Hank Locklin
Hank Locklin (* February 15, 1918 as Lawrence Hankins Locklin in McLellan, Florida; † March 8, 2009 in Brewton, Alabama) was an American country singer, whose biggest success was 1960 Please Help Me I'm Falling.
Life
At the age of ten years, Hank Locklin won a talent competition. It was followed first radio appearances. It was a time of economic depression, and he could only with difficulty keep up with odd jobs over water. In 1942 he first appeared on the KWKH Louisiana Hayride. The small label Four Star took him under contract. One of the early records was 1949, the first version of Send Me the Pillow You Dream on; In the same year he scored a Top 10 hit with The Same Sweet Girl. Four years later, he reached with Let Me Be the One number one on the country charts.
Career
The initial success led in 1955 to a recording contract with the prestigious RCA Victor label. Here the singer was supported by the high pitch of senior musicians such as Chet Atkins and Floyd Cramer. Already one of his first singles, Geisha Girl, moved up to number five. More hits at RCA were 1959 Send Me the Pillow You Dream On and It's a Little More Like Heaven. His final breakthrough came a year later with the self- written song Please Help Me I'm Falling. The single held fourteen weeks at number one and earned him a gold record.
In the same year he joined the Grand Ole Opry. He went on tour to Europe, which led him mainly to the UK and especially to Ireland, which was almost his second home. In Ireland, it became the most popular country singer and was often represented in the charts. Singles chart successes have been rare. His last top- 10 ranking he reached in 1967 with Country Hall of Fame. In addition to his musical activities, he found in the late 1960's still time to take over the office of the mayor in his (very small ) home community McLellan.
In 1972, he lost his contract with RCA and moved to MGM and later to the Plantation label. In the charts, he was no longer represented, but had continued appearances on the Grand Ole Opry. Hank Locklin died on 8 March 2009 at the age of 91 years in Brewton, Alabama.