Hank Wangford
Encyclopedia
Hank Wangford is a distinguished English country and western songwriter. Hank Wangford is the stage name of Dr. Samuel Hutt, (b.1940). His music is notable for its humour and cheerful irony, and occasional excursions into biting political undercurrent.
Hank is a good smoke screen. He can do things I can't do. He's my clown, says Dr. Hutt, who has been struggling to balance his musical and medical interests ever since medical school at Cambridge University. His 1960's practice in a drug-addiction centre brought him into contact with a lot of rockers and modest renown as London's long-haired, rock-and-roll doctor. If The Who had a first night, the tickets would be sent. I actually had more of an identity crisis with that than with Hank, because Hank is a fool. I quite like him. Dr. Sam was definitely threatening to become a monster.

The Hank Wangford Band

A chance meeting with former Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...

 member Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work within the country genre; he also mixed blues, folk, and rock to create what he called "Cosmic American Music"...

, who played him the song "You're Still on My Mind" (from the album Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Sweetheart of the Rodeo is the sixth album by American rock band The Byrds and was released on August 30, 1968 on Columbia Records...

), led him to country music.

Although his first recordings in the Hank Wangford guise were made with a group of leading session musicians, he now works with a group - The Hank Wangford Band. There have been at least four incarnations of the band, and a significant feature of the various lineups has been the number of high quality musicians who have appeared with him.

A common feature of the early bands was the ever present stage humour, including frequent references to "our recent 1982 country and western tour of Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

" along with mention of the shows being sponsored by Sincere Products "the makers of the only genuine reproduction Hank Wangford products". One of their standard lines to the audience (especially when selling band souvenirs from the stage) is "We urge you good people to patronise us the way we are going to go on patronising you."

In earlier years, the band usually closed the show with the theme song "Jogging with Jesus" which celebrated the delights of Clissold Park
Clissold Park
Clissold Park is a community park in Stoke Newington within the London Borough of Hackney. Facilities include a children's playground, sports fields, a bowling green, tennis courts, a cafe and some animal attractions including terrapins in its lakes...

 (and its pond).

The second incarnation of the Hank Wangford Band included Amos Avaczyk-Daley (bass) (aka Gary Taylor), Milton Keynes alias Billy Three-Knees, a genuine Prawnee Indian (drums) (aka Howard Tibble), Brad Breath (lead - pronounced as in the metal - guitar) (aka Andy Roberts
Andy Roberts
Anderson Montgomery Everton "Andy" Roberts is a former West Indian cricketer. He was an excellent fast bowler, twice taking seven wickets in an innings of a Test match...

), Irma Cetas (vocalist) (aka Melanie Harrold), and Manly Footwear (pedal steel guitar) (aka B. J. Cole
B. J. Cole
Brian John Cole is an English pedal steel guitarist. Coming to prominence in the early 1970s with the band Cochise, Cole has played in many styles of music, ranging from mainstream pop and rock, to jazz and eclectic experimental music.He played and is heavily featured with Deke Leonard's Help...

). This lineup broke up in 1984 after appearing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe although Andy Roberts, B. J. Cole and Melanie Harrold have occasionally returned to play live dates with Hank. B.J. and Melanie most recently being featured in the 5th October 2007 show at the Half Moon, Putney
The Half Moon (music venue)
The Half Moon, Putney is a London music venue in London. Providing a stage for different kinds of music, it became a major venue for many name performers and bands, offering both lunchtime and evening performances...

.

Boeing Duveen, another one of Sam Hutt's alter egos, has recently uploaded two clips of video on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

 showing this band at its best, appearing at the 1982 Cambridge Folk Festival
Cambridge Folk Festival
The Cambridge Folk Festival is an annual music festival held on the site of Cherry Hinton Hall in Cherry Hinton, one of the villages subsumed by the city of Cambridge, England. The festival is renowned for its eclectic mix of music and a wide definition of what might be considered folk. It occurs...

.

A third version of the band took a more rock oriented approach to country music with a complete change in personnel. Joining the band were Cissy Footwear (vocals) (aka Kathy O'Donoghue), Bobby Valentino
Bobby Valentino (UK)
Bobby Valentino is an English violinist, singer, songwriter and actor.-Career:Born in Chatham, Kent, he adopted the stage name Bobby Valentino in 1975...

 (fiddle and vocals), Jett Atkins (guitar) (aka Mick Dyche
Mick Dyche
Mick Dyche is an English rock and folk guitarist and former member of 1970's soft rock band Sniff 'n' the Tears who played guitars on their only major hit Driver's Seat in 1978....

), George Hamilton VI (bass) (aka Richie Robertson) and Big Mac (drums) (aka Alan Coulter). After George Hamilton VI left the band, the role of bass player was taken over by Cherry Red Footwear (aka Clare Kenny
Clare Kenny
Clare Kenny is a British musician who has been bassist for a number of groups from the 1980s to the present day, including:* Amazulu* Shakespears Sister* Orange Juice* Coming up Roses* Indigo Girls* Sinéad O'Connor* Damien Dempsey* Andrea Corr...

).

Sam's family background is radical: his father Allen (a journalist and expert on the history of printing) was a lifelong Communist. During the NUM miners strike
UK miners' strike (1984–1985)
The UK miners' strike was a major industrial action affecting the British coal industry. It was a defining moment in British industrial relations, and its defeat significantly weakened the British trades union movement...

 in 1984/85, the Hank Wangford Band toured extensively with Billy Bragg
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...

 and the Frank Chickens
Frank Chickens
Frank Chickens are a female Japanese musical group based in London, who have performed songs mainly in English from 1982.Founder members of Frank Chickens were Kazuko Hohki and Kazumi Taguchi. Taguchi was later replaced by Atsuko Kamura and then Chika Nakagawa and others in the 1990s...

 as 'Hank, Frank and Billy' performing at trade union benefit and anti-racist gigs. It was during such a benefit for the Greater London Council
Greater London Council
The Greater London Council was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council which had covered a much smaller area...

 (GLC) in 1984 that Hank and the band were attacked on stage by a group of right wing skinheads, an event that has been immortalised in the song "On The Line".

The 1984 Edinburgh Festival Fringe saw the Hank and the Wangfords achieve fame (if not fortune) with their show being nominated for the Perrier Award. Fringe Sunday also saw the importation to Edinburgh of the sport of cow-pat flinging. Unfortunately, this required hard cow-pats as an essential part of the process. BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

 DJ Andy Kershaw
Andy Kershaw
Andy Kershaw is a British broadcaster, known for his interest in world music.His shows feature a mix of country, blues, reggae, folk music, spoken word performance from the likes of Ivor Cutler, and other music from around the world.- Early Life :Kershaw and his sister, fellow broadcaster Liz...

 had to put out an appeal for cow-pats which later had to be dried in a microwave oven for them to work successfully.

Hank Wangford and The Lost Cowboys

Hank currently tours and plays as "Hank Wangford and The Lost Cowboys". This is a return to a more folk and country oriented approach and the current lineup is Hank with Reg Meuross
Reg Meuross
Reg Meuross is a notable English singer and songwriter based in Somerset, England.First emerging onto the British acoustic music scene when he formed The Panic Brothers withcomedian, Richard Morton, their witty songs and warm demeanour wowed many an audience...

 (vocals, banjo and guitar), Martin Belmont
Martin Belmont
Martin Belmont is a rock 'n' roll and country-blues guitarist.After working as a roadie for Brinsley Schwarz, in 1972 he formed Ducks Deluxe, issuing two albums on RCA...

 (guitar and six stringed bass), Kevin Foster (bass) and Roy Dodds
Roy Dodds
Captain Roy Edward Dodds was a World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories.-Reference:...

 (drums). During 2008 B. J. Cole
B. J. Cole
Brian John Cole is an English pedal steel guitarist. Coming to prominence in the early 1970s with the band Cochise, Cole has played in many styles of music, ranging from mainstream pop and rock, to jazz and eclectic experimental music.He played and is heavily featured with Deke Leonard's Help...

 has appeared with the band on a number of occasions, due to the inadvertent clashing of dates of solo performances by Reg Meuross, and this arrangement looks likely to continue, although Reg will play with the band from time to time.

Recent set lists have contained a mixture of songs written by Hank or Reg along with a selection of cover versions of classic country songs.

In 2008 Hank completed a new album Whistling In The Dark with the Lost Cowboys and his old friend and colleague B.J. Cole who was "Manley Footwear" in the early '80s incarnation of the band and producer of Hank's first two albums. Cole is the UK's greatest pedal steel and dobro player and has added a new dimension to Hank's recorded work.

No Hall Too Small

Hank has also toured with Reg Meuross on the 'No Hall Too Small' tour of village halls throughout the UK as part of the Arts Council
Arts council
An arts council is a government or private, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing events at home and abroad...

 funded National Rural Touring Forum. Hank and Reg were involved in a major road accident following a short tour of village halls in Scotland at the beginning of September 2007 when Reg's car was clipped by a speeding motor cycle causing the car to lose control. It then hit rocks either side of the highway resulting in the car to roll over a number of times before eventually landing in a peat bog. Apart from severe shock neither musician suffered any injury, thanks to the car being filled with the PA system and equipment flight cases which kept the structural integrity of the car intact thus stopping Hank and Reg from being crushed. The motor cyclist managed to retain control after the collision and didn't stop.

By the middle of May 2009 Hank and Reg had played over 230 village hall shows. Hank is currently writing a book based on his experiences of the 'No Hall Too Small' tour.

In early 2010 Hank announced that 'Brad Breath' Andy Roberts
Andy Roberts
Anderson Montgomery Everton "Andy" Roberts is a former West Indian cricketer. He was an excellent fast bowler, twice taking seven wickets in an innings of a Test match...

 would be joining him and replacing Reg on future village hall dates.

Medical career

Dr. Hutt works as a family planning
Family planning
Family planning is the planning of when to have children, and the use of birth control and other techniques to implement such plans. Other techniques commonly used include sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counseling and...

 doctor
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

 for the NHS
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...

. After the fall and execution of Nicolae Ceauşescu
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...

, he has spent a lot of time in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

 helping to set up a family planning infrastructure, including training nurses and doctors in prescribing contraception. Ceauşescu had discouraged family planning in an attempt to increase the population of Romania. Many infants were abandoned in orphanages as a result of this policy.

Writing career

Hank writes an occasional series of travel articles

for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

 newspaper and is president of the 'Nude Mountaineering Society'.

Band name

The name "Hank Wangford" is amusing to British ears since it suggests the English slang word wank
Masturbation
Masturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...

. This was emphasised by the name the band some times gave themselves- 'Hank Wangford and the Hankerers - featuring The Jodrelles'. Jodrelles is from Jodrell Bank
Jodrell Bank
The Jodrell Bank Observatory is a British observatory that hosts a number of radio telescopes, and is part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester...

, Jodrell being rhyming slang for 'wank'.

Trivia

  • Sam Hutt's first song writing credit appears to have been on a 1965 single on the Fontana label by the actress Sarah Miles
    Sarah Miles
    -Early life and career:Sarah Miles was born in the small town of Ingatestone, Essex, in South East England.She first attended Roedean but at the age of 15 she enrolled at RADA, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art...

    .

  • In 1968 Sam Hutt under the name Boeing Duveen & The Beautiful Soup released a single on the Parlophone 'Jaberwock c/w Which Dreamed It'. In later years the single frequently appeared in the top 100 psychedelic tracks of all times and a copy of the single in the extremely rare picture sleeve has changed hands for over £720.

  • The Hank Wangford Band once achieved prime time BBC television exposure by appearing on The Little and Large Show
    Little and Large
    Little and Large were a British comedy double act comprising straight man Syd Little and comic Eddie Large . They formed their partnership in 1962, appearing as singers in local pubs around the North-West of England...

    .
  • Jake Burns
    Jake Burns
    Jake Burns is a singer and guitarist, and is best known as the frontman of Stiff Little Fingers.-Career:...

    's father was a Hank Wangford fan.

Discography

  • Hank Wangford, Cow Pie Records (COW 1), 1980
  • Hank Wangford - Wild Thing c/w All I Want, Cow Pie Records (PIE001), 1980 (7")
  • Hank Wangford - Cowboys Stay On Longer c/w Whisky On My Guitar, Cow Pie Records (PIE002), 1980 (7")
  • Hank Wangford - Cowboys Stay On Longer c/w Whisky On My Guitar, WEA (K18712), 1980 (7")
  • The Hank Wangford Band Live, Cow Pie Records (COW 2), 1982
  • The Hank Wangford Band, Rodeo Radio, Situation Two
    Situation Two
    Situation Two, aka Situation 2, was a record label created in 1981 by Peter Kent as an offshoot of the larger Beggars Banquet label. At the time, Beggars Banquet records were distributed by WEA Records; so, to appeal to the indie audience and to get releases into the indie charts, the Situation Two...

    (SITU 16), 1985
  • The Hank Wangford Band, Cowboys Stay On Longer, Sincere Sounds (Honky 1X), 1987 (12")
  • The Hank Wangford Band, Cowboys Stay On Longer, Sincere Sounds (Honky 1A-DJ), 1987 (7")


CD's
  • Hank Wangford - Cowboys Stay On Longer, Reissue Albums One and Two, Sincere Sounds, 2001
  • Hank Wangford - Stormy Horizons, Sincere Sounds, 1990
  • Hank Wangford & The Lost Cowboys - Hard Shoulder To Cry On, Live Album Sincere Sounds, 1993
  • Hank Wangford & The Lost Cowboys - Wake Up Dead, Sincere Sounds, 1997
  • Hank Wangford & The Lost Cowboys - Best Foot Forward, Sincere Sounds, 2003
  • Hank Wangford & The Lost Cowboys - Whistling In The Dark, Sincere Sounds, 2008


Cassettes
  • The Hank Wangford Band Bumper Box, Cow Pie Records (CCP1), 1981
  • The Hank Wangford Band - Rootin' Tootin' Santa Claus, Cow Pie Records (CCP2), 1982

External links

  • http://www.hankwangford.com
  • http://www.andyrobertsmusic.com/h_wang.html
  • http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp68936
  • http://www.nrtf.org.uk/
  • http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/another-country-why-everything-you-thought-you-knew-about-cowboy-music-is-wrong-1913493.html
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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