Hank Harral

Harral was born in 1913 in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, but moved with his family to Amarillo in 1926. He began performing at the age of fifteen on stations KGRS and KDAG in Amarillo. He eventually had his own radio show on KGRS, where he performed with the band, the Air Sweet Boys. Harral then moved to Clovis, New Mexico, where he appeared on KICA radio and performed with the Texas Wranglers and worked as a radio announcer. In 1947 he transferred to KSEL in Lubbock, where he formed his own band, Hank Harral and the Plains Riders. The band recorded six sides in 1947. In 1948 Harral formed a new group, the Palomino Cowhands, who recorded four songs in either 1949 or 1950. Harral also became program director and radio announcer at Lubbock’s KSEL. At that time, Harral and the Palomino Cowhands made several records for both the Star Talent label and the Dutch White label. It was while he worked for KHEM in Big Spring that Harral founded Caprock Records. After he shut down Caprock in 1960, Harral continued to work on radio until his death on December 28, 1985.