Esco Hankins Born:  January 1, 1924 Died:  November 18, 1990 Kentucky Mountain Barn Dance WWVA Original Jamboree WIBK Knoxville, TN WKLX Bowling Green, KY WLAP Lexington, KY WROL Knoxville, TN

About The Artist East Tennessee native Esco Hankins is best remembered for having a vocal style not unlike that of Roy Acuff. Although his early recording career was based largely on doing covers of Acuff numbers for King Record, there was actually much more to his career than that. Like the "King of Country Music," Esco hailed from Maynardville, Tennessee and began his radio work in Knoxville via station WROL often under the sponsorship of legendary supermarket owner Cas Walker. While most of his early records were of Acuff songs, his King offerings also included his best-known original "Mother Left Me Her Bible." After several years in Knoxville, Hankins relocated to Lexington where he worked radio and recorded numbers for Mercury in 1951, most notably "I'm Praying for the Day Peace Will Come," a Hank Williams composition sold to Pee Wee King that Williams never recorded. Continuing to live in Lexington for the remainder of his life, Hankins recorded a sacred album for the small REM label in the early sixties. A little later, Hankins joined the WWVA Jamboree and signed with Columbia and recorded several singles most notable a trucker song "Johnny Overload." By this time, Esco's wife Jackie often appeared with him on stage as a duet partner. However, none of his efforts attained hit status and Esco thereafter confined his personal appearances to mostly churches in the Lexington area. He and Jackie recorded four sacred albums on the Jewel label. The couple maintained a close connection with the Gospel Tabernacle on Versailles Road. In those years, he often worked weekdays in a used car lot while Jackie ran the Esco Hankins Record Shop in downtown Lexington. In 1982, he appeared at the Knoxville World's Fair as one of East Tennessee Country Radio Pioneers. Credits & Sources Hillbilly-Music.com would like to express its thanks to Ivan M. Tribe, author of Mountaineer Jamboree — Country Music in West Virginia and other books that can be found on Amazon.com and numerous articles in other publications for providing us with information about this artist. Get The Music British Archives of Country Music

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Recordings (78rpm/45rpm)   Briar Rec. No. Side Song Title   144 A Someone Wants Her   144 B Little Ring Of Gold   Columbia Rec. No. Side Song Title   42822 A Ten Thousand Times   42822 B Another Band   43142 A What About You   43142 B Empty Tomorrows   43309 A Bad Girl   43309 B Johnny Overload   43446 A I'm Gone Again   43446 B In Shackles And Chains   Federal Rec. No. Side Song Title   10029 A I'll Love You As Long As I Live   10029 B What Else Can I Do   King Rec. No. Side Song Title   648 A The Precious Jewel   648 B I'm Building A Home   649 A What Good Will It Do   649 B Glory Bound Train   650 A Fire Ball Mail   650 B The Rising Sun   651 A Wreck On The Highway   651 B No One Will Ever Know   653 A Branded Wherever I Go   653 B Title Unknown   654 A Streamlined Cannonball   654 B Title Unknown   655 A Low And Lonely   655 B Waiting For My Call To Glory   730 A Daddy's Lullaby   730 B Sweeter Than The Flowers   757 A Longing For You To Come Home   757 B Mother Left Me Her Bible   Sims Rec. No. Side Song Title   119 A God Threw Away The Pattern   119 B Oh, So Afraid