Ronnie Hawkins
The Hawk BORN 1935
Ronnie Hawkins knew that any valediction to him would inevitably mention Bob Dylan. His backing group The Hawks famously morphed into The Band, and Hawkins even played a character named ‘Bob Dylan’ in Bob’s 1978 film, Renaldo & Clara. In reality, he spent 87 years being the Hawk, leaving behind a well-connected trail of jumping rock’n’roll records, wild tales and wilder performances.
Born in Huntsville, Arkansas into a musical family, Hawkins’ first cousin Dale hit big in 1957 with Susie Q. In 1958 Ronnie and The Hawks first played in Canada, eventually moving there permanently. After a small-label debut single, he signed to New York industry heavyweight Roulette in 1959, and within months he was playing hit Forty Days on Dick Clark’s show. Next year he came to Britain for the Boy Meets Girls TV programme with his long-time drummer, Levon Helm, who later recalled, “He’s a good friend and a great leader, with an uncanny ability to pick the best musicians and build them into first-rate bands.” Other Hawks alumni included Richard Bell of Janis Joplin’s Full Tilt Boogie Band, Burton Cummings of The Guess Who and Pat Travers.
Related tales of his life in rock’n’roll are legion: John and Yoko planned peace initiatives at Hawkins’ farm outside Toronto in 1969, Scorsese filmed him for The Last Waltz, and he played alongside Dylan at Bill Clinton’s Presidential inauguration in 1993. Throughout it all, Hawkins quipped, “If I don’t hit the big time in the next 25 or 30 years, I’m gonna pack in the music business and become a full-time gigolo.”