European Country Albums, Letter "H" -- Joe Sixpack's Guide To Hick Music

Country music is everywhere, even in the erudite intellectual aeries of Europe... In fact, there's so much of the stuff, I barely know a fraction of it. This section includes a bunch of random bluegrass and country bands from across the European continent, although I'm aware there are many, many other artists and albums not currently on my radar. Also, separate sections exist for Germany and The United Kingdom and Ireland which have their own large, impressive country scenes, though many of those albums may also be included here. And trust me, once I crack the code and find all the records, France, Croatia and Lichtenstein will all get their own twang guides, too! (PS: I apologize for not being able to support umlauts and schwas and other special characters and for making all your languages look so very not right. I'm just not smart enough for all that technical-type stuff!)

This page covers the Letter "H."

EUROPEAN COUNTRY:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X, Y & Z | Comps

Martine Habib "Martine Habib" (Epic Records, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Norbert Putnam & Glen Spreen)
A solo set from French songwriter Martine Habib, who is best known for her participation in France's version of the 'Sixties "hootenanny" folk scene, particularly for her duet recordings with Gilles Marchal, a French pop/folk singer who sometimes flirted with country music motifs. This is an album of all-original compositions by Ms. Habib, and though it was more in a pop-folk/singer-songwriter thing, it's notable here since it was recorded in Nashville, with backing from the top ranks of Music City studio musicians particularly the "Area Code 615" crew centered around Charlie McCoy and producer Norbert Putnam. Habib had further (kinda) country cred as she also sang on several of John Denver's best-known albums. She seems to have emigrated to the United States, and may have settled down in California

Thomas Haglund & Per Christophersson "Appomattox Banjo" (Copper Creek Records, 1989) (LP)
(Produced by Per Christophersson)
An American-label release featuring Swedish bluegrassers Christophersson and Haglund, along with some of their longtime collaborators, Hans Hedstrom on mandolin, bassist Goran Lomaeus and Bert Viklund on guitar. Though recorded in Sweden the set list is purely Anglo-American, with covers of classics such as Shuckin' The Corn," "Billy In The Lowground," "Back Up And Push," "Flint Hill Special" and whatnot. I'm not sure where banjo player Per Christophersson was from, though fiddler Thomas Haglund had a long career spanning back to the 1960s, including a long stint playing fiddle with the band Blue Grass Swedes.

Bruno Haland "To My Friends" (Klub Records, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Bruno Glenmark)

Bjoro Haland "Norwegian Nashville" (Skandisk, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Bjorn Lillehagen)
Haland started his career in 1980, recording English-language country; this was his first record sung in Norwegian, and was recorded in Oslo. Well, actually one song is still partly in English: "I Love Norwegian Country" (sung both English and Norwegian) though all others are in Norwegian. Sadly, though the musicians backing Haland are not listed.

Hasse & Kvinnaboske Band "Annat Var Det Forr" (Sonet Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Bjorn Lillehagen)

Rune Hauge "The One You Need" (Dialog Foss Production, 1995)
(Produced by Bjorn Lillehagen)
A Norwegian singer-songwriter who was perhaps more in the folkie sphere, though on this album he covers Jesse Winchester and Jimmy Webb, as well as The Carter Family, in addition to folks like Bob Dylan and The Dransfields. About half the album is his own original material. Notable among the musicians is fiddler/multi-instrumentalist Oystein Fosshagen, who worked extensively backing country singer Cato Sanden, among others.

Hank Henry "Rainy Nights" (Tall Dog, 1984)
(Produced by Simon Shrimpton-Smith & H. Hank Henry)
Well-meaning but ultimately underwhelming honky-tonk retro from Belgian country singer going by the name of H. Hank Henry. All the songs are Henry originals, with a couple co-written by others, including a tinkly ballad sung with Jeanne Henry, a vaguely Emmylou-esque singer who I assume is his wife(?)... He gets the American rural accent mostly right (reminds me of Terry Allen at times) but the band's a little sluggish and they never get loose enough to really draw you in. Technically accomplished, but the gritty feel and hillbilly swagger isn't really there. Worth checking out if you're into Euro-twang, but don't get your hopes too high.

The Hillbillys "Vestfra" (Country Records, 1970) (LP)
(Produced by Arne Bendiksen)
A traditionally-oriented Norwegian country band, featuring Einar Asbjornsen (bass), Kolbjorn Berg (lead guitar and vocals), Leif Froyland (steel guitar), Thor Egil Olsen (drums) and Bjorn Olaf Pedersen (guitar and vocals). Ironic that they'd call themselves "hillbillies" since Norway hardly has any hills or mountains... Oh, wait... what? Wait... they do? Oh. Well, never mind, then. Anyway, lotsa cover tunes on here, with a distinct tilt towards the Bakersfield Sound: several Buck Owens covers, a John Fogerty tunes, some Hank Williams, little bit of Freddie Hart, one by The Louvin Brothers. They're talking my kind of country, even though the lyrics are all Norwegian-language translations, most of them rendered by K. Tonnessen. Sounds good to me!

The Hillbillys "Pa Norske Stier Med The Hillbillys" (Country Records, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by Bjorn Langli, Bjorn Lillehagen, Jan Erik Kongshaug & Nils Kvam)
Still sounding country groovy and purty darn twangy. Nice, full production sound, with plenty of pedal steel. A little goofy, maybe, but I still dig it. Dunno about the other guys, but steel player Leif Froyland went on to do a fair amount of session work later in the decade, though not all of it was country stuff.

Hallbjorn Hjartarson "Syngur Eigin Log" (SG-Hljomplotur, 1975) (LP)
Icelandic honkytonker Hallbjorn Hjartarson (1935-2022) started his career in the 1970s and recorded quite a few "kantry" records over the years. Hljomplotur seems to have been his own label, one of his many entrepreneurial outings. Hjartarson also opened a country-themed restaurant and nightclub called Kantryaer ("Country Town") where he also set up a radio studio for his privately-owned radio station, broadcasting country music around the clock. For a while he also organized an Icelandic country music festival, and also had a modest side-career as a movie actor. Downside: later in life, Mr. Hjartarson was convicted of pedophilia, which presumably explains the abrupt end to his recording career.

Hallbjorn Hjartarson "Kantry Log (Kantry 1)" (HJH-Hljomplotur, 1981) (LP)

Hallbjorn Hjartarson "Kantry 2" (HJH-Hljomplotur, 1983)

Hallbjorn Hjartarson "Kureki A Suourleio" (HJH-Hljomplotur, 1985)

Hallbjorn Hjartarson "Kantry 5: Meo Kveoju Til Pin" (HJH-Hljomplotur, 1989)

Hallbjorn Hjartarson "Kantry 6: Nashville" (HJH-Hljomplotur, 1990)

Hallbjorn Hjartarson "Kantry 9: Kotturinn Bulli" (HJH-Hljomplotur, 2003) (LP)

Peter Hnatiuk "Peter Hnatiuk's Horeevka Party" (V Records, 1965-?) (LP)
(Produced by Alec Groshak)
Born in Gilbert Plains, Manitoba, Peter Hnatiuk (1934-1994) was a Ukranian-Canadian singer, humorist and cymbaly player who moved to Winnipeg in his youth, and was hired to play in a group led by Ukrainian dance band leader Tommy Buick. Hnatiuk recorded a long string of albums, including many that had country music covers mixed into a wider Eastern European repertoire -- I'm only focussing here on the once that were primarily country-based, including ones where American hits were translated into Ukrania. This album, for example, includes versions of songs by Johnny Bond ("Sick, Sober And Sorry"), George Jones ("She Thinks I Still Care"), Claude King ("Wolverton Mountain," Canadian-ized here as "Wolverine Mountain") and others... Often he sang either translations or parody versions, ala Homer & Jethro (or the various "Swedish" comedy artists who sang in exaggerated Scandinavian accents...) Speaking of, also of interest is the V-Records label itself: it was started by producer Alec Groshak when he recorded the country music duo of Mickey & Bunny, who he persuaded to sing in Ukrainian, thus kickstarting an entire Canadian subgenre. I could not for the life of me discover the meaning of the word "horeevka" -- most Internet hits just lead back to this album -- although from a couple of rather arcane online citations, it looks like it might have been some kind of Ukrainian drink. Any info is welcome.

Peter Hnatiuk & Tommy Buick "Tommy Buick Goes Ukrainian Western With Peter Hnatiuk" (V-Records, 1966) (LP)
(Produced by Alec Groshak)

Peter Hnatiuk "I Wish I Was Single Again" (V-Records, 1968) (LP)

Hootenanny Singers "Hootenanny Singers" (Polar Records, 1964) (LP)
Take a chance on me! This was the first album by the Hootenanny Singers, a Swedish folk-pop group perhaps best known as the starting place in the professional career of singer-songwriter Bjorn Ulvaeus (later one of the Bs in ABBA). Formed in 1961, Hootenanny Singers made their national television debut in 1964, the same year this album came out. Not coincidentally, the band was managed by Stig Anderson, who later steered the global success of ABBA... Although Hootenanny Singers had a significant commercial impact of its own, it's easy to see it all as prelude to ABBA's massive popularity... In the mid-1960s Ulvaeus and Hootenanny Singers frequently bumped into another popular group, Hep Stars, which was led by keyboardist Benny Andersson, with Andersson and Ulvaeus eventually forming the songwriting partnership that formed the nucleus of Sweden's greatest band. I think Bjorn Ulvaeus had left the Singers by the end of the 'Sixties, though the group soldiered on well into the early 'Eighties. I only own one of the many Hootenanny Singers albums (see below) but it is actually fairly good, and plausibly within the scope of global twang, albeit in a New Christy Minstrels/Back Porch Majority kinda way... hardly honkytonk or even countrypolitan, but certainly worth a spin.

Hootenanny Singers "Hootenanny Singers" (Polar Records, 1964) (LP)
This was their second album, released the same year as their first and on the same label, though it is indeed a completely different album. This includes one of their biggest hits, "Gabrielle," with a melody that was largely plagiarized from some unfortunate Russian songwriter who was unable to sue them because of the Cold War copyright laws. Talk about Western capitalist aggression!