Hank Wangford

Hank Wangford
Background information
Birth name Samuel Hutt
Born (1940-11-15) 15 November 1940
Wangford, Suffolk, England
Genres Country & Western
Occupation(s) Physician, Musician
Instruments Guitar
Years active 1976–present
Labels Cow Pie Records, Sincere Sounds, Charisma Records, Situation Two
Website http://www.hankwangford.com

Samuel Hutt, known by the stage name Hank Wangford (born 15 November 1940), is an English country and western songwriter.

"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 1960s practice in a drug-addiction centre brought him into contact with a lot of rockers and wide renown as London's long-haired, rock-and-roll doctor, and later a television series. "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."[1]

Early and personal life

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 in 1984/85, the Hank Wangford Band toured extensively with Billy Bragg and the Frank Chickens 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 (GLC) in 1984 that Hank and the band were attacked on stage by a group of right-wing skinheads,[2] an event that has been immortalised in the song "On The Line".

The Hank Wangford Band

A chance meeting with former Byrds member Gram Parsons,[3] who played him the song "You're Still on My Mind" (from the album Sweetheart of the Rodeo), led him to country music.

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 DJ Andy Kershaw had to put out an appeal for cow-pats[4] which later had to be dried in a microwave oven for them to work successfully.[5]

Hank's setlist

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-funded National Rural Touring Forum (NRTF).[6]

Writing career

Hank writes an occasional series of travel articles[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] for The Guardian newspaper and is president of the "Nude Mountaineering Society".[15]

Discography

CD's
Cassettes

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Howell Raines, "LONDON; A Singing Doctor Works the Land Between Ridicule And Reverence for Nashville", New York Times, 6 March 1988.
  2. ↑ "The Hank Wangford Band". Bobby Valentino. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
  3. ↑ "Hank Wangford". Gram Parsons Project. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
  4. ↑ Mark Borkowski (2001-07-30). "Weird is not enough | Culture". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
  5. ↑ Mark Borkowski (2004-08-10). "PR stunts: an expert's guide | Media". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
  6. ↑ "Home". NRTF. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
  7. ↑ "At the end of the world | Travel". London: The Guardian. 22 November 2006. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
  8. ↑ Hank Wangford (22 November 2006). "A splash of Grenadines | Travel". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
  9. ↑ Hank Wangford (22 November 2006). "Under the Boardwalk | Travel". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
  10. ↑ Hank Wangford (22 November 2006). "Trail of broken hearts | Travel". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
  11. ↑ "Croon river | Travel". London: The Guardian. 22 November 2006. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
  12. ↑ Hank Wangford (22 November 2006). "Temple of nature | Travel". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
  13. ↑ Hank Wangford (22 November 2006). "High spirits | Travel". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
  14. ↑ Hank Wangford (28 May 2008). "San Francisco's wild west | Travel | guardian.co.uk". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
  15. ↑ Hank Wangford (27 September 2007). "Strippers with altitude | Travel | guardian.co.uk". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-11-11.

External links

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