Hanky Panky is the fifth studio album by English band the The, released on 14 February 1995.[4][5] It consists of cover versions of country singer Hank Williams' songs.[6][7] It reached No. 28 on the UK Albums Chart.[8]Matt Johnson intended Hanky Panky to be the first of many albums he would record covering the work of iconic musicians.[9] Johnson provided the liner notes to Alone and Forsaken, a compilation of Williams demos that was also released in 1995.[10]
Johnson originally planned to record an EP, and then a standard tribute album, with many musicians interpreting songs, before settling on an album of covers.[11] Eric Schermerhorn played guitar on the album.[12] Some songs contain only voice and harmonium.[13] The band was more interested in retaining the meaning of the songs rather than producing musical copies of them.[14] "Your Cheatin' Heart" was performed in a rockabilly style.[15]
In a review rated 2 out of 10, NME wrote that "The The's homage to Hank Wiliams ... is unsuccessful" and the versions had "little of Williams' authentic edge".[20]Entertainment Weekly wrote that "Johnson internalizes Williams' '50s despair and coughs it up as modernist melancholy."[19]Trouser Press called the album "a tour de force tribute," writing that it "might have sunk to self-conscious gimmickry in less perceptive hands, but Johnson makes it work beautifully."[22] The Chicago Tribune stated that it "drones with the overmiked rasp, sometime monotonous echo, and bluesy guitars that are The The's trademark."[18]
The Independent determined that, "mostly, Hanky Panky demonstrates a misapprehension of Williams's art, the greatness of which lies, in part, in his ability to disguise darkness and loneliness in redemptively light settings."[23]The Guardian noted that "gloomy rock replaces the original relaxed melodies, and Johnson's baritone evokes only one colour from Hank's mixed palette of emotions."[24] The Calgary Herald concluded that "as has happened with the blues and rock in the '60s, it's taken a Brit to unearth the spirit, the soul, the songs of Hank Williams."[17]
Track listing
All tracks by Hank Williams; arrangements/re-arrangements by Matt Johnson and D. C. Collard
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