The Galaxy Playlist

January 3rd, 2005

Starting the New Year Off Right!

Remembering Hank Garland

Tonight, among other things, we are paying tribute to the life and work of the great guitarist Hank Garland, who died last week. His name might not be the most familiar one, but he participated in a significant number of classic country and rock songs which influenced countless artists since he first was spotted in a music store in his hometown of Cowpens, SC. He played with the brightest lights of the country landscape of the 1950s, and he took part in the creation of rock and roll music, playing with Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, The Everly Brothers, among others. Then he took a step further and started playing jazz, playing with Charlie Parker and gigging at the Newport Jazz Festival (a recording of that can be found for those who look hard enough). His active career was cut short by a car accident in 1961, at the height of a career that was in the process of truly taking flight.

It should be noted that, as he spent the vast majority of his career as a sideman for various artists (a common thing in country music, to this day), it can be quite difficult to figure out exactly what songs he played on. Most of my resources list albums and collections where his work can be found, but are sadly berift of specifics. So you will forgive me if I have to make a few educated guesses - I never claimed to be perfect, you know.

We are also paying tribute to Darrell Abbott, commonly known as Diamond Darrell, formerly the guitarist for Pantera and lately of his own band, Damageplan. The shocking news of his untimely death has impacted the whole of the rock music world, and leaves us with the loss of a man whose work helped make the world safer for heavy guitar music in the '90s.