Sep 1, 2025
Hank Garland
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Hank Garland
I'm currently working on three books at once. When I get bored with one I work on the other for a while. I'm nearly finished with the Little Doodles Christmas issue and issue number eight of the same title. These are from the third book I'm working on which is Album, a book of art inspired by music. The first drawing is off the many Hanks of country music, the second is a stylized minimalist drawing of the lovely Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's (like something you may have seen on the living room wall of some hipster in the 80's), and the last is the late Yellow Thunder Woman (RIP) of the Bastard Fairies. Of the three books I think this one is the farthest from completion. I have a lot of ideas for it but not a lot of time.
Roy Orbison - In Dreams
May 9, 1959
Hank Garland (second from left) and others at a recording session for Elvis
Guitarist Hank Garland, best known for his work with Elvis, also provided the round, warm guitar sound for countless classic country tunes (for non-country fans, his work might be most familiar via Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” and Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock”). But he led something of a double life jamming with jazz musicians (including, apocryphally, Charlie Parker) in New York, and eventually released a few jazz albums before a 1961 car accident left him unable to play. Garland’s group, which included a 17-year-old Gary Burton, was even booked at the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival; when their set was cancelled due to riots (don’t make WASPs angry), they recorded an album in the house they had rented.
All that is to say that on May 9, 1959, Garland recorded his first solo LP Velvet Guitar; its gentle schmaltz anticipates decades of what would become known as smooth jazz (George Benson was a fan).
(L to R) Hank Garland, Lightnin' Chance, Jimmy Sweeney, Boudleaux Bryant and Floyd Cramer, Nashville, TN, 1958
Hank Garland