Hank Garland

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Hank Garland
Background information
Birth nameWalter Louis Garland
Born(1930-11-11)November 11, 1930
Cowpens, South Carolina, U.S.
DiedDecember 27, 2004(2004-12-27) (aged 74)
Orange Park, Florida, U.S.
GenresJazz,[1] country,[1] rock and roll, pop
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Guitar, six-string bass
Years active1942-1961

Walter Louis Garland (November 11, 1930 – December 27, 2004), known professionally as Hank Garland, was an American guitarist and songwriter. He started as a country musician, played rock and roll as it became popular in the 1950s, and released a jazz album in 1960. His career was cut short when a car accident in 1961 left him unable to perform.

The Hank Garland biopic Crazy was released in 2008.[2]

Biography

Born in Cowpens, South Carolina,[3] Garland began playing guitar at the age of six, and began to appear on local radio shows at 12. At 14 he moved to Spartanburg, South Carolina where he met Don Reno who gave him lessons, and worked with him on the WSPA-FM station in Spartanburg, both playing lead guitar. [4]

He moved to Nashville at age 16, staying in Ma Upchurch's boarding house, where he roomed with

A Fool Such As I", "Stuck on You", "Little Sister", "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame", and "I Feel So Bad". He worked with many country music and rock and roll musicians of the late 1950s and early 1960s, such as Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, Mel Tillis, Marty Robbins, The Everly Brothers, Boots Randolph, Roy Orbison, Conway Twitty, and Moon Mullican
.

Garland's guitar drove such classic recordings as

Simon Crum's "Stand Up, Sit Down, Shut Your Mouth"; and Johnnie Strickland's (1935-1994) "She's Mine"; plus, seasonal staples "Jingle Bell Rock" with Bobby Helms, and Brenda Lee's seasonal "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree". Don Gibson's "Sweet Sweet Girl" and "Don't Tell Me Your Troubles"; Patsy Cline's "Let the Teardrops Fall"; Ronnie Hawkins' "Jambalaya"; and Faron Young
's "Alone with You" spotlighted Garland's guitar work.

He played with George Shearing and Charlie Parker in New York and went on to record Jazz Winds from a New Direction[6] with Gary Burton on vibraphone, Joe Benjamin on double bass, and Joe Morello on drums.[5] That session took place in Nashville in 1960.

That same year, Garland, along with other members of the

After the Riot in Newport
.

At the request of

Gibson Guitar company president Ted McCarty, Garland and guitarist Billy Byrd[5] influenced the design of the Byrdland guitar, which derived from the Gibson L-5, having a slimmer body and shorter scale for ease of playing.[7]

In September 1961, a car crash left Garland in a coma.[4] He regained consciousness and recovered with the help of his wife, Evelyn, and two daughters, but due to a brain injury sustained in the car accident, he was unable to return to the studios. After Evelyn died at the age of 38 in a car crash in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on December 2, 1965, Garland's parents took care of him until their deaths. He then went to live with his brother, Billy and wife Amy.

Garland suffered from constant ill health in his later years and died in Orange Park, Florida on December 27, 2004, of complications from a staph infection. He was 74 years old. He is interred in Jacksonville Memory Gardens in Orange Park.

Discography

As leader

  • Velvet Guitar (Harmony, 1960)
  • After the Riot at Newport with the Nashville All-Stars (RCA Victor, 1961)
  • Jazz Winds from a New Direction (Columbia, 1961)
  • The Unforgettable Guitar of Hank Garland (Columbia, 1962)
  • Hank Garland and His Sugar Footers (Bear Family, 1992)
  • Subtle Swing (Sundazed, 2004)

As sideman

Notes

  1. ^
    ISBN 9780793540426
    . Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  2. ^ "Crazy". IMDB. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  3. ^ Ginell, Richard S. "Hank Garland". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Guitarist Hank Garland Dies". Billboard. 28 December 2004. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  5. ^ a b c Campilongo, Jim (20 January 2023). "Listen to Hank Garland's 'Jazz Winds From a New Direction' – the Album That Made George Benson Want to Play Jazz". Guitar Player.
  6. ^ Ginell, Richard S. "Jazz Winds from a New Direction". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  7. ISBN 0-7935-9210-0
    .

References

External links

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