Honky-Tonk Girl (Hank Thompson song)

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"Honky-Tonk Girl"
Single by Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys
A-side"Honky-Tonk Girl"
"We've Gone Too Far"
Released1954 (1954)
Recorded1954
Genrecountry
Length2:25
LabelCapitol 2823
Songwriter(s)Hank Thompson, Chuck Harding[1]
Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys singles chronology
"A Fooler, A Faker"
(1954)
"Honky-Tonk Girl"
(1954)
"We've Gone Too Far"
(1954)
Music video
"Honky-Tonk Girl" (audio only) on YouTube
"Honky-Tonk Girl"
Single by Johnny Cash
from the album Now, There Was a Song!
A-side"Honky-Tonk Girl"
"Second Honeymoon"
Released1960 (1960)
Genrecountry
LabelColumbia 4-41707
Songwriter(s)Autry Inman[2]
Music video
"Honky-Tonk Girl" (audio only) on YouTube

"Honky-Tonk Girl" is a song co-written and originally recorded by Hank Thompson.[3][2][4] Released by him on Capitol Records in 1954,[2][5] it was a nationwide country hit in the United States that year (reaching country number nine on Billboard).[6]

The song was notably covered by Johnny Cash.

Cash's version was released as a single by Columbia Records (Columbia 4-41707, with "Second Honeymoon" on the opposite side)[7][8][6][9][10] in June[11][12] or July 1960.[13]

Composition[edit]

The song evokes a barroom atmosphere.[14]

Charts[edit]

Johnny Cash version

Chart (1960) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[15] 92

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Honky-Tonk Girl / We've Gone Too Far". Discogs. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  2. ^ a b c "Johnny Cash - Second Honeymoon / Honky-Tonk Girl". Discogs. 1960. Retrieved 2019-01-20.
  3. ^ "Cover versions of Honky-Tonk Girl by Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys". SecondHandSongs. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  4. ^ Nat Shapiro; Bruce Pollock (1985-09-01). Popular music, 1920-1979: a revised cumulation. Gale Research Co. ISBN 978-0-8103-0847-3.
  5. ^ Thurston Moore (1971). The Country Music Who's who. Heather Publications.
  6. ^ a b Joel Whitburn (2007). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2006. Record Research. ISBN 978-0-89820-172-7.
  7. ^ John L. Smith (1 January 1999). Another Song to Sing: The Recorded Repertoire of Johnny Cash. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-3629-7.
  8. ^ Joel Whitburn (2002). Top Country Singles, 1944 to 2001: Chart Data Compiled from Billboard's Country Singles Charts, 1944-2001. Record Research. ISBN 978-0-89820-151-2.
    Joel Whitburn (2005). Joel Whitburn's Top Country Songs: 1944-2005, Billboard. Record Research. ISBN 978-0-89820-165-9.
  9. ^ Tim Neely (2004-05-01). Goldmine Records & Prices. Krause Publications. ISBN 978-0-87349-781-7. Second Honky-Tonk Girl Columbia 41707.
  10. ^ George Albert (1984-01-01). The Cash Box Country Singles Charts, 1958-1982. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-1685-5.
  11. ^ Peter Lewry (2001). I've Been Everywhere: A Johnny Cash Chronicle. Helter Skelter. ISBN 978-1-900924-22-1.
    June
    Both Columbia and Sun Records release singles this month – "Second Honeymoon"/"Honky Tonk Girl" (Columbia 4-41707) and "Story Of A Broken Heart"/"Down The Street To 301" (Sun 343).
  12. ^ The Johnny Cash Record Catalog. Greenwood Publishing Group. 1994. pp. 21–. ISBN 978-0-313-29506-5.
  13. ^ Steve Turner (2005-10-30). The Man Called CASH: The Life, Love and Faith of an American Legend. Thomas Nelson. pp. 245–. ISBN 978-1-4185-7809-1.
  14. ^ Country: The Music and the Musicians : from the Beginnings to the '90s. Country Music Foundation. 1994. ISBN 9781558598799. "The Wild Side of Life," a William Warren composition that was a #1 for Thompson in 1952, is probably his best-known hit. It evoked the barroom atmosphere that Thompson would return to over and over again in songs like "Honky Tonk Girl," ...
  15. ^ "Johnny Cash Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-01-25.