- Was hugely influenced by jazz guitar great Wes Montgomery.
- Elvis Presley gave Hank the ukulele that he used in the film "Blue Hawaii" (1960) and etched his initials "EP" into the ukulele. Hank toured and played with Elvis during this period and Elvis recorded as saying Hank, "is one of the finest guitar players in all of the country."
- Play guitar on and arranged Bobby Helms' famous holiday classic, "Jingle Bell Rock".
- Was driving a 1959 Chevrolet Impala station wagon at the time of a suspicious career ending accident.
- Inducted into the Hollywood Rock Walk of fame on September 26, 1997 with the official ceremony being August 16, 1997. The rock walk is located in front of the Guitar Center on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Hank's hand-prints, as well as many other famous musicians are permanently pressed in cement on the Rock Walk.
- In 1974 the Garland family embarked in a joint movie contract with a production company in an effort to expose the truth around Hank Garland's accident and tell his life story as chronicled by his brother and long time confidant, Billy Garland. The production never came to fruition. The film was to have begun shooting in the fall of 1979, was titled "Sugarfoot Rag" and was to star Jerry Reed as Hank "Sugarfoot" Garland.
- Played guitar on most of the biggest hits to come out of Nashville in the 1950s with Roy Orbison, The Everly Brothers, Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley and Don Gibson to name a few.
- Played guitar on Webb Pierce's famous hit song, "In the Jailhouse Now" which was number 1 on the charts for 21 weeks in a row in 1955. He also played guitar on Elvis Presley's song "Hound Dog" which was the number 1 on the country, pop, and R&B charts in 1956.
- His guitar playing can be heard on two of the most requested classic Christmas songs of all time, "Jingle Bell Rock," and "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree." The the four and number seventh most requested Christmas songs respectively.
- After a long absence in the recording business, Johnny Cash brought him in to record some new material to help restart Hank's career. These songs were never released.
- Gave famous vibe's player, Gary Burton, one of his first recording jobs on the album, "Jazz Winds From A New Direction."
- Recorded the song, Steamboat Stomp, with Eddie Hill in the 1950s
- Eric Clapton owned and played a Gibson Byrdland guitar designed by Garland and Billy Byrd.
- Rockstar Ted Nugent plays a Gibson Byrdland guitar that was designed by Garland and Billy Byrd.
- In 1955 music producer and pedal steel guitar player, Don Davis, joined with Garland and Shot Jackson to design and build 10 custom pedal steel guitars. They were among the first pedal steel guitars ever constructed.
- He played, toured and recorded with Elvis Presley from 1957 to 1961.
- John 5 (a.k.a John Lowery) formerly of Marilyn Manson covered the song "Sugarfoot Rag", for his solo album.
- Was a huge influence on country guitar singer/guitar player Junior Brown and they were also close friends. Junior Brown covered Garland's song "Sugarfoot Rag" on his album, "Guit With It" (1993).
- He recorded with Don Gibson on some of his biggest country hits including, "Oh, Lonesome me", "Blue Blue Day" and "Sea Of Heartbreak".
- Paul Mason Howard discovered him, then age 14 years old, in a local music store in South Carolina. He impressed Howard so much that and he let him play a boogie-woogie tune with his band at the Grand Ole Opry. The audience loved the young Hank Garland, and Howard invited him to join his Arkansas Cotton Pickers, billing him as "The Baby Cotton Picker." The work was interrupted by child labor laws, but when he turned 16, he rejoined the band and also played with the Cowboy Copas.
- Played guitar on Elvis Presley's #1 hits: A fool such as I, Stuck on you, A big hunk O' love, It's now or never, Are you lonesome tonight, Surrender, His Latest Flame, Can't help falling in love, Crying in the Chapel.
- Recorded with Jerry Lee Lewis in the 1950's.
- Recorded with Charlie Louvin and Ira Louvin during their days as "The Louvin Brothers".
- Musician George Benson dedicated a 1992 show at the Florida Theatre to Hank.
- Jazz guitarist James Blood Ulmer plays a Gibson Byrdland guitar designed by Garland and Billy Byrd.
- Actor/musician Roy Clark played a Gibson Byrdland guitar designed by Garland and Billy Byrd.
- Hank was contractually obligated to play strictly country music in Nashville. While performing in New York, he was offered a deal that he could not refuse. Records indicate that he played Jazz and recorded under an alias (Dick Garcia).
- In the late 1940s he recorded the song "I Got a Hole In My Pocket" with Little Jimmy Dickens.
- Recorded with Country singer/songwriter Hank Snow.
- Recorded guitar on Jerry Lee Lewis' song "What'd I Say".
- Recorded guitar on Ronnie Self's rendition of "Bop-A-Lena".
- Recorded guitar on the hit song "Flip Out", by Bill Brown.
- Recorded guitar on Wayne Walker's hit song "Bo-Bo Ska Diddle Daddle".
- Recorded with country musician Stonewall Jackson.
- Brad Paisley, a guitarist and contemporary country hit-maker received a Grammy nomination for his version of Hank's, "Sugarfoot Rag".
- Worked with Sonny Osborne and Bobby Osborne on some of the first Osborne Brothers MGM recordings that utilized electric instrumentation.
- Hank Garland played closed chord 'sock' rhythm guitar on many of Mac Wiseman's Dot recordings in addition to playing mandolin on several as well. Garland would also play some electric lead guitar on Wiseman's recordings.
- Recorded guitar on Elvis Presley's "Little Sister," and "I Need Your Love Tonight."
- Appeared and performed with The Gordonaires on television on the The Eddy Arnold Show (1956).
- Recorded guitar on Leroy VanDyke's famous song "Walk On By".
- Along with Floyd Cramer and The Jordanaires, recorded the two hit singles, "I've Got the Blues" and "Why Must You Leave Me," with rockabilly pioneer Vernon Taylor.
- Recorded with Pop/Country star Rusty Draper.
- Recorded with Patsy Cline in late 1950s to early 1960s in sessions that produced the songs: "I'm Moving Along", "I'm Blue Again", "Love, Love, Love Me Honey Do", "That Wonderful Someone", "(Write Me) In Care of the lies", "Hungry For Love, I Can't Forget You", "I Don't Wanta", "Ain't No Wheels On This Ship", "Yes, I Understand", "Gotta Lot of Rhythm In My Soul", "Life's Railway To Heaven", "Just A Closer Walk With Thee", "Lovesick Blues", "How Can I Face Tomorrow", "There He Goes", and "Crazy Dreams".
- In the late 1950s recorded with Country/Rockabilly singer/songwriter Roy Duke. These recordings produced Duke's quintessential classic "Be-Have, Be-Quit Or Begone", and also produced the songs, "Honesty", "Honky Tonk Queen", "From Midnight Till Dawn", "Good Morning World", "It's Been The Talk All Over Town", "Behave Yourself", "I Mean I'm Mean", "From Now On", and "Hard Hearted Mama". The songs were released on Decca and Reject record labels.
- In 1949, Owen Bradley and his boss Paul Cohen began using Garland on Decca recording sessions, and Cohen signed him to Decca as a singer-guitarist. The singing was a mistake. His vocals were mediocre, his instrumentals far better. In 1949 Garland recorded an original instrumental "Sugarfoot Rag." Red Foley recorded it with lyrics later that year, Garland again playing the guitar solo and receiving billing. When the record became a huge hit for Foley, it earned Garland recognition and a nickname. Though Garland's own Decca recordings didn't sell, they included outstanding instrumentals.
- Performed with Nancy Whiskey and Chas McDevitt and His Skiffle Group (Marc Sharratt, Billy Mure, Sandy Block and McDevitt) on Ed Sullivan's The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) in June 1957.
- Recorded and appeared on TV with country singer/songwriter/actor Faron Young.
- Recorded with Nancy Whiskey and performed with her on the Ed Sullivan Show, June 30th, 1957.
- Recorded in 1958 on Huelyn Duvall's "Juliet", "Three Months To Kill" and "Little Boy Blue". In the early 1980's Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin stated that he and Jimmy Page used to listen to "Three Months To Kill" to gain musical inspiration.
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