Hank Penny - The King of Hillbilly Bebop

Big Band Swing on a hillbilly budget

One chilly Saturday May morning last year at Hobart's Salamanca Market, I picked up a 2-CD set called Hank Penny – The King of Hill Billy Bebop. Just got around to having a decent listen to it and it is thigh-slappingly brilliant!

Hank Penny is not as well known as he might’ve or should've been. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1918, his career began around 1935. He had many bands and in-between stints as a radio DJ. His band line-up at various stages included the likes of Merle Travis, Roy Clark, and legendary steel player Speedy West.

Hank Penny was one of those genre-defying artists – hence the Hillbilly Bebop. His style ranged from folksy hillbilly through Western Swing to big band music in the style of Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Big Band Swing on a hillbilly budget. He sang like Sinatra or Dean Martin, although the lyrics were often raunchy and misogynistic, full of novelty and double entendre. Some are hilarious, some are just plain scary. Despite the borderline-insane lyrics and odd titles, though, the calibre of the playing is what shines through on these songs.

There’s some clarinet and trumpet in there, but the brass section was often handled by the steel player and a really cool accordion player. The rhythm section is hot and tight, the fiddling is gypsy jazz, and the guitar sizzling.

They must have put on one heck of show in the dance halls of wartime America and the early 50s. Some of his songs anticipate the arrival of rockabilly and rock and roll. Woulda been something to see and hear.

Hank more or less retired in the 60s, continuing for a while with some DJ work, and passed way in 1992. A history of American country music would be incomplete without including Hank Penny. Have a listen when you can. The accompanying mp3 has two tracks – Blood Shot Eyes and Hillbilly Be-Bop.