Hank Snow

Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 / December 20, 1999) was a Canadian-American^{United States} country music artist. He charted more than 70 singles on the Billboard^{Billboard (magazine)} country charts from 1950 until 1980. This total includes the number 1 hits "I'm Movin' On^{I'm Movin' On (Hank Snow song)}," "The Golden Rocket^{The Golden Rocket (song)}", "I Don't Hurt Anymore," "Let Me Go, Lover!," "I've Been Everywhere," and "Hello Love^{Hello Love (Hank Snow song)}" as well as other top ten hits. He is a member of both the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame^{Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame} and the Music Hall of Fame^{Canadian Music Hall of Fame}.

Snow was born in Brooklyn^{Brooklyn, Queens County, Nova Scotia}, Queens County^{Queens County, Nova Scotia}, Nova Scotia, Canada. He ran away from home to escape a brutal stepfather when he was 12 years old and joined a fishing boat as a cabin boy. When he was 14, he ordered his first guitar from an Eaton's department store catalog^Eaton's for $5.95, and played his first show in a church basement in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia at age 16. He then sang in local clubs and bars in nearby Halifax^{City of Halifax}, where he married Minnie Blanche Aalders in 1935 and had one son, Rev. Jimmy Rodgers Snow.

Canadian years

A successful appearance on a local radio station led to Snow's audition with RCA Victor in Montreal, Quebec. In 1936, he signed with the label, staying for more than 45 years. A weekly CBC^{Canadian Broadcasting Corporation} radio show brought him national recognition, and he began touring Canada until the late 1940s when American^{United States} country music stations began playing his records.

Nashville calls

Snow moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1945, and "Hank Snow, the Singing Ranger" (modified from his nickname, the Yodeling Ranger given him before his voice changed to a baritone), was invited to play at the Grand Ole Opry in 1950. That same year he released his hit, "I'm Movin' On." The first of seven number 1 hits on the country charts, "I'm Movin' On" stayed at the top for 22 weeks, setting the all-time record for most weeks at number 1.

That same year " "The Golden Rocket" and "The Rhumba Boogie" both hit number one with the latter remaining #1 for eight weeks.

Along with these hit, his other "signature song" was "I've Been Everywhere," in which he portrayed himself as a hitchhiker bragging about all the towns he'd been through. This song was originally written and performed in Australia by Geoff Mack, and its re-write incorporated North American place names. Rattling off a well-rhymed series of city names at an auctioneer's pace has long made the song a challenge for any singer.

While performing in Renfro Valley, Snow worked with a young Hank Williams; Snow remained Williams' idol for the rest of his career.

Elvis

A regular at the Grand Ole Opry, in 1954 Snow persuaded the directors to allow a young Elvis Presley to appear on stage. Snow used Presley as his opening act and introduced him to Colonel Tom Parker. In August 1955, Snow and Parker formed the management team, Hank Snow Attractions. This partnership signed a management contract with Presley but before long, Snow was out and Parker had full control over the rock singer's career.

Later career

Performing in lavish and colourful sequin-studded suits, Snow had a career covering six decades during which he sold more than 80 million albums. Although he became an American naturalized citizen in 1958, he still maintained friendships in Canada and remembered his roots with the 1968 album, My Nova Scotia Home. That same year he performed at campaign stops on behalf of U.S. presidential candidate George Wallace.

Despite his lack of schooling, Snow was a gifted songwriter and in 1978 was elected to Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. In Canada, he was ten times voted that country's top country music performer. In 1979, he was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Nova Scotia Music Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985.

His autobiography, The Hank Snow Story, was published in 1994, and later The Hank Snow Country Music Centre opened near his ancestral home in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. A victim of child abuse, he established the Hank Snow International Foundation For Prevention Of Child Abuse.

Death

Snow died in 1999 at his Rainbow Ranch in Madison, Tennessee and was interred in the Spring Hill Cemetery in Nashville^{Nashville, Tennessee}. Minnie died in 2003.Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, Ray Charles, Ashley MacIsaac, Johnny Cash and Emmylou Harris, among others, have covered his music.

One of his last top hits, "Hello Love", was sung by Garrison Keillor to open each broadcast of his Prairie Home Companion radio show. The song became Snow's seventh and final number 1 hit on the Billboard^{Billboard (magazine)} Hot Country Singles^{Hot Country Songs} chart in April 1974. At 59 years and 11 months, Snow became the oldest artist to have a top song on the chart. It was an accomplishment he held for more than 26 years, until Kenny Rogers's hit record in May 2000 (at 61 years and nine months), "Buy Me a Rose." (Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson subsequently reached the top of the chart at older ages as secondary duet partners on records fronted by other artists.)

In Robert Altman's 1975 film Nashville^{Nashville (film)}, Henry Gibson played a self-obsessed country star loosely based on Hank Snow. He was also mentioned in the film Smokey and the Bandit. When Cletus Snow, making a collect call, gives his name, the operator's response is not heard, but Cletus replies "No, I'm not Hank Snow's brother."
Albums

Singles

Guest singles