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Beginning at age eleven, Ronnie Hawkins sang at local fairs and before he was a teenager shared a stage with Hank Williams. He recalled that Williams was too drunk to perform, and his band, the Drifting Cowboys, invited members of the audience to get on the stage and sing. Hawkins accepted the invitation and sang some Burl Ives songs he knew. [11]
- Education and Early Career
- The Move to Canada
- Mentor to Canadian Musicians
- Recordings
- John Lennon and Us Comeback
- The Comeback Continued
- Career After 2000
- Acting Career
- Charitable Involvement
- Honours
Hawkins grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he was influenced by Dixieland jazz, gospel and blues. His father was a barber and his mother a teacher. While studying physical educationat the University of Arkansas, he formed his band, The Hawks, and toured with them in Arkansas and nearby states. After dropping out of school, he served in the US...
Hawkins and The Hawks’ first performances on the Ontario nightclub circuit were at The Golden Rail Tavern and The Grange in Hamilton in 1958. Hawkins’s straight-ahead rockabilly sound, which brought together elements of rock, blues and country, was highlighted by his rambunctious personality and athletic moves on stage: He would sometimes do a back...
One of Hawkins’s most notable contributions to Canadian music was his role as mentor to many musicians who went on to have successful careers of their own. He nurtured the talents of numerous artists who played with him early in their careers, including members of The Band and Crowbar, Jack DeKeyzer, Pat Travers, David Clayton-Thomas, Domenic Troia...
Hawkins released a number of successful early singles, including his classic version of the Bo Diddley song, “Who Do You Love?” (1963), as well as “Bluebirds over the Mountain” (1965) and “Goin' to the River” (1965). Although his natural focus was rockabilly, he explored other musical genres as well. His 1960 album, The Folk Ballads of Ronnie Hawki...
In 1969–70, Hawkins enjoyed a well-publicized (though only mildly successful) US comeback, which included a 1969 feature in Rolling Stone magazine and a recording contract with Atlantic Records. The comeback was based on the international success of The Band, and on a brief personal association with former Beatle John Lennon — who, together with Yo...
Hawkins performed at The Band's farewell concert in San Francisco on 25 November 1976 and was featured in the resulting film, The Last Waltz (1978), directed by Martin Scorsese. Following an international renewal of interest in rockabilly, Hawkins performed in the Netherlands and Belgium in 1980 and in England in 1982. He recorded the live album Th...
In 2000, Hawkins was featured in an episode of the CBC TV biography series Life and Times. In 2002 he released his 27th album, Still Cruisin’. That same year he was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and garnered considerable media coverage when he sought treatment from a BC faith healer. In 2004, CTV aired a documentary on his career entitl...
Hawkins branched out to acting in the late 1970s, playing a version of Bob Dylan in Bob Dylan’s Renaldo and Clara (1978). He also had minor roles in the films Heaven's Gate (1980), Meatballs III: Summer Job (1986) and Duct Tape Forever (2002) with Steven Smith. His television credits include guest roles in the series Seeing Things (1987), Due South...
Over the years, Hawkins supported numerous charitable organizations, most notably the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario.
Hawkins was the subject of Gordon Lightfoot's “Silver Cloud Rolls Royce” and was famed for a certain degree of self-generated legend. His biographer, Peter Goddard, described him as “Elvis, Santa Claus and Robert E. Lee all rolled into one; rock'n' roll godfather to two generations of misfit musicians….” In 1996, Hawkins received the Walt Grealis S...
Ronnie Hawkins was born in Huntsville, Arkansas, on January 10, 1935, two days after Elvis Presley. Hawkins' mother was a teacher; his father, a barber. Known affectionately over the years as "Mr. Dynamo," "Sir Ronnie," "Rompin' Ronnie," and "The Hawk," Hawkins' love of music started in high school. He formed the first version of his band The ...
May 29, 2022 · Ronnie Hawkins was born on Jan. 10, 1935, in Huntsville, Ark. Like Elvis Presley, born two days earlier, Hawkins developed a love for blues and R&B at an early age.
- Stephen Thomas Erlewine
May 31, 2022 · Ronnie Hawkins was a legendary rockabilly singer and songwriter who helped launch the careers of the musicians who would form the Band. Died: May 29, 2022 (Who else died on May 29?)
May 29, 2022 · By The Canadian Press. Here’s a look at the life and career of Ronnie Hawkins, who died Sunday at age 87: — Born in Huntsville, Ark., on Jan. 10, 1935. — Influenced careers and lives of...
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Apr 11, 2022 · Ronnie Hawkins was born in Huntsville in 1935, and although his mother was a teacher and his father was a barber, he was exposed to music early, mimicking what he heard on the radio. His family moved to Fayetteville when he was 9, and fed his stage bug by performing with his uncles and aunts at gatherings on the family farm.
