Hank Halfhead And The Rambling Turkeys

Updating with facebook page and photo of the original band – Frank Kelly [RIP] with Niall Toner, Mick O’Doherty, Niall Toner, Joe Pleass and Colm McCaughey.

Today we have a session track from Hank Halfhead And The Rambling Turkeys taken from Dave’s 1988 end of year review of Irish music. Here’s what Niall Toner’s bio says about the band..

In the early eighties, Niall did a “Bob Dylan” and went electric. The result was the formation of one of the most influential country-rock bands in Irish music History, the uniquely titled Hank Halfhead And The Rambling Turkeys. With the Turkeys, Niall or Hank, as he was then known, went on to break the record for Midnight At The Olympia, playing sixteen straight weeks to full houses. The Rambling Turkeys also worked New York and Boston to similar reactions, and played a now famous birthday gig for Adam Clayton of U2. They also went to number twelve in the Irish charts with the release of their first single in 1990, a version of an old Doc Boggs song “Walking Boss”.

The Rambling Turkeys were apparently a journeyed bunch with alumni in bands such as The Swinging Swine, Those Handsome Devils, The Dixons, etc. This particular track is a Rolling Stones cover.

Dead Flowers

If this track tickles your fancy you might like to check out the alt country mixes by BoxSetGo.

According to Bluegrass Ireland Hank has recently revived the band.