The fourth, of course, was Hank Thompson, whose Brazos Valley Boys burned up the airwaves in the ’50s–delivering, among other things, a live LP from the Nugget in Las Vegas; the equally ebullient 1959 LP “Songs for Rounders”; a genuine guitar hero in Merle Travis; and one of the greatest bar songs ever, “A Six Pack to Go.”

Somewhere in my garage, I have a cassette tape with a bootleg of John Doe and Exene Cervenka of X covering “A Six Pack to Go”–and despite the fact that I can’t lay my hands on it, I take great comfort in knowing it’s around.

Hank Thompson made a bit of a comeback a few years ago on Hightone Records–but he died last night of lung cancer at age 82, according to Nashville TV and his own website.

You can say what you want about Hank Williams, Sr.–but I’ll have to go with Hank Thompson at least 45 percent of the time.

Alongside of Thompson’s bounce–his cheering, booming baritone, his boulevardier’s wit, and Merle Travis’s expert picking–Williams comes off sounding like a vampire: like Peter Murphy. Thompson? Love and Rockets.

(And yes, put them together and you get Bauhaus–in a 1950s country music context. Make sense? No, it doesn’t.)

Here’s to you, Hank Thompson. Maybe Mr. Ziegler can find us an MP3?

Tags: " Merle Travis, "A Six Pack to Go, "Songs for Rounders, Bauhaus, California, Exene Cervenka, Hank Thompson, Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys, Hank Williams, John Doe, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Love and Rockets, Peter Murphy, Southern California, The District Weekly, Theo Douglas, X

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Chris Ziegler 10 months ago 1 point
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and mizell (jungle rock) and snow (i'm movin on) and locklin (please help me, i'm fallin into a foreign car)

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timmy 10 months ago 1 point
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ditto on snow, and Hank Wilson's Back (Leon Russell gone hankish)

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steve 10 months ago 1 point
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Squaws Along the Yukon (are good enuff for me), the basis of George Jones' Eskimo Pie. Bye.

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Charlie Frederick 10 months ago 1 point
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Hank Thompson was a pioneer in country music. His many hit songs set the standard of his day. He had a great voice and sound and help to set a style of music that was unequal at the time. He will be missed and God Bless Him!

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Charlie Tischler 10 months ago 1 point
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Back in the days of live TV, Panther Hall in Fort Worth had a live broadcast every Saturday night, and many featured some of the old-time C and W stars. One particular Saturday, the show started with Hank picking "Wildwood Flower" on his guitar. Bill Mack, the MC, said that Hank's band had gotten delayed. Mack offered to play a tape, but Hank said "I started out by myself with just my guitar, and I can still do a show myself." Hank did, and put on a fine show, and he was one of my heroes from that day on. Hank, you were great. RIP

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Ernie Fleming 10 months ago 1 point
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I have been a Thompson fan since the late 50s. I don't think there has been a performer who expanded the musical arrangements the way he did. Good three cord songs are nice to listen to but Hank's arrangments added to those basic three cords with 9th and augment 5th that set the bar high for quality. He will be missed

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