Hank Wangford

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

Hutt adopted the persona of Hank Wangford when he decided to become a country singer in the late 1970s. "Hank is a good smoke screen. He can do things I can't do. He's my clown," Hutt told Howell Raines in 1988. "I actually had more of an identity crisis with [being Sam Hutt] than with Hank, because Hank is a fool. I quite like him. Dr. Sam was definitely threatening to become a monster." He called himself Wangford after the village of that name in Suffolk, which is where he first conceived the idea of using a nom de plume.

Background In his appearance in the film A Brief History of Brocket Hall, Sam Hutt claimed that he was born in an upstairs room at Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire, on the night of 14–15 November 1940, during The Blitz. (Colin Larkin, in his Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music, claims that Hutt was actually born in Wangford.) Given what Hutt himself says, this is almost certainly false. His mother, meanwhile, taught English to "admirals and students in the Russian Embassy". Hutt grew up in north London, and was educated at William Ellis School in Gospel Oak and St John's College, Cambridge, where he studied the natural sciences tripos and took part in revue performances as a member of the Cambridge Footlights. After completing his undergraduate degree, he remained in Cambridge to complete his medical training, eventually becoming a doctor.

Musical career Early years Wangford was interested in music as a child, and it was through his father's prominence in Communist Party circles that he first met the folk singer Ewan MacColl, who lectured him on the need to remain true to his roots and not appropriate the music of other cultures.

Inventing Hank Wangford A meeting with former Byrds member Gram Parsons, whose wife was in meed of medical attention, first led Wangford to country music. During this visit Parsons played the song "You're Still on My Mind" (from the album Sweetheart of the Rodeo). "So I see here, and outside the curtain, Gram picks up my guitar and sings, 'An empty bottle. A broken heart, and you're still on my mind,' – a song I still play to this day. That was when the penny dropped. Which it didn’t when I heard him play The Byrds. But just singing it there with his cracked voice... that was soul." which later had to be dried in a microwave oven for them to work successfully.

During the miners' strike that same year, 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, an event that has been immortalised in the song "On The Line".

No Hall Too Small Tour Wangford has also toured with Reg Meuross and with Andy Roberts 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).

Writing and television career Wangford has written an occasional series of travel articles for The Guardian newspaper and is president of the "Nude Mountaineering Society". He has also appeared on television, presenting the documentaries A-to-Z of C&W and Big, Big Country.

Discography Hank Wangford - 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 (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")

CDs 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 Hank Wangford & The Lost Cowboys - Save Me The Waltz, (Double Album) Sincere Sounds, 2014 Hank Wangford - Holey Holey, Sincere Sounds, 2020

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