Hank Garland

Walter Louis " Hank " Garland ( born November 11, 1930 in Cowpens, South Carolina, † December 27, 2004 in Orange Park, Florida ) was an American jazz and country guitarist. He was the Nashville A-Team, a group of extremely active and sought-after studio musician attributed.

Life

Hank Garland learned at a young age to play guitar. Back in 1945, when Garland was 15 years old, overheard him the musician Frank Howard of the Arkansas Cotton Pickers in a Cowpenser Club playing guitar. Howard committed Garland immediately for the Grand Ole Opry. Garland's incipient career was interrupted shortly thereafter, when the American musicians' union complained that he was too young for professional work and he forbade performances for the time being. On his 16th birthday brought him Howard again in his music show - the beginning of Garland's music career. He had his own first hit at age 19 in August 1949 with the instrumental song Sugarfoot Rag, who later became an Evergreen.

After appearances in the country music scene in Nashville Garland lingered a while in the rock'n'roll scene before he devoted himself to jazz. Stylistically, it kept doing the jazz guitarist Charlie Christian. Garland received numerous engagements in New York jazz clubs. In the 1950s, Garland recorded several jazz records and played in the famous New York club Birdland with Charlie Parker. His album Jazz Winds from a New Direction, which he recorded in 1961 for Columbia Records, was the recording debut of 17 -year-old vibraphonist Gary Burton, who also participated in the composition Three, Four, the Blues.

Hank Garland was one of the lesser known American musician, because he always stayed in the background. Nevertheless, he played a significant role in the American country music scene of Nashville. He was a studio musician for recordings known singers such as Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, the Everly Brothers and Patsy Cline and as a studio guitarist on hits such as It's Now Or Never, Are You Lonesome Tonight, Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel ) or Walk on By involved.

A serious car accident in September 1961, in which he lost parts of his memory and his motor coordination, Garland's career ended. He could not build on its previous successes. For years he processed to recover funds lost Composition royalties and died in 2004 at the age of 74 years in Orange Park, Florida. 2008 Garland's life under the title Crazy was - Discover a Legend with Waylon Payne filmed in the lead role.

Discography

• After the Riot at Newport ( with The Nashville All-Stars, RCA, 1960)
• Velvet Guitar ( Harmony, 1961)
• Jazz Winds From a New Direction ( with Gary Burton, Philips, 1961)
• The Unforgettable Guitar of Hank Garland (Columbia, 1962)
• Subtle Swing ( 2004)