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Listen to Hank Locklin, watch music videos, read bio, see tour dates & more!

Hank Locklin

Country

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Top Songs By Hank Locklin

Listen to Please Help Me, I'm Falling by Hank Locklin, see lyrics, music video & more!
Please Help Me, I'm FallingHank Locklin
Listen to Wings of a Dove by Ferlin Husky & Hank Locklin, see lyrics, music video & more!
Wings of a DoveFerlin Husky & Hank Locklin
Listen to It's a Little More Like Heaven by Hank Locklin, see lyrics, music video & more!
It's a Little More Like HeavenHank Locklin
Listen to Followed Closely By My Teardrops by Hank Locklin, see lyrics, music video & more!
Followed Closely By My TeardropsHank Locklin
Listen to Happy Birthday to Me by Hank Locklin, see lyrics, music video & more!
Happy Birthday to MeHank Locklin
Listen to Livin' Alone by Hank Locklin, see lyrics, music video & more!
Livin' AloneHank Locklin
Listen to Send Me the Pillow You Dream On by Hank Locklin, see lyrics, music video & more!
Send Me the Pillow You Dream OnHank Locklin
Listen to Country Music Is Here To Stay by Ferlin Husky & Hank Locklin, see lyrics, music video & more!
Country Music Is Here To StayFerlin Husky & Hank Locklin
Listen to Geisha Girl by Hank Locklin, see lyrics, music video & more!
Geisha GirlHank Locklin
Listen to Why Baby Why by Hank Locklin, see lyrics, music video & more!
Why Baby WhyHank Locklin

Latest Release

Listen to Let Me Be the One / It's a Little More Like Heaven (Rerecorded Version) - Single by Hank Locklin
ALBUMLet Me Be the One / It's a Little More Like Heaven (Rerecorded Version) - SingleHank Locklin

More albums from Hank Locklin

Listen to Ramblin' Man by Hank Locklin
ALBUMRamblin' ManHank Locklin
Listen to By the Grace of God - The Gospel Album by Hank Locklin
ALBUMBy the Grace of God - The Gospel AlbumHank Locklin
Listen to All Kinds of Everything by Hank Locklin
ALBUMAll Kinds of EverythingHank Locklin
Listen to Country Hall of Fame by Hank Locklin
ALBUMCountry Hall of FameHank Locklin
Listen to Golden Hits by Hank Locklin
ALBUMGolden HitsHank Locklin
Listen to The Mayor of McLellan, Florida by Hank Locklin
ALBUMThe Mayor of McLellan, FloridaHank Locklin
Listen to Bless Her Heart... I Love Her by Hank Locklin
ALBUMBless Her Heart... I Love HerHank Locklin
Listen to Hank Locklin and Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass by Hank Locklin
ALBUMHank Locklin and Danny Davis and the Nashville BrassHank Locklin
Listen to Lookin' Back by Hank Locklin
ALBUMLookin' BackHank Locklin
Listen to Softly by Hank Locklin
ALBUMSoftlyHank Locklin
Listen to Country Hall of Fame by Hank Locklin
ALBUMCountry Hall of FameHank Locklin
Listen to My Love Song For You by Hank Locklin
ALBUMMy Love Song For YouHank Locklin
Listen to Nashville Women by Hank Locklin
ALBUMNashville WomenHank Locklin
Listen to The Girls Get Prettier by Hank Locklin
ALBUMThe Girls Get PrettierHank Locklin
Listen to The Gloryland Way (with The Imperials Quartet) by Hank Locklin
ALBUMThe Gloryland Way (with The Imperials Quartet)Hank Locklin
Listen to Once Over Lightly by Hank Locklin
ALBUMOnce Over LightlyHank Locklin
Listen to Irish Songs, Country Style by Hank Locklin
ALBUMIrish Songs, Country StyleHank Locklin
Listen to Sings Hank Williams by Hank Locklin
ALBUMSings Hank WilliamsHank Locklin
Listen to The Ways of Life by Hank Locklin
ALBUMThe Ways of LifeHank Locklin
Listen to Hank Locklin by Hank Locklin
ALBUMHank LocklinHank Locklin
Listen to Please Help Me I'm Falling by Hank Locklin
ALBUMPlease Help Me I'm FallingHank Locklin

Hank Locklin's Popular Music Videos

Watch Send Me The Pillow (feat. Hank Locklin) [Live / 1999] music video by Country's Family Reunion
Send Me The Pillow (feat. Hank Locklin) [Live / 1999]
Country's Family Reunion

Artist Playlists

Hank Locklin Essentials
Hank Locklin Essentials
The architect of some of country music’s most beloved standards.
Hank Locklin Essentials

About Hank Locklin

Listen to Hank Locklin, watch music videos, read bio, see tour dates & more!
Hometown
McLellan, FL, United States
Born
February 15, 1918
Genre
Country
Hank Locklin (born Lawrence Hankins Locklin), one of country music's great tenors, was born February 15, 1918, in the small town of McLellan, located in the lumbering district of the Florida Panhandle. The youngest son of four children, he went to a one-room schoolhouse and was musical even as a young child. Locklin was injured at the age of eight in an accident and the long recovery process was the time when he first begin to learn music. Although interested in the guitar early on, it wasn't until his mid-teens that he really began to master that instrument. Locklin was active in music in high school (which he never finished), and at 18 won first prize in a talent show. He went on to do spots on the local radio station as he became more and more interested in entertaining. By the mid-'40s he was playing on the radio and doing in-person performances in Florida and nearby states. For the next ten years or so, Locklin worked many jobs (musical and otherwise), played with a variety of groups, and through a variety of trials, gradually worked his way up the country music ladder to recognition. (A good account of these years can be found in the Bear Family box set liner notes, written by Otto Kitsinger.) Locklin was exempted from military service due to his old leg injury, and during World War II he began playing guitar in various bands around Mobile, Alabama, and also started singing and writing songs. His vocal style was originally influenced by Ernest Tubb, but he later began developing his own approach to singing. Late in the War, he joined Jimmy Swan's dance band as a guitarist -- whose ranks included Hank Williams sitting in occasionally -- and he spent much of 1945 and 1946 playing gigs across the Southeast, from Florida to Alabama. It was Locklin's association with a group called the Four Leaf Clover Boys that led to the formation of his first group. In the wake of their breakup, Locklin formed the Rocky Mountain Playboys in 1947. The group's lineup later changed radically, but it was this original outfit -- Locklin on vocals and guitar, Clint Holmes on rhythm guitar, "Tiny" Smith on bass, Felton Pruett on steel guitar, and Douglas "Dobber" Johnson playing fiddle -- that got Locklin his first break. They were popular on the radio, and were sponsored by wealthy businessman Elmer Laird, who was also a songwriter. Laird proposed starting a record label around Locklin and the group with his songs, but he died in a stabbing incident on the eve of Locklin's first recording session. They soldiered on, recording for Gold Star and later Royalty without much success, and eventually the band broke up (Holmes and Pruett hooked up with Hank Williams soon after). Locklin ended up based in Houston and signed to Four Star, where he had his first major regional hits with such songs as "The Same Sweet Girl" and "Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On." In those days, Locklin's sound was that of Texas-style dance band, and lacked the smooth, romantic commercial veneer of his later Nashville-based recordings for RCA. In 1953, he finally achieved national recognition with a number one country hit, "Let Me Be the One." His success, however, was still sporadic, particularly in the face of an awkward contractual arrangement that had Locklin recording for Decca but belonging to Four Star and largely restricted to recording Four Star-owned songs. This didn't change until 1955. His career took off when he joined the RCA Victor label in the spring of 1955. Locklin's work with RCA has the added advantage that almost all of it was produced by Chet Atkins, often with Atkins himself on rhythm or lead guitar and with the added trills and fill-ins of Floyd Cramer on piano. The extreme simplicity of his early works makes the combination of his clear voice and these particular sidemen very effective. Everyone knows Locklin's big hits -- "Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On" (written by Locklin), "Geisha Girl," and "Please Help Me I'm Falling" -- but real fans are in love with his very simple heartfelt tunes like "Who Am I to Cast the First Stone," "A Good Woman's Love," "Seven or Eleven," "I'm Tired of Bummin' Around," "Golden Wristwatch," "Sitting Alone at a Table for Two," and many others. These early songs are characterized by Locklin's crystal-clear tenor, the ultra-simplicity of the songs themselves, and their straight-to-the-heart emotional plea. (Kitty Wells has this same kind of gift.) The result is a group of incredible songs that, first released as singles, later became available on Camden, RCA's budget label. After many years of neglect, many of these songs became available on the Bear Family box set Please Help Me I'm Falling. Locklin stayed with the RCA label until the mid-'70s. Locklin helped pioneer the idea of concept albums; his albums Foreign Love and Irish Songs, Country Style are examples. He also recorded an album tribute to Roy Acuff, A Tribute to Roy Acuff, King of Country Music. His Irish songs are pretty near definitive. As time goes by, the vocal chorus begins to creep into the Locklin albums a little more than purists might like, but his crystal-clear tenor never deserts him. Locklin hit the Top Ten charts again in the 1968 with "The Country Hall of Fame." In the 1970s he toured overseas often, was very popular in Ireland and Great Britain, and made at least one tour with Chet Atkins to Japan. After leaving RCA, he went on to record for a number of labels including MGM and Plantation, and his final album, his 65th, The Grace of God: The Gospel Album, appeared in 2006. Locklin retired and lived in Brewton, Alabama, only some 20 miles from his birthplace, until his death on March 8, 2009. ~ Michael Erlewine

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