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'Herbert Clayton Penny' (born August 18, 1918 in Birmingham, Alabama; died April 17, 1992 in California of heart failure) was an accomplished banjo player and practitioner of western swing. He worked as a comedian best known for his backwoods character "That Plain Ol' Country Boy" on TV with Spade Cooley. He was married to country singer Sue Thompson from 1953-63.
Penny was the leader of the Radio Cowboys, which featured guitarist Julian Akins, steel guitarist Sammy Forsmark, tenor banjo player Louis Damont, bassist Carl Stewart, and vocalist, guitarist, and fiddler Sheldon Bennett in the 1930s. After World War II, Penny formed the Plantation Boys, which included fiddler Carl Stewart, guitarist/bassist Louis Innis, fiddler Zed Tennis, and lead guitarist Roy Langham.
Penny had three hits on the Billboard Country Singles chart, all of which made it to #4: two with his Painted Post Rangers "Steel Guitar Stomp" (1946) and "Get Yourself a Red Head" (1946), and his own composition "Bloodshot Eyes" (1950). A fan of jazz music, Penny recorded an early hillbilly bop record in 1950 and a jazz album in 1961.
Penny was a co-founder of the Palomino Club in Hollywood in 1949. The club was open seven days a week, and on Monday nights, after the closing time, it was "open stage" to some of the most famous jazz musicians in the country.
In 1952, Penny began hosting his own series, ''The Hank Penny Show'', which was canceled after only seven weeks.
By 1954, Penny had moved to Las Vegas, where he began a seven-year run as a performer at the Golden Nugget casino, fronting a band which included the likes of Roy Clark. Ironically, Clark would later beat out Penny for a spot on the TV musical-variety series ''Hee Haw''.
In 1978, Penny made an appearance with Peggy Conner on ''America 2-Night'' playing a country husband-and-wife singing duo called Buck and Harriet Pine.
He is the father of actress Sydney Penny and his son, Greg Penny, has produced albums for Elton John and K.D. Lang.

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External links

External links

★ http://www.seattlewesternswingmusicsociety.com/hankpenny.htm

★ http://rcs.law.emory.edu/rcs/artists/p/penn6500.htm