Hank Locklin (1918-2009)

Country music great Hank Locklin passed away on Sunday at the age of 91.

Locklin first became interested in music during the recovery from an injury at age 8 but didn't start to really study the guitar until his mid-teens. During his twenties and thirties, he worked a variety of jobs while always keeping one foot in the world of music, doing radio spots and playing on the radio and at local venues.

In the late 40's, Locklin signed with Four Star records where he had his hit with The Same Sweet Girl which reached number eight nationally. He also became a member of the Louisiana Hayride.

It took five years until he was able to duplicate that feat when he racked up his first number one with Let Me Be the One. Over the next two decades, he would have twenty more top 40 country hits, including Please Help Me I'm Falling which spent 14 weeks at number one in 1960 along with making it to number eight on the pop charts.

During the 70's, Locklin toured extensively overseas, especially in Great Britain and Ireland where he was especially popular. He also recorded for a number of labels including MGM and Plantation.

Along with being a country hitmaker, Locklin is also credited as one of the early innovators of the concept album with his albums Foreign Love and Irish Songs, Country Style, along with tribute albums to Eddy Arnold, Roy Acuff and Hank Williams. As a songwriter, he is probably best known for writing his own hit Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On which has also been recorded by numerous other country artists.

Hank Locklin's major hits:

• The Same Sweet Girl (1947/#8 Country)
• Let Me Be the One (1953/#1 Country)
• Why Baby Why (1956/#9 Country)
• Geisha Girl (1957/#4 Country/#66 Pop)
• Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On (1958/#5 Country/#77 Pop)
• It's a Little More Like Heaven (1958/#3 Country)
• Please Help Me I'm Falling (1960/#1 Country/#8 Pop)
• One Step Ahead of My Past (1961/#14 Country)
• From Here To There To You (1961/#12 Country)
• Happy Birthday to Me (1961/#7 Country)
• You're the Reason (1961/#14 Country)
• Happy Journey (1962/#10 Country)
• We're Gonna Go Fishin' (1962/#14 Country)
• Followed Closely By My Teardrops (1964/#15 Country)
• The Country Hall of Fame (1968/#8 Country)