Biography
Born Herbert Clayton Penny on 18 August 1918 in Birmingham, Alabama, and passing away on 17 April 1992 in California, the musician drew his earliest musical guidance from his father. After a mine accident left the elder Penny disabled, he took up guitar, composed poetry, and eventually worked as a hypnotist; those pursuits sparked his son’s initial lessons on the instrument and his taste for performance. At fifteen Penny entered Hal Burns’s troupe at WAPI, where he handled banjo duties and absorbed comic material. By 1936 he had relocated to New Orleans, teaming with Lew Childre over WWL. Rejecting the Grand Ole Opry’s hillbilly style, he grew fixated on what he called Texas fiddle music—the western swing sound pioneered by Bob Wills and Milton Brown. Returning to Birmingham, he assembled the Radio Cowboys and began airing that swing repertoire first on WAPI and WKBC, then on WDOD in Chattanooga. His debut sessions for ARC, supervised by Art Satherley in 1938, captured brisk swing-jazz country numbers such as “Hesitation Blues.”
The following year Penny shifted to WSB Atlanta and the Crossroads Follies, where Boudleaux Bryant and steel guitarist Noel Boggs entered the lineup. July 1939 brought the recording of “Won’t You Ride In My Little Red Wagon,” which became his trademark piece. When the group dissolved in 1940, Penny continued alone at WSB yet cut sides with an ad-hoc ensemble in 1941. In 1942 he arrived at WLW Cincinnati, appeared on both the Boone County Jamboree and Mid-Western Hayride, and collaborated with Merle Travis and Grandpa Jones. He also led the Plantation Boys, recording for King Records in 1944. Moving to Hollywood in 1945, Penny rebuilt his own unit and worked the California ballroom circuit; later that year he assumed leadership of Deuce Spriggins’s band, settled into a long run at the Riverside Rancho, and launched programs on KXLA and KGIL. Additional King dates followed, along with appearances in four Charles Starrett B-westerns. His first Billboard country chart entries arrived in 1946—“Steel Guitar Stomp” and “Get Yourself A Redhead,” each peaking at number 4. While continuing band work, Penny supplied comic relief on ABC’s 1947 network series Roundup Time and scored another number-4 country hit in 1950 with “Bloodshot Eyes,” later covered successfully by R&B singer Wynonie Harris. He also joined Spade Cooley’s television program as a comedian yet kept a demanding dancehall schedule with the group now billed as the Penny Serenaders. Signing with RCA Victor in 1950, he employed an expanded lineup credited as Hank Penny And His California Cowhands. The next year he departed Cooley’s show to serve as comedian for the Dude Martin stage and television presentation and helped establish the Palomino Club in North Hollywood. In 1953 he married country singer Sue Thompson; around the same time he hosted his own KHJ-TV program and switched from RCA to Decca Records.
Rock ’n’ roll’s rise prompted Penny to relocate to Las Vegas in the late 1950s and fold pop material into his sets. Following a 1963 divorce, he wed vocalist Shari Bayne in 1966. (During the 1970s his former wife Thompson scored solo and duet hits with Don Gibson on Hickory Records.) Penny left Las Vegas in 1968, spent time again in California, and settled in Nashville in 1970. Finding the city and its music uncongenial, he took a disc-jockey post at KFRM in Wichita and, with his wife, performed on the local club circuit. Returning to California in 1976, he remained active, appeared in occasional films, and staged reunion concerts spotlighting 1950s television and western-swing figures such as Cliffie Stone. He suffered a fatal heart attack in 1992.
Although Penny stands among the foremost practitioners of western swing, he seldom received the attention accorded Bob Wills, Milton Brown, or Spade Cooley. Several notable country musicians—including Herb Remington, Curly Chalker, and Roy Clark—gained valuable experience during their tenures in Hank Penny’s band.
The following year Penny shifted to WSB Atlanta and the Crossroads Follies, where Boudleaux Bryant and steel guitarist Noel Boggs entered the lineup. July 1939 brought the recording of “Won’t You Ride In My Little Red Wagon,” which became his trademark piece. When the group dissolved in 1940, Penny continued alone at WSB yet cut sides with an ad-hoc ensemble in 1941. In 1942 he arrived at WLW Cincinnati, appeared on both the Boone County Jamboree and Mid-Western Hayride, and collaborated with Merle Travis and Grandpa Jones. He also led the Plantation Boys, recording for King Records in 1944. Moving to Hollywood in 1945, Penny rebuilt his own unit and worked the California ballroom circuit; later that year he assumed leadership of Deuce Spriggins’s band, settled into a long run at the Riverside Rancho, and launched programs on KXLA and KGIL. Additional King dates followed, along with appearances in four Charles Starrett B-westerns. His first Billboard country chart entries arrived in 1946—“Steel Guitar Stomp” and “Get Yourself A Redhead,” each peaking at number 4. While continuing band work, Penny supplied comic relief on ABC’s 1947 network series Roundup Time and scored another number-4 country hit in 1950 with “Bloodshot Eyes,” later covered successfully by R&B singer Wynonie Harris. He also joined Spade Cooley’s television program as a comedian yet kept a demanding dancehall schedule with the group now billed as the Penny Serenaders. Signing with RCA Victor in 1950, he employed an expanded lineup credited as Hank Penny And His California Cowhands. The next year he departed Cooley’s show to serve as comedian for the Dude Martin stage and television presentation and helped establish the Palomino Club in North Hollywood. In 1953 he married country singer Sue Thompson; around the same time he hosted his own KHJ-TV program and switched from RCA to Decca Records.
Rock ’n’ roll’s rise prompted Penny to relocate to Las Vegas in the late 1950s and fold pop material into his sets. Following a 1963 divorce, he wed vocalist Shari Bayne in 1966. (During the 1970s his former wife Thompson scored solo and duet hits with Don Gibson on Hickory Records.) Penny left Las Vegas in 1968, spent time again in California, and settled in Nashville in 1970. Finding the city and its music uncongenial, he took a disc-jockey post at KFRM in Wichita and, with his wife, performed on the local club circuit. Returning to California in 1976, he remained active, appeared in occasional films, and staged reunion concerts spotlighting 1950s television and western-swing figures such as Cliffie Stone. He suffered a fatal heart attack in 1992.
Although Penny stands among the foremost practitioners of western swing, he seldom received the attention accorded Bob Wills, Milton Brown, or Spade Cooley. Several notable country musicians—including Herb Remington, Curly Chalker, and Roy Clark—gained valuable experience during their tenures in Hank Penny’s band.