The Trouble with Me is You!

[Fenderman]

As i mentioned earlier, i prefer Words and Music but i had a listen last night 'All alone...' and remember how good Rainy day goodbye and 99 days were. The album should have included Janine and it's a lovely melody.

[Moderne]

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.

I agree up to a point...Hank is certainly not on a par with Cliff as a singer - few people are! But I really like Hank's voice and feel that his singing has been eclipsed over the years (understandably) by his incredible guitar talent - but I guess that's the way of showbusiness! Of course he always did vocals on his live shows but I wish there had been a few more studio recordings of him singing after the mid-80s. Incidentally, I thought his singing sounded a bit strained on some of the Words and Music songs - as though the songs were in too high a key for him...Oh Suzie for example.

Some of my favourite Hank lead vocals (NOT including his Polydor LPs) are...Don't It Make You Feel Good, Don't Make My Baby Blue, I Only Want to Be With You, Leave My Woman Alone, The Letter, A Better Man Than I, Dear Old Mrs Bell, Break Another Dawn, Brownie Kentucky, Wish You Were Here, Ronnie, Lady of the Morning, So Hard to Live With, Nobody Cares, Small and Lonely Light, You Never Can Tell, We'll Believe in Loving, ...plus his outstanding harmonies, as Iain mentioned above, with Bruce, John Farrar and Cliff on his TV shows (listen to the Spanish Harlem medley from the 1970 August Bank Holiday special on YouTube...) I particularly like his harmony to John Farrar's lead on Stand Up Like a Man...

[alewis41]

Does anybody remember that record release show on Radio One, I think it was called Roundtable? A panel reviewed the new singles and when one of Hank's vocal singles was reviewed they all hated it. The DJ then said something like this is awkward because on the line is our mystery guest - Hank Mavin!

Andrew

[Fenderman]

I thought Hank's voice did sound a bit thin on a few of his solo 80's tracks, i thought it was more to do with the production.

[Iain Purdon]

Does anybody remember that record release show on Radio One, I think it was called Roundtable? A panel reviewed the new singles and when one of Hank's vocal singles was reviewed they all hated it. The DJ then said something like this is awkward because on the line is our mystery guest - Hank Marvin!

That would probably have been Richard Skinner. Before him the programme was chaired by Kid Jensen but it was launched many years before as Rosko's Roundtable.

[alewis41]

That would probably have been Richard Skinner. Before him the programme was chaired by Kid Jensen but it was launched many years before as Rosko's Roundtable.

Hi Iain,

Yes, I think that's correct and I think the secret single he played was Don't Talk. Hank was of course gracious when introduced.

I liked Richard Skinner on Radio One going back to his Newsbeat days.

Andrew

[Fenderman]

I know that Don't Talk was written for Cliff but does anyone know if he actually recorded it?

[drakula63]

I know that Don't Talk was written for Cliff but does anyone know if he actually recorded it?

I'm pretty certain he didn't.

Hank recorded it because Cliff hadn't. I'm sure it's as simple as that.