Hedge Cutter and The Mangledwurzels formed in 2005 as a scrumpy-and-western tribute to Somerset's finest, Adge Cutler and The Wurzels. Now, to be fair, I'm not a great fan of tribute acts (with a few notable exceptions being Bjorn Again, The Bootleg Beatles and Dread Zeppelin), because tribute acts generally provide either over-serious yet inadequate, or camped-up yet overblown performances of songs by original artists. I'd rather see the original artist any day, unless the tribute act has something special or unique to add to the show. Trademark Wurzels' numbers
The Mangledwurzels play a combination of songs by a band which, despite selling hundreds of thousands of records in a career spanning 40 years, is in itself regarded as somewhat of a novelty act. As the trio sauntered on stage wearing checked shirts, leather waistcoats, red neckerchiefs, braces, hats, and with string gaiters tied round their knees, they certainly looked the part of Somerset farmhands. With names like Hedge Cutter (vocals), Seth Pitt (guitar) and the non-Somerset born Jethro Tool (keyboards or electronikal wurzelhorns), they also have a fine set of monikers. Unfortunately, I felt Hedge Cutter looked worryingly more like Benny from Crossroads than Adge, while Seth was not dissimilar to Jack Douglas from the Carry On films. Straight away, they launched into a couple of well-known trademark Wurzels' numbers - Combine Harvester and I Am a Cider Drinker - before churning it up with their unique take on Walking on the Moon by The Police, tonight renamed Walking Across the Yard. The evening continued in much the same way throughout, with not-at-all-bad versions of Wurzels' numbers from both the early days of Adge Cutler and The Wurzels to the newer and more well-known of the later incarnation.
Chitterling, I Got Me Beady Little Eye on Thee, Farmer Bill's Cowman, The Tractor Song, Don't Tell I Tell 'Ee, The Blackbird and Champion Dung Spreader were all played, as well as at least one self-penned number (the surprisingly catchy) The Rat Song. Mangled cover-versions These bumpkins don't just plough one furrow however, and where they really impress is in their mangled cover-versions. Stuck in the Middle With You by Stealers Wheel became Stuck in the Midden With Poo, the Postman Pat theme morphed into Scrumpy Jack, Dion's The Wanderer became The Knackerer, and the evening finished with a rousing rendition of Get Off My Cloud by The Stones, now quite obviously renamed Get Orf O' Moi Land. Not only were the titles changed but the lyrics too, some more subtly than others. The band played well, and was entertaining enough, though at times the guys appeared a little nervous. This was in part due to the somewhat understated response they received from the King Arthur crowd, who were given some homemade maracas to play in (or in some cases out of) time with the music, which added further hilarity to the proceedings.
I'd guess this act has a limited market and probably wouldn't do well outside of Somerset, though this doesn't matter too much because the guys don't seem to have much problem finding venues to play throughout this county. They've played around a hundred gigs in the past 18 months and their diary is healthily full for the near future. In conclusion, although I liked what they did, I felt the band didn't really quite pull off the boisterous bumpkin charisma of the originals, and to some extent they lacked the charm and between-song banter that I was expecting and hoping for. The keyboards at times sounded annoyingly like a cheap 15-quid Casio organ, although I suppose electronic keys provide an easy way to replicate the sound of an accordion etc without actually having one. If these few niggling parts of the act can be worked on, The Mangledwurzels could be outstanding in their field! | 
