HANK'S LATEST CD

HOLEY HOLEY
March 2020

Holey Holey is Hank Wangford’s Troublesome Tenth Album.
It’s taken six years since 2014’s double album of waltzes Save Me The Waltz.  This time it’s all Wangford originals.

We think it’s been worth the wait.

Though not immediately as Country as we expect from Hank, at times slipping over into Americana, listen for a strong Country spirit running through Hank’s songs. Songs of loss, separation, old friends passed on, childhood disillusion, dreams, redemption and foolishness. And above all, songs of love.

Perfect Day about the dark clouds behind the sunshine  
Once Upon A Time – self delusion, fooling yourself in love
Hallo My Friend – saying goodbye to an old friend after a lifetime apart just before he dies
Missing You Already – intense love in old age wondering who will die first. Me first please!
Uncle Joe – youthful Cold War illusions and trust in Stalin
Holey Holey – looking at all the holes and obstacles in life
Each Other – a heartfelt plea for love and trust
Two Stubborn People – blindness in a crumbling relationship
Over The Horizon – staring at the Atlantic and into the future from Rancho Wangford
Where Did You Sleep? – a fool confessing his unfaithfulness is surprised by his woman’s sexual revenge
Knocking On Your Door Again – still knocking, still waiting, still longing New Orleans style. I won’t stop
Bad Dream – we are all twisted inside. Don’t tell anyone…

Hank wrote these songs at Rancho Wangford on the western shores of Connemara.

Don’t be fooled – it’s a cheerful album full of hope.
Dolly Parton said sad songs don’t make you sad they carry you through life. Hank agrees with Dolly. “It’s all just rocks in the road…”

Holey Holey was recorded through 2019 in Hackney Road and Kitchen Floor Studios. Hank’s band Lost Cowboys and guest Lost Cowboys is packed with all-star hard-core country and rock musicians who plough a furrow between alt. Country, rockabilly and classic Country. 

UNCUT

Every British musician who ever strayed into country music owes Hank Wangford a debt. Wangford - by day distinguished doctor Samuel Hutt - has been making country music since converted to the cause by a patient called Gram Parsons. Holey Holey, Wangford’s first album in six years, is a thing of gentlemanly country soul, especially evocative of recent Nick Lower albums. Wangford turns 80 in November, but doesn’t sound a day over 60. “Perfect Day” and Hallo My Friend” are especially poised and reflective ballads and “Missing You Already” and “Two Stubborn People” are worthy additions to his catalogue of droll lovelorn vignettes.
Andrew Mueller - UNCUT

COUNTRY MUSIC PEOPLE

Holey Holey
$INCERE $OUNDS.

There used to be a bunch of now politically incorrect jokes about the shortest book in the world, but I’d suggest that '2UK country legends' would be a contender.  Off the top of my head it would be a whole book devoted to hank Wangford and Albert Lee (I’ll await the letters of disagreement)!. Wangford used to be all over the TV back in the day as the ’acceptable’ face of UK country. He is a scholar of the genre and I’ll never forget the case he made on a 90s TV show where he argued that You’re Still On My Mind’ was the greatest country music record of all time. However, for this, what he calls his “troublesome tenth album” he prefaced it with a warning that it might not be “as immediately country” as we’ve come to expect from him and that it might be a little more Americana.

All of that might be true, but as Hank nears his 80th year he proves he can still write some superb songs of “loss, separation, old friends passed on, childhood disillusion, dreams, redemption and foolishness, and above all, songs of love” on Holey Holey.

And they don’t come much better than Each Other, his plea for love and trust. The gentle pace is augmented by a wonderful string arrangement and whilst there’s a trace of Hay Jude as it goes into the chorus.  I found it hard to move on to the rest of the album as I hit repeat time and time again.

In I’m Missing You Already Hank shares how he’d rather not be one left behind. A serious subject wrapped up in a light-hearted arrangement. It also highlights how edept Hank can be at injecting a touch of humour into the taboo.  On Bad Dreams he addresses his dark side but does so with the lines like “don’t tell Sigmund, he’ll think I’m sick” in a semi-whisper style and a Southwestern flavour.

Perfect Day (not the Lou Reed song) and Two Stubborn People possess an almost nostalgic innocence while the Joe in Uncle Joe is Stalin.  It’s actually way more fun than any song about Stalin has any right to be.

Hank has enlisted the usual suspects from the cream if Brit musos like B.J. Cole, Martin Belmont and Geraint Watkins for the follow–up to his double album of waltzes from 2014. In doing so he delivers a highly listenable collection of tunes that sometimes tackle difficult subjects but do so in a tongue-in-cheek cynicism and superb musicianship that is incredibly endearing. At the singer’s own admission it might not be his most country release but it would still be hard to mistake it for anything else.

Duncan Warwick

Holey Holey
Sincere Sounds (Via Proper)

Hank Wangford has been like Marmite on the British country music scene for more than 40 years. A misunderstood enigma he has used his passion for down-home country music to build a career that seems to know no ending. His knowledge of the music is second-to-none. At 80 years old he has reined things in somewhat on this latest album as he takes a more reflective approach. Forsaking the hustle and bustle of his London home for the more sedate Connemara shore in Co. Galway this is an album that demands you shut your eyes and submit to the drift. Accompanied by his Lost Cowboys with some special guests, including Geraint Watkins (piano, organ, accordion) and Mairtin O’Connor (Irish button accordion), his musings are always tender and accessible, as quirky and warm as a well-worn Peter Skellern tape.
Choogling along with plenty of instrumental flourishes, the songs bring together country, folk, New Orleans boogie and gentle balladry for a timeless easy-going sound that feels simultaneously modern, making for a subtle contrast between different eras of music. Hank has spent most of his life wandering among both odd and ordinary characters, along the way he’s seen people at their most resilient and at their most vulnerable. These life experiences and travails colour each and every song here as he looks at the world in a gazing globe, what he sees is reality but distorted through his sagacious years of experiences.

Opener Perfect Day jogs along pleasantly and is full of gratitude for the past while reflecting over a romance that is sadly no more and reminding us that final moments can trigger new beginnings. Once Upon A Time glistens with a dark, yet childlike honesty, full of painful regret with a soulful Memphis arrangement utilising swirling organ, electric guitar and ethereal harmonies. It’s these simple, low-key flourishes that make the record. Note the spare yet vivid poetry of the lyrics to Hello My Friend, a fond final farewell to a mate who’s not been seen for some time. Hank’s conversational vocals work perfectly against the backdrop of subtly strummed guitar and the unruffled rhythm that reels you in to the sensitivity of the lyrics. A genuine delight is Uncle Joe with its lovable reminisce of growing up in a 1950s ‘left-wing’ family. The song’s luminous with lavishly recorded guitars, subtle touches of accordion and Hank’s harmonised vocals.

The title song playfully grapples with the low points of everyday existence, even when it’s conjuring mental images of a life full of holes. Light but heavy, warm in the sun, but shivery in the shade this features a country arrangement around BJ Cole’s pedal steel and Dobro. Two Stubborn People has echoes of classic Willie Nelson with its haunting harmonica, but there’s also a 1940s crooning vibe in Hank’s vocal delivery with Anna Robinson’s delicate duet vocal. Crystal ball gazing is what you get with Over The Horizon, as Hank blends the bright tones of sweet accordion with woozy folk-rock and a serious devotion to melancholy moodiness.

This is a solid set to mellow out with as good ol’ Hank gently delivers a collection of songs that has a uniform feel of compassion and positivity. His almost conversational style of lyricism however is the real standout of the record, as he makes every song feel direct and sharp.

Alan Cackett 2020

MOJO

Holey Holey
$INCERE $OUNDS. CD/DL
Dr Sam Hutt’s alter-ego rides again. Wangford has been keeping it country for decades now, though it’s been six years since he last reminded the UK that Stetson sagacity could deliver music as relevant as anything on the pure rock circuit. Now in his 80th year, Hank is a little more romantic and reflective these days. Here the country sounds still permeate, but now rub shoulders with Americana, touches of Cajun and a smidgen of swamp music to add flavour to the mix. The songs, all Wangford originals, are fine and easy on the ear, while the line-up of regular Lost Cowboys and ace session men is impressive, singer Anna ‘Spanner’ Robinson lining up alongside Martin Belmont, B.J. Cole, Geraint Watkins, and others, who all know their way around these excellent charts.

Fred Dellar

Holey Holey
$INCERE $OUNDS. CD
Hank Wangford, alias Sam Hutt, el doctor más famoso del rock’n’roll, cuya lista de pacientes incluyó a Pink Floyd, The Who y los Stones, está de vuelta. Quienes ya estén familiarizados con su carrera como trovador vaquero sabrán que tiene buena mano componiendo y una cálida voz que te envuelve como el abrazo de un amigo. Los neófitos encontrarán aquí suficientes motivos para iniciarse. Compuestas en el rancho que tiene en el condado de Galway, Irlanda, y grabadas con su banda, The Last Cowboys -poca broma con las voces de Anna Robinson-, las canciones de Holey Holey, su décimo disco, rebosan belleza y oficio. Se nota que han sido cocinadas a lo largo de seis años. «Bad Dream», «Each Other» y «Hallo My Friend» abren la lata de forma estupenda, con susurrantes melodías y fraseos de guitarra de B.J. Cole (pedal de acero) y Martin Belmont (Stratocaster). «Knocking On Your Door Again», un rock con aires de Nueva Orleans propulsado por el acordeón de Geraint Watkins, sube la temperatura. «Over the Horizon» es lo que pasa cuando te sientas a escribir mirando al mar: que te sale un vals cojonudo. Y «Perfect Day», country-soul inglés de primera, no tiene nada que envidiar a cualquier tema tardío de Nick Lowe. Incluso es mejor.

RUTA 66 - Spanish review - JORDI PUJOL NADAL