#821: Sign Of A Gypsy Queen by Lorence Hud

Peak Month: December 1972
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #9
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com link: “Sign Of A Gypsy Queen”
Lyrics: “Sign Of A Gypsy Queen”

Lorence William Hud was born in 1947 in Saskatchewan. He signed with A&M Records in 1972 and released a self-titled album that year. The single from his debut album, “Sign of the Gypsy Queen”, was his most successful charting single at #16 on the RPM charts and #9 on CKLG. He would release seven more singles between 1973 and 1982. However, none of them cracked the Top 30. The Canadian band, April Wine, had a Top 40 hit in Canada with “Sign of the Gypsy Queen” in 1981.

Lyrically, the song is about a gypsy queen who foretells what’s in the future for a gypsy town: a hurricane, lightning, chaos and trouble, evil everywhere and a spirit that brings despair. Since ancient times, there have been people in societies who have predicted doom and tribulations for a community or even for the whole world. In Norse mythology, the story of Ragnorok describes a series of events that result in the end times. Civilized society believed that in the year 1,000 A.D. the world would end. There are regularly stories in the news about groups of people who believe that there are signs in nature or in the news that are indicative of the collapse of civilization and the world as we know it. The Express in London, UK, let readers know the world was expected to end on May 2, 2018, according to some interpreters of the Bible. Thankfully, the end of the world, as we know it, hasn’t come to pass.

With a solid rock beat, “Sign Of A Gypsy Queen” got a lot of airplay across Canada. It peaked at #3 on CJRW in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, #8 on CFRN in Edmonton and #9 on CKCK in Regina. In 1973, Lorence Hud followed up with the release of his second album, Dancin’ in My Head. However, his single release from his second album, “Guilty Of Rock ‘N Roll (If Music Was Against The Law)”, was a commercial failure.

Lorence Hud became a devout Christian in the early 1990’s. In 2013-2015 he was pursuing a Canadian Charter Rights case against the Crown. His MP from the Nickle Belt riding, Claude Gravelle, sent a letter on Hud’s behalf to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The letter requested that Prime Minister Harper meet with Lorence Hud to discuss the matter related to lower court rulings about his dispute regarding drainage on his property.

Since the 2015 Canadian federal election, Lorence Hud has written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to get him to meet with him. Hud has been involved with an American citizen named Sheila Yarnell since February 2017. Since the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States in January 2017, Yarnell has written to the President. She has urged Trump to intervene on Lorence Hud’s behalf to get Prime Minister Trudeau to meet with Hud. In the past Hud has tried, unsuccessfully, to sue the Canadian government for $28 million dollars. A standoff with police in July 2018, involved occupants at Hud’s home in Verner, Ontario. According to Sudbury.com, the persons suspected of being part of the 28 hour standoff with police in West Nipissing detachment were Sheila Yarnell and Lorence Hud. Verner, Ontario, is on the Trans-Canada Highway 17, about halfway between North Bay and Sudbury. When Sheila Yarnell posted a YouTube.com video about her concerns Lorence Hud wrote on Facebook: “Anyone who knew anything about Gerry Lacoursiere, knows that Gerry would be OUTRAGED by the fact that, shortly after the video recording of her PLEA for HELP, my American Patriot sister #SweetLittleSheila @Andromodid @YarnellSheila was THROWN into a MAXIMUM SECURITY Canadian PRISON, to COVER UP #Trudeau#SecretIllegalCrownCourt.”

Sudbury.com reported in relation to the standoff with police at Lorence Hud’s home on July 18, 2018, “A man is in custody and another individual is being held by border security following a 28-hour standoff south of Verner. West Nipissing Police reported Tuesday evening that the man was arrested by OPP officers around 5 p.m., while another person within the home ‘is being detained under the authority of a warrant issued by Canada Border Services Agency.’ The man faces charges of possession of a dangerous weapon, careless use of a firearm and unsafe storage of a firearm.” On July 19, 2018, the Sudbury Star reported “A man charged in connection with a 28-hour police standoff in Verner has been granted bail. Lorence Hud, 70, was released Wednesday on his own recognizance and $1,000 bail following an Ontario Court of Justice appearance in North Bay. Hud’s release comes with a number of conditions, including that he reside in North Bay and that he report to police daily. Hud is prohibited from possessing any weapons or from attending the West Nipissing area.”

June 15, 2018
Ray McGinnis

References:
Jim Owston, Lorence Hud: Sign Of The Gypsy Queen, January 29, 2010.
Darren MacDonald, Verner standoff has long, bizarre history, Sudbury.com, July 18, 2017.
Riley Winters, The Ancient Roots of Doomsday Prophecies and End of the World Beliefs, Ancient Origins.net, January 15, 2015.
Owen Gough, “End of the world 2018: Will the Rapture end the world TODAY? SHOCK prediction says YES,” Express, London, UK, May 2, 2018.
Good Moore, “Verner Standoff Suspect Out on Bail,” Sudbury Star, July 19, 2018.
“CKLG ‘Thirty’,” CKLG 730 AM, Vancouver, BC, December 22, 1972.

For more song reviews visit the Countdown.