Hank Garland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hank Garland | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Walter Louis Garland |
| Also known as | Hank |
| Born | November 11, 1930 Cowpens, South Carolina |
| Died | December 27, 2004 (aged 74) Orange Park, Florida |
| Occupation(s) | Guitarist |
| Instrument(s) | guitar |
| Years active | 1946 - 1961 |
| Associated acts | Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Patsy Cline, many others |
Hank Garland (November 11, 1930 – December 27, 2004) was a legendary Nashville studio musician.
Born in Cowpens, South Carolina, Garland began playing the guitar at the age of 6. He moved to Nashville at age 16, staying in Ma Upchurch's boarding house, where he roomed with upright bassist Bob Moore and fiddler Dale Potter. At age 19 Garland recorded his million-selling hit Sugar Foot Rag.
Garland is best known for his work on Elvis Presley recordings from 1958 to 1961 which produced such hits as Little Sister and Big Hunk of Love. However, Garland also worked with many of the country music stars of the late 1950s and early 1960s including Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, Mel Tillis, Marty Robbins, Everly Brothers, Boots Randolph, Roy Orbison, and Conway Twitty . He also played with jazz artists such as George Shearing and Charlie Parker.
In the summer of 1961 a car crash left Garland in a coma. He awoke from the coma that lasted a week and after several months (with help from his wife) he relearned how to walk, talk, and play the guitar. It is believed shock therapy which was prescribed by his doctors, may have caused more damage to his brain, but little evidence exists to support this theory.
Garland died on December 27, 2004 of a staph infection in Orange Park, Florida.
An attempt to tell his life and times is the subject of the partially fictional independent film Crazy.
Contents |
[edit] Discography
- After the Riot at Newport (with The Nashville All-Stars) (1960)
- Velvet Guitar (1960)
- Jazz Winds and a New Direction (1961)
- The Unforgettable Guitar of Hank Garland (1962)
[edit] References
- A-Team Musicians
- Kienzle, Rich (1998). "Hank Garland". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 194-5.
- Official web site
- Official web site for the film
