From: "jean.marc.pezet Date: Thu Aug 22, 2002 3:06 am Subject: Born To Be With You: Dale Hawkins DALE HAWKINS (by Tapio Vaisanen) Born Delmar Allen Hawkins, 22 August 1936 in Goldmine, Louisiana Dale Hawkins is undoubtedly one of those legendary figures in rock and roll who win sincere adminiration from their fellow musicians. There's no mistaking the sound of Dale Hawkins, a mixture of raunchy black beat, outstanding bluesy vocals with some great guitar work have become his trademark. Dale's style of singing just fits in with guitars, and it's amazing how he managed to get all those guitar slingers to play with him, James Burton, Roy Buchanan, Scotty Moore, Carl Adams, Kenny Paulsen, Fred Carter Jnr, Joe Osborn (who started as a guitar player with Dale) and Ry Cooder. Dale was an innovator and a big influence on artists like John Fogerty, certainly. There was clearly a lot of music to be found in the Hawkins genes. Delmar Hawkins, known as Skipper, was reputedly one of the best pickers in California. He started out playing with a group called The Sunshine Boys, had done a stint on the Louisiana Hayride and ended up in the West Coast where he possibly recorded with the Sons of The Pioneers and Stuart Hamblen. Skipper Hawkins' sons, Delmar Allen, who adopted the stage name of Dale Hawkins, and Jerry tried their luck as rock'n roll singers. Jerry enjoyed only limited success, cutting some rockabilly records for Ebb, but Dale became a star became a star for a brief period in the 1950's. When other singers forsook rockabilly, they usually reverted back to their first love - country music. Dale Hawkins was an exception. His first love was rhythm and blues, he had a true R&B voice. Hawkins'vibrant vocals were complemented by guitar playing, rough, intense and heavy blues influence. Dale started his career playing in the clubs around Shreveport, Louisiana and charted in 1957 with his second release, the million selling SUSIE-Q (Checker 863), with young James Burton playing lead guitar. Hawkins, like Elvis, performed on records with both Burton and Scotty Moore. Because of the Checker deal, Dale toured a lot with black artists like in June 1957, Marty Faye and McKie Fitzhugh presented "The Show of '57 Rock 'n Roll", featuring Mickey and Sylvia, LaVern Baker, Bobby Charles, Annie Laurie and Dale Hawkins plus Chicago locals Willie Dixon, The Dells, Harold Burrage, Paul Bascomb and The Spaniels. He was also one of the first white artists to play in Apollo Theatre, and appeared in other black theatres like Regal and Paramount and of course recorded in Chicago with black musicians. Dale was one of the most heavily recorded of all white artists on Chess (there's still a bundle of unissued Checker tracks). The conventional rock 'n roll view of Dale Hawkins is derived from such typical Hawkins numbers as MY BABE, LITTLE PIG and TORNADO, all of which feature powerful sound, based on strong rhythmic beat. The Chess brothers were experiencing use of the R&B vocal groups with Bo Diddley. Moonglows-backed numbers appeared on many Diddley 45's and they tried the same with Dale Hawkins. Earliest vocal group collaboration with Dale was HEAVEN which appeared on his first album, which is one of the most sought after records among record collectors. Dale had only four chart hits, Susie-Q #27, La-Do-Dada #32, A House A Car A Wedding Ring #88 and Class Cutter #52, surprisingly all were pop hits and only Susie-Q climbed to #7 on R&B Jockeys chart. As the 1960's opened, rock'n roll was in transition, as hard driving piano, wailing saxophone and raunchy guitar sounds gave away to pop arrangements stressing softer instrumentation (strings, organs and flutes) and call and response choruses. Dale cut three singles for the small Tilt label in an attempt to return his classic form after his career ended with Checker. WISH I HADN'T CALLED HOME is a good example from that era and it was recorded at Owen Bradley's studio in Nashville in April 1961. It has Fred Carter Jnr. on guitar and Floyd Cramer on piano. The song appeared on Dale's second Tilt 45 which failed to chart due the lack of promotion. After Tilt, Dale had one release on Zonk label, a live album on Roulette and then he signed with Atlantic. Bob Crewe produced two 45's, but after that his career was over at Atlantic Records before it even began. WOMEN - THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING and WITH A FEEELING were great records, but signs of the change were in the wind and on the last Checker sessions Dale had tried everything from ballads to doowop, but these and the ones that followed never measured up to SUSIE-Q. As a result of that Dale later found further fame as a producer, working with artists like Bruce Channel, Ronnie Self, John Fred, Joe Stampley & The Uniques, Savanna, Five Americans, Harry Nilsson and Mike Nesmith. Recently he has produced Kenny Brown's album GOIN' BACK TO MISSISSIPPI (Plum Tone). Dale recorded some new material during the '80s and '90s. It was the long awaited return. It's over 45 years since the release of SUSIE-Q, Dale never got the rock star status he deserves, but don't mind, he'll always be a rocker. The adulation in Europe continues to the present. During late 80's and early 90's Dale stopped touring for quite a few years, but in the autumn of 1997, Hawkins decided to make his first ever trip to Finland. The venue turned out to be the Kaisaniemi restaurant in Helsinki. The place was packed, Dale was very confortable on stage, there was something about him that made you sway and your feet tap, there was just something magic about him - he was very exciting. That show was also a record release party, Goofin' records put out an EP, WILDCAT TAMER (Goofy 587), that contains new recordings by Dale, his first release of new material since mid seventies. His performance left one indelible impression, the enormity of his talent. After the show Dale said "You can't explain how it feels for an older guy like me to have all these fans here. I feel like I've left something in the world that people can enjoy." And the part of Dale Hawkins that he will behind consists of a handful of recordings, only a few of which were released during his tenure with Checker, but recordings that still form the bulk of his stage repertoire today. Dale's Checker recordings remain one of the landmarks of pure, carefree rock 'n' roll. Hopefully the recent relases on Ace, Norton, Goofin' and Beveric will introduce Dale Hawkins to the generations who are as yet unfamiliar with his music. Dale and his voice are still a musical explosion, and it was a dream come true to see him on stage with James Burton in May 2002. Tapio Vaisanen - a fan! Complete sessionography: http://pcuf.fi/~tapiov/discographies/dalehawkins.htm Recommended listening: CDs --- OH! SUZY Q, MCA MCD 30693 (Germany) 1993 OH! SUZIE Q - THE BEST OF DALE HAWKINS, MCA CHESS MVCM- 22079 (Japan) 1995 OH! SUSIE Q - THE BEST OF DALE HAWKINS, MCA CHESS CHD 9356 (USA) 1995 DAREDEVIL, NORTON CED 256 (USA) 1997 ROCK 'N' ROLL TORNADO, ACE CDCHD 693 (UK) 1998 FOOL'S PARADISE, Beveric BRCD001 (Finland) 2000 LPs BORN IN LOUISIANA 10", Goofin' GOOFY 1091 (Finland) 1999 DALE HAWKINS CHESS ROCK 'N' RHYTHM SERIES, CHESS CH 9176 (USA/Canada) Recommended reading: Roy Buchanan biography "American Axe" by Phil Carson