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This film is part of Free

Dr. Sam Hutt

Rock'n'roll doctor Sam Hutt opens up on a twin career as popstar and healer in an intriguing, never-broadcast TV interview.

1968 8 mins

Overview

A dapper Dr Hutt expounds on his frustrations with medical practice, the NHS 'brain drain' (doctors quitting for better paid positions overseas), the spiralling costs of healthcare (partly due to advances such as the then-new heart transplants). He's honest on the lure of showbiz: "in a day doing television commercials... I could earn more than in a month as a doctor"), but stresses his commitment to the NHS ("medicine should be free").

Through his work in a drug-addiction centre, Dr Hutt counted members of the Who, the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead among his clients. The interview followed the release of his first single, 'Jabberwock', a Lewis Carroll-inspired slice of psychedelic pop credited to Boeing Duveen & The Beautiful Soup, which failed to trouble the charts. But a few years later, following an encounter with country rock legend Gram Parsons, Dr Hutt relaunched himself as Hank Wangford and embarked on a decades-long mission to bring country music to the sceptics.