, 2007 in Waco, Texas, his birthplace. He died a month later on November 6, 2007 from lung cancer.

~ RJB: Country Music Historian, 1/2011. References: Record Research: Country Music Singles 1944 -- 1993; Billboard Magazine; RJB: Original Country Music Chronicles.

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[IGOROZKARSKY]

GOOD OLE HANK THOMPSON, ONE OF THE ALL-TIME BEST !

[jtls8]

One of my favorite country artist!! Thank you for info write up!!!

[Creaky1964]

my all time favorite Hank Thompson song.

[grace2568]

I played guitar for Hank for about 3 years in the early 80's love ya forever my friend

[ltwildman]

Great song and awesome biography!

[MegaAutostop]

Thank you Mr. Flash, Applaud, Applaud, Applaud, !!!!!!!!!!!!

[tickyreal]

I JUST LISTENED TO THIS GIRL -ANSWER -SONG -RECORDING..

THANKS FOR BOTH..!

Goldie Hill (Jan. 11, 1933 - Feb. 24, 2005) ~ I'm Yesterday's Girl

ERIK TIELMAN, FLORIDADADAAA

[truckingsonofagun]

great song,thanks for the upload((smiles)), hope your day is good

[NcicHit2]

Real country. Good song. Good beer drinking music,