I’ve had about 140 albums released, and I’ve done everything I wanted to do.
~Hank Snow
I’d always listened to Hank Snow.
~Bob Dylan (to Sam Shepard – Aug 1986)
Canada’s greatest contribution to country music, Hank Snow was famous for his “traveling” songs. It’s no wonder. At age 12 he ran away from his Nova Scotia home and joined the Merchant Marines, working as a cabin boy and laborer for four years.
~David Vinopal (allmusic.com)
Today: The late Hank Snow was born in 1914, 100 years ago (read more)I’ve had about 140 albums released, and I’ve done everything I wanted to do.
~Hank Snow
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I’d always listened to Hank Snow.
~Bob Dylan (to Sam Shepard – Aug 1986)
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Canada’s greatest contribution to country music, Hank Snow was famous for his “traveling” songs. It’s no wonder. At age 12 he ran away from his Nova Scotia home and joined the Merchant Marines, working as a cabin boy and laborer for four years.
~David Vinopal (allmusic.com)
Dave Prater (May 9, 1937 – April 9, 1988) was an American Southern Soul and Rhythm & Blues (R&B) singer who was the deeper, baritone and second tenor vocalist of the soul vocal duo Sam & Dave from 1961 until his death in 1988. Dave Prater is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (1992), the Grammy Hall of Fame (1999, for the song “Soul Man”), the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, the Georgia Music Hall Of Fame (1997), and was a Grammy Award winning (1967) and multi-Gold Record award winning recording artist.
Dave Gahan (born 9 May 1962) is an English singer-songwriter, best known as the baritone lead singer for the British electronic music band Depeche Mode since their debut in 1980. He is also an accomplished solo artist, releasing albums in 2003 (Paper Monsters) and 2007 (Hourglass). Despite his bandmate Martin Gore continuing to be the main Depeche Mode songwriter, Gahan has contributed a number of songs to the band’s most recent albums, Playing the Angel (2005) and Sounds of the Universe(2009). Two of these songs were released as singles, including “Suffer Well” in 2006 and “Hole to Feed” in 2009. Q magazine ranked Gahan no. 73 on the list of the “100 Greatest Singers” and no. 27 on “The 100 Greatest Frontmen”.
Paul Richard “Richie” Furay (born May 9, 1944, Yellow Springs, Ohio) is an American singer, songwriter, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member who is best known for forming the bands Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey Martin, and Poco with Jim Messina, Rusty Young, George Grantham and Randy Meisner. His best known song (originally written during his tenure in Buffalo Springfield, but eventually performed by Poco, as well) was “Kind Woman”, which he wrote for his wife, Nancy.
William Martin “Billy” Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American pianist, singer-songwriter, and composer. Since releasing his first hit song, “Piano Man”, in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to the RIAA.
I’ve had about 140 albums released, and I’ve done everything I wanted to do.
~Hank Snow
I’d always listened to Hank Snow.
~Bob Dylan (to Sam Shepard – Aug 1986)
Canada’s greatest contribution to country music, Hank Snow was famous for his “traveling” songs. It’s no wonder. At age 12 he ran away from his Nova Scotia home and joined the Merchant Marines, working as a cabin boy and laborer for four years.
~David Vinopal (allmusic.com)
I’m Movin’ On:
Wikipedia:
Birth name
Clarence Eugene Snow
Also known as
Hank, The Yodeling Ranger
Hank Snow, The Singing Ranger
Born
May 9, 1914
Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, Canada
Origin
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Died
December 20, 1999 (aged 85)
Madison, Tennessee, United States
Genres
Country
Occupations
Musician, songwriter
Instruments
Vocals, guitar
Years active
1936–1999
Labels
RCA Victor
Clarence Eugene “Hank” Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a celebrated Canadian-American country music artist. In a career that spanned nearly 50 years, he recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on the Billboard country charts from 1950 until 1980. This total includes the number one hits “I’m Moving On”, “The Golden Rocket”, “I Don’t Hurt Anymore”, “Let Me Go, Lover!”, “I’ve Been Everywhere”, and “Hello Love” as well as other top 10 hits.
A Fool Such As I:
Snow was an accomplished songwriter whose clear, baritone voice expressed a wide range of emotions including the joys of freedom and travel as well as the anguish of tortured love. His music was rooted in his beginnings in small town Nova Scotia where, as a frail, 80-pound youngster, he endured extreme poverty, beatings and psychological abuse as well as physically punishing labour during the economically depressed 1920s and 30s. Through it all, his musically talented mother provided the emotional support he needed to pursue his dream of becoming a famous entertainer like his idol, the country star, Jimmie Rodgers.
As a performer of traditional country music, Snow won numerous awards and is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame and the Music Hall of Fame. The Hank Snow Museum in Liverpool, Nova Scotia celebrates his life and work in a province where his fans still see him as an inspirational figure who triumphed over personal adversity to become one of the most influential artists in all of country music.
A regular at the Grand Ole Opry, in 1954 Snow persuaded the directors to allow a young Elvis Presley to appear on stage. Snow used Presley as his opening act and introduced him to Colonel Tom Parker. In August 1955, Snow and Parker formed the management team, Hank Snow Attractions. This partnership signed a management contract with Presley but before long, Snow was out and Parker had full control over the rock singer’s career.
In this spirit-numbing information age, we gorge on the web and on CNN, we cannot free our hands of our Blackberrys and lap-tops and cellphones, but, in the end, we know less and less … of each other … of our hearts … of our souls.
But Johnny Cash singing “I Walk The Line” or Hank sorrowing through “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” still gives us more insight in three minutes, tells us more about what matters most in our lives, than we get in an entire twenty-four-hour news cycle.
– Dana Jennings, in his magnificent book “Sing Me Back Home: Love, Death, and Country Music“
This is our first article in a series highlighting the best country songs. We start off by nominating songs from the start up till 1955. The next post will focus on songs from 1956-1965.
When we are through nominating songs.. probably around 70-80 songs.. we will pull it all together and put a list of the 20 best Country songs ever.. in JV’s humble opinion.
Our goal is to only nominate one song from each artist.. I’ve managed to do so on this first article (although it was tough only including one Hank Williams song….)
… and btw .. the songs are presented in random order…
Can The Circle Be Unbroken (Bye and Bye), The Carter Family
Produced by Art Satherley
Written by A.P. Carter
1935
