Rocker Ronnie Hawkins, dies at 87, patron of Canadian rock

By Associated Press

CANADA: Ronnie Hawkins, a brash rockabilly star from Arkansas who turned a patron of the Canadian music scene after transferring north and recruiting a handful of native musicians later often known as The Band, has died.

His spouse Wanda confirmed to The Canadian Press that Hawkins died Sunday morning after an sickness. He was 87. “He went peacefully and he looked as handsome as ever,” she mentioned by phone.

Born simply two days after Elvis Presley, the Huntsville native associates referred to as “The Hawk” (He additionally nicknamed himself “The King of Rockabilly” and “Mr. Dynamo”) was a hell-raiser with an enormous jaw and a stocky construct.

He had minor hits within the Fifties with “Mary Lou” and “Odessa” and ran a membership in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the place acts included such early rock stars as Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Conway Twitty.

“Hawkins is the one man I ever heard who could make a pleasant attractive music like ‘My Gal is Red Hot’ sound sordid,” Greil Marcus wrote in his acclaimed e-book about music and American tradition, “Mystery Train,” including that “The Hawk” was alleged to “know more back roads, backrooms and backsides than any man from Newark to Mexicali.”

Hawkins didn’t have the presents of Presley or Perkins, however he did have ambition and a mind for expertise. He first carried out in Canada within the late ’50s and realized he would stand out much more in a rustic the place homegrown rock nonetheless barely existed. Canadian musicians had usually moved to the U.S. to advance their careers, however Hawkins was the uncommon American to strive the reverse.

With drummer and fellow Arkansan Levon Helm, Hawkins put collectively a Canadian backing group that included guitarist-songwriter Robbie Robertson, keyboardists Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel and bassist Rick Danko. They turned the Hawks, educated within the Hawkins faculty of rock.

“When the music got a little too far out for Ronnie’s ear,” Robertson informed Rolling Stone in 1978, “or he couldn’t tell when to come in singing, he would tell us that nobody but Thelonious Monk could understand what we were playing. But the big thing with him was that he made us rehearse and practice a lot. Often we would go and play until 1 a.m. and then rehearse until 4.”

Robertson and associates backed Hawkins from 1961-63, placing on raucous reveals round Canada and recording a howling cowl of Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love” that turned one among Hawkins’ signature songs.

But Hawkins wasn’t promoting many data and the Hawks outgrew their chief. They connected with Bob Dylan within the mid-’60s and by the tip of the last decade had been superstars on their very own who had renamed themselves the Band.

Hawkins, in the meantime, settled in Peterborough, Ontario, and had a handful of prime 40 singles there, together with “Bluebirds in the Mountain” and “Down in the Alley.”

He admittedly didn’t sustain with the most recent sounds — he was horrified the primary time he heard Canadian Neil Young — however within the late Sixties he befriended John Lennon and his spouse, Yoko Ono. They stayed with Hawkins and his spouse, Wanda, and three youngsters whereas they had been visiting Canada.

“At that particular time, I thought I was doin’ them a favor,” he later informed the National Post. “I believed the Beatles had been an English group that acquired fortunate. I didn’t know so much about their music. I believed Yoko’s was (foolish). To this present day, I’ve by no means heard a Beatle album. For 10 billion {dollars}, I couldn’t identify one music on ‘Abbey Road.’ I’ve by no means in my life picked up a Beatle album, and listened to it. Never. But John was so highly effective. I preferred him. He wasn’t a kind of hotshots, you realize.”

Hawkins additionally saved in contact with the Band and was among the many company in 1976 for the all-star, farewell live performance that was the idea for Martin Scorsese’s documentary “The Last Waltz.”

For just a few moments, he was again in cost, grinning and strutting underneath his Stetson hat, calling out “big time, big time” to his former underlings as they tore by way of “Who Do You Love.”

Besides “The Last Waltz,” Hawkins additionally appeared in Dylan’s movie “Renaldo and Clara,” the big-budget fiasco “Heaven’s Gate” and “Hello Mary Lou.” A 2007 documentary about Hawkins, “Alive and Kickin,’” was narrated by Dan Aykroyd and featured a cameo from one other well-known Arkansan, Bill Clinton.

Hawkins’ albums included “Ronnie Hawkins,” “The Hawk” and “Can’t Stop Rockin,’” a 2001 launch notable for Helm and Robertson showing on the identical music, “Blue Moon in My Sign.” Helm and Robertson had been now not talking, having fallen out after “The Last Waltz,” and recorded their contributions in separate studios.

Over time, Hawkins mentored quite a few younger Canadian musicians who went on to profitable careers, together with guitarist Pat Travers and future Janis Joplin guitarist John Till.

He obtained a number of honorary awards from his adopted nation, and, in 2013, was named a member of the Order of Canada for “his contributions to the development of the music industry in Canada, as a rock and roll musician, and for his support of charitable causes.”