"BEST FOOT FORWARD"
is the Lost Cowboy's
lateat album, out now on Evangeline Records.
Here's what the press
said:
MAVERICK September 2003
Irresistible
HHHH
Drifting acoustic guitar from Hank and harmoniser
Reg Meuross, elegant bass from Kevin Foster (also part of Michael
Weston Kings band and the excellent Los Pistoleros) and
subtle drums from Roy Dodds. The biggest difference from the
old days
is that the only lead player is guitarist Martin
Belmont. But he works like an army laying down echoey 1950s fills,
bass lead runs, and eclectic country touches. Whether its
the Marty Robbins-influenced Wild is the Wind, the ballad Must
You Throw Dirt in my Face?, the borderlands feel of Shadows or
the simply beautiful Falling Angels theres lots of variety
within the albums subtle sound. It might lack the wild
wit of the past but irresistible in a very different way.
ND
UNCUT October 2003
Lovely understatement
HHH
Latest from celebrated sex doctor, TV presenter and current President
of the Nude Mountaineering Society.
Since Gram Parsons switched him on in the early 70s,
the King of Pain has immersed himself in the history
and heartache of country music. Aware of the wafer-thin divide
between laughter and tragedy, this time he takes a straighter
approach. Theres enough variation to mark out the lovely
understatement of Waltz of the Seasons and a cappella
finger-popper Watcha Gonna Do? as standouts.
- Rob Hughes
COUNTRY MUSIC PEOPLE September 2003
One of my albums of the year. If Willie Nelson had recorded
this bakers dozen of highly original songs, it would be
everybodys.
HHHH ½
Hank Wangford did as much as anyone to get me into country
music. Even though he parodied the genre, his highly inflammable
gigs in dives like the Half Moon Putney were the best advert
for the music that an impressionable youth such as I could have
stumbled across. Hanks recent albums have excited me less.
He seemed to be undergoing an identity crisis as he struggled
to juggle his original undiluted humour with a more serious approach.
So its a pleasure to
report that Best Foot Forward is, true to its title, a stunning
return to form that has got the balance between humour and serious
songwriting just right.
It only took a couple of bars to let me know all the old musical
magic was in place. This is a loose, honest, unpretentious recording
by a group of Britains finest country musos (including
Reg Meuross, Martin Belmont and Kevin Foster) who play off each
other with complete familiarity.
What makes this album, however, is a collection of songs up there
with such Wangford winners as Never Wear Mascara When you love
a Married Man. A natural sequel to Mascara is the grit kicking
Forgetful Man which wittily portrays a womaniser who conveniently
forgets his wife and kids.
The high standards of this album are defined by the gentle and
melodic Falling Angels which is a song as appealing as you could
wish for. Other standouts include the African township feel of
Watcha Gonna Do?, which features just vocal harmonies, handclaps
and the percussion of new drummer, sings co-writer and
co-producer Roy Dodds.
Wild is the Wind is an atmospheric blend of rock n roll
era death disc and epic folk myth, notable for Hanks involving
spoken parts over menacing guitar slashes by Belmont. The deranged
yodel at the end, like the unexpected jaw harp on the rdockabilly
flavoured Diamond Heart, only adds to this albums off the
wall magic.
Hanks prosaic vocals, the left field content of his songs
and the loose, organic production are certainly a world away
from the slick output of contemporary Nashville.
For me, those differences spell charm, individualism and integrity.
This is already one of my albums of the year. Dare I suggest
that if, say, Willie Nelson had recorded this bakers dozen
of highly original songs it would be everybodys.
- Douglas McPherson
SOUTHERN REPORTER August
2003
A fantastic
album from one of this countrys true originals.
An enigma and a sheer delight.
Album of the Week
Let me
say right at the start that this is a fantastic album from one
of this countrys true originals. I say this because Hank
Wangford does tend to move around a bit and people get worried
if you cant quite nail him down.
Best Foot Forward has a rich seam of black humour running through
it. How else do you account for Forgetful Man? A jolly little
melody carries along with it the most innocent of excuses for
infidelity, or the Waltz of the Seasons, sentiment set ot a light
waltz. Wangford takes what he does seriously but never, I suspect,
himself.
But just as youre looking for the irony in each track along
comes Wild Atlantic Sea, a sincere and beautiful folk song, The
fact that it is on the same album as the Bobby Darinesque Falling
Angels is just one of the imponderables that make the album and
enigma and a sheer delight.
Wangford, along with the Lost Cowboys, seems hellbent on making
the album a coat of many colours. Welcome Here is as theatrical
as anything attempted by the late, great Alex Harvey. Diamond
Heart is barnstorming Texas bar-room country rock Duane
Eddy with an added mule kick then its a short hop
over the Rio Grande to transform into a cantina house band on
Shadows.
Best Foot Forward isnt so much music as an exploration
of North and South America. Prepare for the journey of your life
in the comfort of your own armchair; Stetsons and ponchos must
be worn throughout. MM
COUNTRY MUSIC ROUND-UP
August 2003
Tender,
tuneful and gentle to the point of near delicacy.
Magic Sam!
Lest we forget,
globe-hopping remedial therapist and Good Samaritan to many a
far flung third world countrys poorest and neediest inhabitants
Dr Sam Hutt moonlights as Hank Wangford: writer, broadcaster,
TV personality, President of the Nude Mountaineering Society
and of course, Britain premier country music legend. Hank
has somehow found space in the midst of these time consuming
activities to record with the Lost Cowboys the bakers dozen
original songs comprising Best Foot Forward (Evangeline)
With an inclusion entitled
Two Left Feet one wonders just which is Wangfords best
cowboy-booted extremity. Still he steps boldly but lightly out
in the right, often exploratory, direction in particular
the softly hushed yet helplessly fatalistic Waltz of the Seasons,
near nursery rhyme Man in the Moon, lilting pseudo-Irish lullaby
Wild Atlantic Seam ethereal Falling Angels and rhythmic Caribbean
flavoured Shadows. Dunno if Hanks just mellowed in his
dotage (joking, Hank!!) but the songs, melodies and executions
are tender, tuneful and gentle to the point of near delicacy,
with little of the old socio-political fire except on the percussion
backed group harmony number, Watcha Gonna Do?
Country rocker Diamond Heart, the musically rather than thematically
Morricone spaghetti western soundscapes Welcome Here and Wild
is the Wind (yodels no less!) and the tragic-comic Must You Throw
Dirt in my Face? break the mould, while Hanks old stock
in trade humour invades the tale of the purposely Forgetful Man
who in a sin of omission ...Forgot to tell you he was a
married man // It just slipped his mind with you in his hands
Magic, our Sam!
SOUTHERN COUNTRY October
2003
One
of my best albums so far this year by a British band. Definitely
my Best UK Product up to August.
My best set of Americana
2003 was by Hank and his compadres where we got a good sampling
of their latest album. With only four months to go this is one
of my best albums so far this year by a British band and I hope
to see it figure large in the Radio Awards nominations. With
a line up second to none theres eight songs by Hank, tow
co-written with band members including Reg Meuross who sings
his own song and Kevin Foster who sings his own. Drummer Roy
Dodds recorded this excellent album somewhere near Wormwood Scrubs.
A super ballad about Ireland is My Pick of the Album with track
ten a tribute to the late great Marty Robbins and all Hanks
friends down on the Falkland Islands where John Cash is still
King! Not only is the album excellent but so is the inlay with
some brilliant text and drawings the cover is rather surreal!
Definitely my best UK product up to August.
- Colin H Blanchard
JEWISH CHRONICLE May 2002
Singles Round
Up Wild Atlantic Sea
Relocated
in Ireland these days, one-time Camden cowboy, Hank Wangford
sounds almost indecently at home with the swirling Pogues-like
blast of fresh air that is his Wild Atlantic Sea
(Way Out West).
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