Henson Cargill

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Henson Cargill (February 5, 1941 – March 24, 2007) was a country music singer best known for the 1968 #1 hit, "Skip a Rope".

Career

Henson's career started in his home state of Oklahoma, performing at clubs around Oklahoma City and Tulsa. His family was active in politics and raised buffalo on a ranch outside Oklahoma City. His grandfather, O. A. Cargill served on the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Henson and his highschool sweetheart and young bride, Marta, moved to Fort Collins, Colorado early in the 60s, where Henson studied pre-law. After deciding this was not his calling, they returned to Oklahoma City where Henson was Deputy Sheriff. His friend and fellow musician Johnny Johnson came by to see him on the late shift one night and told him of a seasoned and professional vocal group he had been recording with. Henson began recording locally at the Sully Studios with the Kimberleys as backup. They began to tour together all over the west. Henson had spent a lot of time trying to figure out the best way to make his talent work for him. In the mid 1960s, Henson went to Nashville and was fortunate to have Don Law agree to produce "Skip A Rope". Henson released his album on the Monument Label [1967]and immediately scored in a big way with this first release. The song became a huge hit, spending five weeks at Number 1 on the country charts in 1968 and also making the Top 25 on the Pop charts. This generated much media attention and he was in demand on TV Shows from Mike Douglas to the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

After "Skip a Rope" & later career

After "Skip a Rope", Cargill continued to have Top 20 hits with such songs as "Row Row Row" (1968), "None Of My Business" (his only other Top 10) (1969), and "The Most Uncomplicated Goodbye I Ever Heard" (1970). Later, he had a television show, Country Hayride, and performed for many years in Reno and Las Vegas. Johnny Cash was godfather to his oldest son, Cash.

After leaving Monument Records, Henson moved to Mega Records in 1971, where he scored several minor hits.

In 1973, he made a strong comeback to the charts when he signed with Atlantic Records and scored 2 Top 30 hits in 1974 with "Some Old California Memory" and a version of Mac Davis' hit song "Stop and Smell the Roses". In 1980, he formed his own record label Copper Mountain Records and he scored his last Top 30 hit that year with "Silence On The Line".

On September 8, 1988, Cargill wed Sharon Simms in Oklahoma City, OK.

Death

In the late 1980s he retired to Oklahoma City, and died on March 24, 2007, aged 66, during surgery.^[1]

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

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