Hank Thompson

Hank Thompson was born Henry William Thompson in Waco, Texas, in 1925. He learned guitar and accordion early on, and served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, performing with a military band. After the war, he formed the Brazos Valley Boys, a group known for its accordion-driven sound and Thompson's clear tenor vocals.

Thompson recorded songs like "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," "Wild Side of Life," and "A Six Pack to Go." His music mixed traditional country with honky-tonk and western swing. In the 1950s, he faced a marijuana possession arrest that briefly disrupted his career, but he continued performing and recording.

He worked with musicians including Merle Travis on guitar and Don Helms on steel guitar. Thompson kept making music for decades, with songs like "My Old Flame" and "Teardrops On The Rocks" in his catalog. He died in 2007.