Ronnie Hawkins

 

Ronnie Hawkins is best known as the man whose backing musicians later became the legendary rock group The Band (they accompanied Hawkins as one incarnation of The Hawks). However, Hawkins is also one of the great forgotten American performers of the ‘50s era and one of the most colorful personalities and under-rated giants of rock & roll. A consummate performer, he made the leap from high-powered rockabilly, to folk, to heartfelt country just as he relocated from deep in the heart of Arkansas to the bitterly cold streets of Toronto. This quintessential release compiles his two best albums: Ronnie Hawkins (1959) and Mr. Dynamo (1960). Both rock & roll gems contain the cream of the crop from Hawkins’ hit-making stretch for the Roulette label during his early years. In addition, we have included 5 bonus tracks from the same period. These splendid recordings feature a virtual who's who of great musicians including Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Jimmy Ray Paulman, Sam Taylor and Floyd Cramer, among others.

“Ronnie Hawkins, I would say, is, beyond a shadow of a doubt in my mind, one of the greatest kings of rock and roll.”- Jerry Lee Lewis
“This is about as solid a rock & roll collection by a single white artist from this period as you're going to find.” - Bruce Eder
“He is the originator of some of rock’s greatest one-liners.” - Tom Graves
“In his own way (Hawkins) remains as dignified and unregenerate as Jerry Lee Lewis.” – Greil Marcus

 

16-PAGE BOOKLET - RARE PHOTOS - VINTAGE MEMORABILIA - DETAILED LINER NOTES

RONNIE HAWKINS, vocals on all tracks, plus:

Robbie Robertson, Jimmy Ray Paulman, Fred Carter Jr. (guitar),
Jimmy Evans, Gordon Josie (bass)
Willard “Pop” Jones, Floyd Cramer (piano)
Levon Helm (drums)
Ed Burks (percussion),
Sam Taylor (tenor sax), among others.
Further personnel information is detailed inside booklet.

Recorded in New York City and Nashville, between 1959 and 1960.

TRACKS:

RONNIE HAWKINS
01 FORTY DAYS 2:17
02 ODESSA 2:17
03 WILD LITTLE WILLY 2:17
04 RUBY BABY 2:16
05 HORACE 2:34
06 MARY LOU 2:11
07 NEED YOUR LOVIN’ (OH SO BAD) 2:23
08 DIZZY MISS LIZZY 1:57
09 ONE OF THESE DAYS 2:37
10 OH SUGAR 2:16
11 WHAT ‘CHA GONNA DO (WHEN THE CREEK RUNS DRY) 1:59
12 MY GAL IS RED-HOT 1:52

MR. DYNAMO
13 CLARA 2:34
14 HEY BOBA LOU 2:33
15 SOMEONE LIKE YOU 2:30
16 DREAMS DO COME TRUE 2:34
17 HAY RIDE 2:17
18 HONEY DON’T 2:26
19 LONELY HOURS 2:36
20 SICK AND TIRED 2:31
21 LOVE ME LIKE YOU CAN 2:14
22 YOU CHEATED, YOU LIED 2:10
23 BABY JEAN 2:18
24 SOUTHERN LOVE 2:46
BONUS TRACKS
25 SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE A MOTHERLESS CHILD 2:18
26 MR. AND MISSISSIPPI 2:34
27 RAMBLIN’ MAN 2:24
28 JOHN HENRY 2:02
29 SUMMERTIME 2:37

Total Time: 68:17