Hank Snow Biography

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Hank Snow
Country Music | 3 CD Set
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Nashville may be the country music capital of the world but most country singers moved there from other towns, states and countries. Not all guys named Hank are from the hills of Kentucky, the dustbowls of Oklahoma or the small towns of Texas. One of country music's real icons was Hank Snow and what he brought to that style of music was his own style of artistry, from his early yodeling and traveling songs to his stage costumes. But he brought it from the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, where he was born Clarence Eugene Snow on May 9, 1914 in a town called Brooklyn, near Liverpool, Nova Scotia. A victim of a split home, he moved in with his grandmother at age eight when his parents divorced. But after four unhappy years, moved back with his mother when she remarried. His unhappiness grew, however, when his stepfather began abusing him and at age 12, the young Snow ran away to join a fishing fleet in the Atlantic Ocean. He retained the interest in music he had gained from his mother, who had worked as a pianist in a silent-film theater. During his four years at sea, he frequently entertained fellow crewmen with his growing talent. Back home as a teenager, he listened to her recordings, including those featuring the down home sounds of Jimmie Rodgers, which he took to imitating, including the yodels and his way of delivering a song. Snow now began performing occasionally around the province near his home and by age 19 in 1933, he felt ready for the bigger opportunities in Halifax. He landed an unpaid weekly appearance on radio CHNS, where he soon was billed as the Blue Yodeler or Clarence Snow and His Guitar. After a year of performing and also doing odd jobs to stay afloat, Snow was approached by the radio station's chief announcer, Cecil Landry, who suggested he change his name to Hank Snow, which he said sounded more Western than the other titles. He remained in Halifax and struggled to get by for three more years. In 1936, he married Minnie Aalders. Soon, his fortunes changed when he began getting paid for his singing on the Canadian Farm Hour, taking the name of Hank the Yodeling Ranger. This led to Snow's first record contract. He signed with the Montreal branch of RCA-Victor and immediately put out a pair of original tunes called "The Prisoned Cowboy" and "Lonesome Blue Yodel." When his son was born in 1937, Hank named him Jimmie Rodgers Snow, continuing his affection for the legendary singer. Those two songs became hits and began a long string of records available only in Canada, seeing some 90 recordings succeed in the following years. In 1944, now an established star in Canada, he became Hank the Singing Ranger as his earlier high voice had finally dropped into the soft baritone range. Yet, Hank Snow was a virtual stranger to American audiences. He made attempts, playing a big Jamboree in West Virginia and even moving to Hollywood briefly, where he also performed with his trick pony Shawnee. But between the ongoing World War II keeping Americans busy, the American fascination with the Big Bands and the fact that RCA-Victor refused to release his Canadian recordings until he had become well-known, the singer was in a basic Catch-22 situation. It eventually changed but it was not until 1948 when, while singing in Callas, Snow befriended country and honky tonk star Ernest Tubb, who managed later to get him on the Grand Ole Opry. This was in early 1950 and by now RCA-Victor was in his corner and beginning to record him for the American audience, his debut single "Marriage Vow" a minor hit. But the song fell off the charts after a week and his Opry performance was not received very well, these events forcing him to consider moving back to Canada. Meanwhile, his recording of "I'm Moving On" began picking up chart speed and by the summer of 1950 Hank Snow was finally on his way. It raced up to No. 1 and stayed there for 21 weeks. Next came "The Golden Rocket" and "The Rhumba Boogie," both topping the chart and clearly turning the singer into a major star. Between 1951 and 1955, he had two dozen Top 10 hits, one of those, "I Don't Hurt Anymore," spending 20 weeks at No. 1. Playing his by-now trademark traveling songs, country-boogie, rhumbas and even his version of Hawaiian music as well as cowboy songs, Snow was becoming an international star outside of the U.S. and Canada. About this time the successful artist took up with Colonel Tom Parker and formed a booking agency. Parker, of course, would go onto fame as the controversial manager of Elvis Presley. Snow actually played a role in Presley's early career by getting him a shot on the Grand Ole Opry in 1954. It did not go over well, however, and while Hank pushed Elvis to go completely country, Parker had taken over his career and moved the upset Snow out; the rest is Elvis history. Snow considered Presley to be a fan of his, though, and Elvis did record a couple of songs connected to Snow. Strangely enough, Snow challenged the burgeoning rock 'n roll by recording some mild rockabilly singles and injecting them with his rhumba and boogie but the diluted music did not see the same success as his other work, the real country music he continued to land on the charts into the mid '60s. One of his biggest hits was his version of an Australian song called "I've Been Everywhere." He had the writer change the lyrics from a list of Australian towns to some 90 more recognizable by his North American fans and it became his second million-seller. Snow's career began to slow down as he did not make music in the country-pop style picking up steam in the late '60s and into the '70s. He was still popular in concert and on the Opry but he did not have another big hit until 1974's "Hello Love." Though hitting No. 1, it was his last monster hit as he had only two later Top 40 tunes. Then came the awards and honors, reaching the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1978 and Country Music Hall of Fame in 1979. Snow continued to appear on the Opry into the '90s while also working for his Foundation for Child Abuse, a result of his never forgetting his earlier abuse as a youngster. As for his suits, Snow created a fashion sense with his beautiful and artfully flamboyant stage costumes. He kept his fans and cohorts always wondering if the obvious hairpieces he wore sometimes crooked were worn that way on purpose. In 1994, he published his autobiography, The Hank Snow Story. The following year he was struck with a respiratory illness that he recovered from in 1996 and followed that with his last appearance on the Opry. He died at age 85 on December 20, 1999, leaving behind a massive vault of recordings that helped make him a true country superstar.

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