Country, rock and jazz guitarist Hank Garland, who performed with Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Patsy Cline, Charlie Parker and many others, died of a staph infection in Orange Park, Fla. Dec. 27. He was 74.

In the 1950s and ’60s, Walter “Hank” Garland was the talk of Nashville, known for musical riffs that could take a recording from humdrum to dazzling, as he did on Elvis hits like “Little Sister” and “Big Hunk of Love.”


He had his first million-selling hit at 19 with “Sugar Foot Rag,” a famous country tune.

In addition to performing with Elvis and other stars in Nashville, Garland was at the forefront of the rock ‘n’ roll movement, enjoyed a prestigious career as a country virtuoso, pioneered the electric guitar at the Grand Ole Opry and inspired jazz instrumentalists such as George Benson. He jammed in New York City with George Shearing and jazz great Charlie Parker.

His detailed session logbook reads like a “Who’s Who” of the stars of country music, including Brenda Lee, Mel Tillis, Marty Robbins, Boots Randolph, Conway Twitty, Hank Williams Sr.

Garland worked with Elvis from 1957 to 1961, and was playing on the soundtrack for his movie “Follow That Dream” in 1961 when a car crash put him in a coma for months.


Billy Garland claims the crash was no accident, that it was an attempted killing by someone in the Nashville record scene.


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