Records and Roots: 'I'm Moving On' brought Hank Snow to country stardom

Hank Snow carved his own bronze bust into country music immortality with the opening lines: "That big eight-wheeler rollin' down the track means your true lovin' daddy ain't comin' back."Thus began "I'm Moving On." Thus commenced the long and illustrious career of Hank Snow.By early 1950, Snow needed a hit. Bad. For years, the native Canadian had tried to make inroads along a route that would lead him to Nashville's Grand Ole Opry and mainstream acceptance as a country singer.By August 1950, Hank Snow was firmly ensconced as country music's latest zenith rising.Influenced primarily by Jimmie Rodgers and Canadian cowboy singer Wilf Carter, Snow adopted the moniker of The Yodeling Ranger through much of the 1940s. Snow traveled throughout Canada and ventured south to the states on tour. His show encompassed country as well as cowboy music. Not only that, Snow brought his horse, Shawnee. He would ride the horse during a portion of his concert appearances while performing a variety of dazzling feats.And the public by and large enjoyed his shows, but record sales did not add up to much.During the late 1940s, Snow was, for a time, on Dallas' Big D Jamboree. Performed for a live audience and broadcast over radio station KRLD, the show was one of many during the era that echoed its King Kong counterpart, WSM's Grand Ole Opry, in Nashville.A newfound friendship with Ernest Tubb proved providential for Snow. Tubb, then and for decades thereafter, had a reputation for helping deserving singers and musicians get a shot in Nashville. Tubb invited Snow to appear on the Grand Ole Opry.Hank Snow made his Opry debut on Jan. 7, 1950. Just a week earlier, Snow's ballad "Marriage Vow" debuted on Billboard's country singles chart. It eventually peaked at No. 10, which was most likely aided by Snow's enormous exposure during his debut on the Opry.But little happened in terms of successful records. Essentially, Snow was in search of a style as much as he was longing for a song, the song to bridge him over to star status.Then came a recording session on the night of March 28, 1950. Snow on vocals and lead acoustic guitar led a band that included Joe Talbot on steel guitar, Ernie Newton on upright bass and Tommy Vaden on fiddle. Assembled in Nashville, between the hours of 7 and 10 p.m., they recorded four songs, the fourth of which was a Snow original, "I'm Moving On."Well, hello to the Southland and beyond came one Clarence "Hank" Snow.Released in May 1950, Snow's fiddle-heavy breakup song debuted on Billboard's country singles chart on July 1, 1950. The quick-paced train song, which features Talbot's trainlike moan on steel and Vaden's clickety-clacking fiddle, struck No. 1 on Aug. 19, 1950.One week later, Red Foley and Ernest Tubb's "Goodnight Irene" displaced "I'm Moving On" for three weeks. However, the song that became Snow's signature song returned to No. 1, where it stayed until two days before Christmas 1950.Talk about a golden rocket. To the moon went Snow's career.All told, Hank Snow's "I'm Moving On" lodged an astounding 21 weeks at No. 1, a record that stood for six decades. Consequently, the song firmly cemented his place as a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Additionally, it established a bit of a new course in style for Snow, one that made ample use of speedy songs, many of them about trains.Indeed, Snow's immediate follow-up to "I'm Moving On," was another steam-rolling fast freight trainer titled "The Golden Rocket." Sounds fast, doesn't it? Recorded Aug. 21, 1950, just two days after "I'm Moving On" hit the top spot, Snow's "The Golden Rocket" engineered its way to No. 1 on Jan. 6, 1951.Snow's vocal style, as distinctively unique as a whip-poor-will's cry, earmarked the era. Country singers, including the high-toned Webb Pierce to the cigarettes-and-late-nights baritone of Ernest Tubb, were expected to exude their own style. They had to stand out. Few if anyone in country music history owned a voice that stood out more remarkably than that of Hank Snow.In all, Snow recorded seven No. 1 songs. His last, "Hello Love," charted in 1974. Long since known as The Singing Ranger, Snow lived his final years at his beloved Rainbow Ranch in Madison, Tennessee, a home bought with royalties earned from "I'm Moving On."Elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1979, Snow died on Dec. 20, 1999.