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A good many of our country music pioneers came from humble beginnings. The North American continent was largely agricultural in the early part of the twentieth century - still little touched by the industrial revolution. Those born during that time often grew up knowing the hard and demanding life of farming or ranching. They also suffered the undeniably tough lesson of living through the great depression of the 30's. But one would be hard-pressed to find anyone who knew a harder early life than the late Hank Snow.
Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow was born in Brooklyn, Nova Scotia (near Liverpool) on May 9th, 1914. In his very early years, he lived a rather normal life, during which he received his education in work ethic and basic human values. His "formal" education would end with the 5th grade. His mother, having been a piano player for silent movies before Hank was born, gave the youngster his first exposure to music. But, when Hank was eight years old, his parents divorced and the children were separated and sent to various foster homes. In Hank's case, it was with his stern and abusive paternal grandmother.
Having had enough of grandma's abuse, he soon ran away and sought out his mother who, by that time had remarried. This proved to be a jumping out of the pan into the fire. His stepfather was even worse and physically beat him regularly. At the age of twelve, he and his eight-year-old sister struck out on a snowy Canadian night. They trudged eight or nine miles through the snow and cold and finally hitched a ride which, took them to the home of their married sister. Recalling those years, Hank once said, "I was an abused child, mostly through beatings which left scars. And I can tell you; it changes a child's personality. And it never leaves you.
He soon thereafter signed on as a cabin boy, going to sea with the North Atlantic fishing fleet, not an experience I'd wish on any kid of mine. Fishing the North Atlantic is an extremely hard and demanding life, even for a grown man. One can only imagine the hell he must have endured as a teenager. But even at that tender age, music was a salvation. He had learned to play the harmonica and entertained the crew from time to time by playing and singing.
At sixteen, he went ashore for good and worked at various jobs, including a fish plant, a stable and as a lumberjack. But music was always there and, along about 1929, his mother bought him some Jimmie Rodgers records. He was enamored by Rodgers' music and plunked down a whopping six bucks for a mail order guitar with which he proceeded to learn Jimmie's songs note for note.
While selling Fuller Brushes, he gave his customers the incentive of hearing him sing them a song if they bought a brush. His sales travels took him to Halifax and while there, in 1933, he got a 15-minute radio show on CHNS. He was first billed as "Clarence Snow and his guitar" (a lot of thought must have gone into that one!) and then as "The Cowboy Blue Yodeler." A few months later, he became part of the weekly show, "Down on the Farm" and, to give him a more "Western" flair, the name became, "Hank, the Yodeling Ranger." Of all Hank's various jobs, neither Cowboy nor Ranger were ever among them, but do we care? I don't. I loved him for his main gig, his music.
All this radio work was done for the love of the music, the exposure and the experience - no money. His first music paychecks came from Crazy Water Crystals, a laxative company who sponsored him on the air. The grand sum of $10.00 a week made it possible to quit selling brushes and soon, he was doing "The Farm Hour" on CBC. Along about this time, he made his first recording, The Prisoned Cowboy and The Lonesome Blue Yodel, on the Canadian Bluebird label, an RCA division.
After marrying Minnie Blanch Aalders in 1936, he changed the name again. His voice had matured and lowered and he could no longer do the Jimmie Rodgers inspired yodels. He was now "Hank, the Singing Ranger." In 1937, Min gave birth to their only child, Jimmie Rodgers Snow. Jimmie, who for many years was the host of the Grand Ole Gospel Time show on WSM, and his mother still live in the Nashville area. For the next ten years, Hank, aided by his now network radio performances and rigorous personal appearances, racked up a number of Canadian hits. None of those records, however, were ever released in the States.
In 1944, he made his move to crack the U.S. market. He and his performing horse, Shawnee, went to Hollywood, where he hoped to do "singing westerns." He didn't have much luck with the movie moguls, but he also played gigs and radio shows in various parts of the country, including Dallas and Wheeling, West Virginia, where he appeared on WWVA's "Wheeling Jamboree." One of his favorite haunts, while in Dallas, was the Big D Jamboree. Although not yet playing there, he hung out and rubbed elbows with those who did. "In Dallas a huge country show called the Big D Jamboree was held every Saturday night in the Sportatorium. . ." Hank recalls in his autobiography, The Hank Snow Story. "They booked big names like Hank Thompson, Floyd Tillman, Cowboy Copas and Ernest Tubb. Because I was an entertainer, the manager of the auditorium, Ed McLamore, would let me in free and let me visit with the artists in their dressing rooms."
One of Hank's greatest idols was Texas honky-tonker, Ernest Tubb. "I stayed in touch with Ernest Tubb. I wrote him from Canada, Hollywood and Dallas. I considered him a real good friend, even though I hadn't yet met him. Our love for the music of the late Jimmie Rodgers . . . was a special bond between Ernest and me. I had mailed Ernest a couple of my Canadian records, and he was impressed with my singing. He said if he could ever help me in any way, he would. One day someone contacted me from Fort Worth and said they were having a big country show called the Cowtown Jamboree. Ernest Tubb was the headliner of the big package show and most of the artists were from Nashville's Grand Ole Opry. I was offered twenty-five dollars to be on the show and I jumped at the opportunity, knowing that I could sing my local hit, "Brand On My Heart," and I could meet Ernest in person."
Tubb believed in him and put the wheels in motion to get him on the Opry. "Ernest brought me to the Grand Ole Opry when you had to have a hit to get there. I had everything else but a hit record. It took him over a year to convince the people at WSM that I should have a try, and that he thought I had some talent." Hank debuted on the Opry in January of 1950 and, soon after that, I'm Movin' On, a song he had written and recorded, became his first US hit. It went to #1 and stayed there for 21 of the 44 weeks it was on the chart. Then the hits kept coming. The Rhumba Boogie, The Golden Rocket, A Fool Such As I and the classic, I Don't Hurt Anymore, just to cite a few. He became a huge country star and a regular member of the Opry and, in 1979, became the 30th inductee of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Some of the other honors and awards Hank received were induction to the Jimmie Rodgers Hall of Fame (1953), Nebraska Western Hall of Fame (1963), Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1978), Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame (1979), Canadian Hall of Honor (1985) and the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame(1989). In 1994, he was included in Life magazine's list of "The 100 Most Important People in the History of Country." He also holds the singular distinction of being associated with RCA records for 45 years, a tenure unequaled by any other artist. He also joined the ranks of U.S. citizenry when he was naturalized in 1957.
In 1954, Hank partnered with his then manager, Col. Tom Parker, to form Hank Snow Enterprises - Jamboree Productions. They booked package shows with Hank, Andy Griffith, Bill Haley and the Comets and a young man by the name of Elvis Presley. They were instrumental in getting Elvis his first appearance on the Opry. Unfortunately for Elvis, his performance ruffled a lot of conservative feathers and it was his last. (Doesn't seem to have hurt his career any, though). Hank also claimed that it was he, not Tom Parker, who secured Elvis' deal with RCA. It was over a cup of coffee with an RCA exec at a downtown Nashville restaurant. The exec said they were up their ears and weren't signing any new artists, but Hank talked him into giving Elvis a shot. He later figured he had lost at least a couple million dollars with that "smile and a handshake" deal.
In 1974, a 4-year-old girl from Cleveland, Tennessee was beaten to death and it became national news. This dredged up the old, painful memories and prompted Hank, in 1978, to form the Hank Snow Foundation for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect of Children, Inc. After years of struggling to fund the organization, however, the foundation was dissolved in 1985 and the support of Hank and his directors was pledged to the National Exchange Club, another child-abuse group. He was given the Tree of Life award in 1984 by the Jewish National Fund for his work with abused children.
Hank was a man of principle and conviction. George Jones was not the first to stand his ground when the CMA Awards producers intended to limit his singing of "Choices." In 1986, Hank stayed away from a CBS special, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Opry. They would allow him to sing only one verse of his monumental hit, I'm Movin' On. Later that same year, he celebrated an anniversary of his own - his 50th year as a country entertainer.
Hank made his final appearance on the Opry in September 1996. He passed away just after midnight on December 20, 1999 at his home, the Rainbow Ranch, in Madison, Tennessee. He was 85.
He is missed by thousands of fans, not the least of whom are the devoted followers, The Friends of Hank Snow, who maintain the Hank Snow Country Music Centre in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, not far from his birthplace. If you ever have the good fortune to be traveling in the Maritime Provinces, by all means, stop in. They are open daily from Victoria Day through Canadian Thanksgiving. For all you non-Canadians, those dates this year were May 22nd through October 9th. During the off-season, the brochure proclaims the Centre is open "by Chance or by Appointment." They have RV and Coach parking, a picnic area, a Railway Room and, of course, lots of Hank Snow memorabilia. And not only that, they're wonderful people and were very accommodating and of great help to me in putting this piece together. A special thanks to Tammy Roy at the Centre. After corresponding with her, I happened to bump into a wonderful lady I know who is originally from Halifax. I told her I was working on a Hank Snow article and had talked to the people in Liverpool. I asked her if all Nova Scotians were really nice people. She said, without hesitation, "Yep, they are."
Well, we know Hank Snow sure was "nice people" and we're thankful for all he gave us.
Cal Adams