Hank Penny
| Hank Penny | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
September 18, 1918 Birmingham, Alabama |
| Died | April 17, 1992 (aged 73) California |
Herbert Clayton Penny (September 18, 1918 – April 17, 1992) was an accomplished banjo player and practitioner of Western swing. He worked as a comedian best known for his backwoods character "That Plain Ol' Country Boy" on TV with Spade Cooley. He was married to country singer Sue Thompson from 1953-63.
Penny was the leader of the Radio Cowboys, which featured guitarist Julian Akins, steel guitarist Sammy Forsmark, tenor banjo player Louis Damont, bassist Carl Stewart, and vocalist, guitarist, and fiddler Sheldon Bennett in the 1930s. At WLW Radio in Cincinnati during World War II, Penny formed the Plantation Boys, which included fiddler Carl Stewart, guitarist/bassist Louis Innis, fiddler Zed Tennis, and lead guitarist Roy Lanham. Penny left Cincinnati for Los Angeles in 1944, where he formed larger Western swing bands that played local clubs and ballrooms like Venice Pier in Santa Monica. Among the musicians who worked with him in his early years in California were former Texas Playboys Noel Boggs on steel guitar and guitarist Jimmy Wyble. Penny later took over a band formerly led by ex-Spade Cooley bassist Deuce Spriggens. Penny modeled his band and repretoire of Western Swing music from Milton Brown and his Musical Brownies and Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys.
Penny had three hits on the Billboard Country Singles chart, "Steel Guitar Stomp" (1946) an instrumental featuring both Noel Boggs on steel guitar and guitarist Merle Travis, who produced the recording, the slightly risque' "Get Yourself a Red Head" (1946), and his own composition "Bloodshot Eyes" (1950).
Penny's "Bloodshot Eyes," originally a country novelty number. was also recorded in 1951 by rhythm and blues singer Wynonie Harris, who recorded for King Records, Penny's label at the time. It became an R&B hit (King 4461). Penny himself had little influence on rock and roll, and the reason Harris recorded the song was because the publishing was owned by King, whose owner Syd Nathan encouraged other artists to record songs he published. It had nothing to do with racial integration. It was strictly business. Harris's version of "Bloodshot" was appreciated in the Caribbean, where Wynonie Harris had a large following. Along with other Wynonie Harris records, it was being played on Jamaican dancehalls as early as 1951. In 1958 Jamaican mento group Denzil Laing and the Wrigglers recorded a fine version of it for their Arawak Hotel album featuring jazz guitar great Ernest Ranglin. Bermuda Islands legend Sydney Bean also recorded it, releasing it circa 1955. In 1971, the song was a top-40 regional hit in Detroit, recorded by Lucifer on the Holland/Dozier/Holland-owned Invictus Records label.
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