The Trouble with Me is You!

[Pierre TEODORI]

Hello Iain,

Just a little detail about the chords of this song : on the last line this is : Ab Bb (with a Ab on the bass guitar) and not a Ab6, then : Gm Cm. All the rest is right.

Regards
Pierre

[Iain Purdon]

Merci Pierre

That's better!

[bgohara]

Thank you Iain and Pierre. I am ok with working out the lead bits - but useless when it comes to the chords!

[bgohara]

Though in fairness - he is just playing over the chords!

[Moderne]

Please forgive me for broadening this thread into a discussion of Hank's 80s solo LPs. I remember being excited when Words and Music came out; the fact that Hank was recording a solo album had been mentioned in the 1981 tour programme (at the time, tour programmes or the odd paragraph in one of the music papers were the only ways of picking up on Shadows news - unless you were in the 'inner circle'...) and I remember thinking maybe this record will establish some credibility for Hank amongst my school friends! (I'd given up on The Shadows in this regard, because as a group they seemed committed now to the 'mostly covers + copied arrangements' policy which indeed (with the exception of Guardian Angel) they were to pursue for the next nine years...but that's already been discussed exhaustively several times!!)

I really enjoyed Words and Music whilst at the same time feeling frustrated that none of the songs on it were quite as good as I wanted them to be...if that makes any sense, and I still feel the same way now, 35 years later. I remember Don't Talk got a fair bit of radio play and made the top 50 (I think). Apparently Hank was all set to perform it on Top of the Pops but then the record slipped down the charts and he never got the call. Other songs got a few radio plays too: I remember hearing Tahlia, Take Your Time and Then I Found Love on Pete Murray's Radio 2 show, for example. Around this time, Hank came to speak to our school one lunchtime (yes really!) and mentioned that he'd bought hundreds of copies of the LP and was storing them in drawers in his house... I later read an interview with Hank in which he described the record as 'workmanlike'. He did sing Don't Talk whilst on tour with The Shads in 1982; he said "You can be The Drifters" to the rest of the group. (NB When The Trouble With Me Is You came out as the second single, it had been remixed with added girl backing vocals, as I'm sure most Shads afficionados know...)

Presumably the record was successful enough to persuade Polydor to make a second album with Hank - this time with Christopher Neil producing (I remember he was a successful producer at the time, having launched Sheena Easton's career a couple of years earlier; I'm sure he was also associated with Boudleaux Bryant but can't find any link on the web) but no lyric sheet. This was a more 'glossy', 'produced' album - trying to position Hank at the forefront of 80s vocal performers. It had some good songs on (notably Hank's compositions) but I struggled with songs like Don't Answer and Just Another Heartbreak. There were a lot more 80s synths on this album - and some of the songs hardly featured Hank's guitar at all. The first single (The Hawk and the Dove) featured Hank in Neil Diamond mode and also included the beautiful non-album instrumental Janine on the flip.

I don't think this album sold very well and there were to be no more Hank vocal LPs. In fact, I think the two vocals which Hank sang lead on, on the XXV LP later in 1983 - were the last time Hank was to release any studio vocal tracks...

Hank can be seen performing Don't Talk, Invisible Man and Trouble... on YouTube

[iefje]

(NB When The Trouble With Me Is You came out as the second single, it had been remixed with added girl backing vocals, as I'm sure most Shads afficionados know...)

I think those 'girl backing vocals' is Hank himself singing falsetto, as he was capable of doing.

[iefje]

Presumably the record was successful enough to persuade Polydor to make a second album with Hank - this time with Christopher Neil producing (I remember he was a successful producer at the time, having launched Sheena Easton's career a couple of years earlier; I'm sure he was also associated with Boudleaux Bryant but can't find any link on the web) but no lyric sheet. This was a more 'glossy', 'produced' album - trying to position Hank at the forefront of 80s vocal performers. It had some good songs on (notably Hank's compositions) but I struggled with songs like Don't Answer and Just Another Heartbreak. There were a lot more 80s synths on this album - and some of the songs hardly featured Hank's guitar at all.

This is why I like "Words And Music" better. It's much more 'Hank' and it's sparer. On this album he plays all guitars (electric and acoustic) and handles all vocals (lead and backing). With the exception of "Don't Talk" and "The Trouble With Me Is You", on most of the other ten tracks, he plays synthesizers, with the only other musicians being Brian Bennett on drums and Alan Jones on bass guitar. "Don't Talk" and "The Trouble With Me Is You" feature Graham Jarvis instead of Brian on drums and Dave Lawson on synthesizers.

[bgohara]

"I don't think this album sold very well and there were to be no more Hank vocal LPs. In fact, I think the two vocals which Hank sang lead on, on the XXV LP later in 1983 - were the last time Hank was to release any studio vocal tracks..."

Clive - good contribution. You're forgetting about the Guardian Angel album from 1984. He ang lead on 'can't play your game anymore' and the title track...

[Iain Purdon]

To my mind, Hank is not a solo singer in the way Cliff Richard is. Sure, there are some songs that suit him, and there are many more where his close harmony with Bruce is a stunning combination. It's that, plus his genius on the electric guitar, that sets him apart and above. I'm not surprised he didn't persist with solo vocal recordings. It would have been a misapplication of his talent.

[Moderne]

"I don't think this album sold very well and there were to be no more Hank vocal LPs. In fact, I think the two vocals which Hank sang lead on, on the XXV LP later in 1983 - were the last time Hank was to release any studio vocal tracks..."

Clive - good contribution. You're forgetting about the Guardian Angel album from 1984. He ang lead on 'can't play your game anymore' and the title track...

Oh yeah, I forgot those!