A Six Pack To Go - Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight [Import]

Hank Thompson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 25, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Bear Family
• ASIN: B0010ED8AY
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #316,970 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. How Cold Hearted Can You Get

2. John Henry

3. No Help Wanted

4. If Lovin' You Is Wrong

5. This Train

6. The New Green Light

7. Red Skin Girl

8. Don't Flirt With Me

9. Whoa Sailor

10. The Grass Looks Greener Over Yonder

11. Rockin' In The Congo

12. Drivin' Nails In My Coffin

13. Klishama Klingo

14. If I'm Not Too Late

15. Deep Elem

16. Rovin' Gambler

17. I'll Be A Bachelor Till I Die

18. Three Times Seven

19. I Left My Gal In The Mountains

20. Dry Bread

See all 33 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Everything about Hank Thompson was modern. He was one of the first country singers to record on audio tape, the first to record a live album. For years, he flew his own plane to shows. Sick of dealing with crappy dancehall sound systems, he designed and built his own. Handed a coveted membership in the Grand Ole Opry in 1949, soured by the low pay and Nashville's musical conservatism, he quickly went back to his native Texas.

Actually, the Waco-born Thompson grew up favoring Gene Autry, the Carter Family, Vernon Dalhart, Jimmie Rodgers, Ernest Tubb and the Opry over the locally generated Western Swing of the Light Crust Doughboys and Milton Brown. After he got his first guitar in 1935 at age ten, his singing won so many amateur shows at the Waco Theater that by the time he was in high school, WACO gave him a Monday-Friday morning radio show as 'Hank The Hired Hand.' He did the final broadcast in January, 1943, the morning he left for the Navy. Home in 1946, studying toward a degree (and career) in electronics, he began playing Tubb-influenced honky tonk with his new band, the Brazos Valley Boys. By fall, he had his first regional hit, Whoa Sailor, on the local Globe label. A year later, after opening for Tex Ritter in Waco, Ritter recommended Hank to Capitol where Humpty Dumpty Heart became his first national hit in 1948.

Quick to adapt to changing realities, and aiming at the dancehall circuit, Hank directed guitarist Billy Gray to reinvent the Brazos Valley Boys as a danceable Western Swing-influenced outfit, minus the jazzy instrumental solos he never cared for. Dissatisfied with the small crowds he drew performing around Dallas, he relocated to Oklahoma City in 1951, by then boasting a sound as identifiable as Lefty Frizzell's or Ray Price's. He was blending his jovial honky tonk vocals with swing-flavored accompaniment. The band's high standards earned them awards for over a decade. From 1953 on, his buddy Merle Travis played on nearly all Hank's sessions and on a good many tours.

Hank's way with a ballad was apparent on his biggest hit, his 1952 cover of Jimmie Heap's The Wild Side Of Life, which inspired the answer song, It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels (Kitty Wells's first hit). He further demonstrated his ballad skills on I'll Sign My Heart Away and other numbers. Nonetheless, he made his reputation on upbeat bounces like Wake Up Irene, Rub-A-Dub-Dub, A Fooler A Faker, Honky Tonk Girl and A Six Pack To Go. His hits helped keep the Western Swing sound alive during the '50s and '60s when it was largely out of favor.

The late Hank Thompson didn't play rock 'n' roll (although one of his last appearances was at a British rockabilly fest), but he didn't play straight-ahead Western Swing, either. His trademark was top-poppin', boot-scootin' honky tonk vocals framed by the powerful, buoyant and danceable sound of his Brazos Valley Boys, who hit Southwest dancehalls like a sequin-suited tsunami! Hank's bouncing upbeat songs, as bubbly and full-bodied as a rich Texas lager, stood out. He recorded steadily from 1946 until shortly before his death, and Bear Family has selected the jumpin'est and rockin'est titles. This set slides 33 of his best down the bar, along with a Rich Kienzle essay featuring extensive song comments and insights from Hank himself.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Super collection of Thompson's work at Capitol, December 24, 2004

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Six Pack to Go (Audio CD)

By the time of this album's 1966 release, Thompson was already two years removed from his tenure at Capitol. His then-former label pulled this 12-pack from tracks Thompson recorded in the late '50s and early 60's, including the 1961 title smash. Like many of the albums Thompson recorded in the late '50s, Capitol assembled this one along a thematic line, with bars and drinking at the center of every song.

Thompson's Western Swing is equally at home on the two-stepping "Honky Tonk Town" as it is on the polkas "Beer Barrel Polka" and "Bartender's Polka." His voice is warm and surprisingly upbeat given the tenor of the material. His 1952 smash "The Wild Side of Life" is heard here is a 1962 remake (though not the stereo of which the liner notes speak), retaining its pathos even with the undercutting of a choral background. Better yet is Allen Flatt's "A Broken Heart and a Glass of Beer," which manages to swing along even as tears soak the bar.

Besides rounding up a nice collection of drinking-related titles, Capitol also picked sides on which legendary guitarist Merle Travis lent his distinctive leads. Thompson's Brazos Valley Boys add superb support with fine steel and fiddle throughout. Most of Thompson's original theme albums remain out of print (e.g., "Songs for Rounders"), but lucky for us, Capitol did a fine job of assembling this one, and Sundazed has returned it to domestic print.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hey, it's Hank Thompson, March 2, 2007

By 

57Johnnie (Montrose, CO USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Six Pack to Go (Audio CD)

Hank does the great Cindy Walker song 'Bubbles in My Beer' on this disc. I think it's the only time he recorded it. A little different take than the Bob Wills/Tommy Duncan version. A lot of other great songs but this one alone makes buying the disc worthwhile.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great mix of honkytonk and western swing, April 9, 2009

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Six Pack to Go (Audio CD)

"Six-Pack To Go" was my radio theme song for over a decade on the air... and it's a doozy of a song! Nice to see it in print along withthe rest of this fun album. Great stuff from one of the biggest and best stars in classic country. Highly recommended! (DJ Joe Sixpack, Slipcue Guide To Hick Music)