Howdy Friends,
Well, we've lost another one..
Western Swing great Hank Thompson passed away this last Tuesday.
God bless you Hank.
===============

DALLAS -- Country singer Hank Thompson, who had 29 hits reach the top 10 between
1948 and 1974, has died of lung cancer just days after canceling his tour, his
spokesman
said Wednesday.

Thompson, 82, died late Tuesday at his home in the Fort Worth suburb of Keller,
said
Tracy Pitcox, who also is president of Heart of Texas Records.

Just last week, Thompson canceled the rest of his tour after being hospitalized.

"He was battling aggressive lung cancer," Pitcox said in a statement. "He
remained
conscious until the last couple of hours and passed away peacefully at about
10:45 p.m.
on Tuesday night surrounded by his friends and family."

Fans loved Thompson's distinctive gravelly voice and his musical style, a mix of
honky
tonk and Western swing. He was named to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989.

In 1952, his album "The Wild Side of Life" reached No. 1. Some of his most
famous songs
include "Humpty Dumpty Heart" and "A Six Pack to Go."

"The Wild Side of Life" inspired a famous "answer song" written by J.D. Miller,
"It Wasn't
God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels." Recorded by Kitty Wells in 1952, it was the
first No. 1
hit by a woman soloist on the country music charts and made Wells a star.

Thompson's song was about a guy who'd lost his wife when she left him "and went
back to
the wild side of life." The songs says, "I didn't know God made honky tonk
angels."

Wells, who worked with Thompson for years, didn't write the response that
nonetheless
became her signature tune. In the song, she recalls how she had once been a
trusting wife.

"It wasn't God who made honky tonk angels, as you said in the words of your
song," she
sang. "Too many times married men think they're still single, that has caused
many
married girl to go wrong."

Wells said Wednesday that she never took Thompson's tune personally, and she
didn't
record the response for personal reasons.

"It was just a song," she said from her Nashville home.

The two hits were both on the charts at the same time.

"I think mine kind of helped his record, and his helped mine," she said.

Thompson's first recording was "Whoa, Sailor" in 1946. That year, he started a
band called
the Brazos Valley Boys, which went on to win Billboard Magazine's touring band
of the year
award 14 straight times.

The last show Thompson played was Oct. 8 in his native Waco. That day was
declared
"Hank Thompson Day" by Gov. Rick Perry and Waco Mayor Virginia DuPuy.

Thompson grew up a fan of movie idol Gene Autry, which fueled his love of the
guitar. By
the time he finished high school he was playing on a local radio show, where he
was
featured as "Hank the Hired Hand."

Thompson served in the Navy and was well educated. He studied electrical
engineering at
Southern Methodist University, the University of Texas and Princeton.

He considered an engineering career, but remained in show business and caught
the
attention of Tex Ritter, who helped him get a contract with Capitol Records.
Thompson
had a string of hits during the 1950s, including "Waiting in the Lobby of Your
Heart,"
"Rub-A-Dub-Dub," "Yesterday's Girl," "Wake Up, Irene," "Honky Tonk Girl," "Most
of All,"
"The Blackboard of My Heart," and "Squaws Along the Yukon."

Wells and her husband, singer Johnnie Wright, and Thompson knew each other from
the
Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, La., in the late '40s and continued to work
together
occasionally all the way up until last year.

Wright called Thompson "one of the finest people I'd ever met."

"He'd help you if you needed help with anything. He was a super guy," Wright
said.

Thompson requested no funeral, Pitcox said. A "celebration of life" open to fans
and
friends was being planned for Nov. 14 at Billy Bob's Texas, a Fort Worth honky
tonk.

Survivors include his wife, Ann. He had no children.