Dale Hawkins
Encyclopedia
Delmar Allen "Dale" Hawkins (August 22, 1936 – February 13, 2010) was a pioneer American
rock
singer, songwriter
, and rhythm guitar
ist who was often called the architect of swamp rock boogie. Fellow rockabilly pioneer Ronnie Hawkins
was his cousin.
, Louisiana
clubs, and although his music was influenced by the new rock and roll style of Elvis Presley
and the guitar sounds of Scotty Moore
, Hawkins blended that with the uniquely heavy blues
sound of black Louisiana artists for his recording of his swamp-rock classic, "Susie Q
." Fellow Louisiana guitarist and future Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
r James Burton
provided the signature riff and solo. The song was chosen as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Creedence Clearwater Revival
's version of the song on their 1968 debut
album helped launch their career and today it is probably the best known version.
In 1958 Hawkins recorded a single of Willie Dixon
's "My Babe
" at the Chess Records
studio in Chicago, featuring Telecaster guitarist Roy Buchanan
. He went on to a long and successful career, recording more songs for Chess
. In 1998, Ace Records
issued a compilation album
, Dale Hawkins, Rock 'n' Roll Tornado, which contained a collection of his early works and previously unreleased material. Other recordings include the cult classic "LA, Memphis and Tyler, Texas," and a 1999 release, "Wildcat Tamer," of all-new recordings that garnered Hawkins a 4-star review in Rolling Stone
. However, his career was not limited to recording or performing. He hosted a teen dance party, The Dale Hawkins Show, on WCAU-TV in Philadelphia.
He then became a record producer
, and found success with The Uniques' "Not Too Long Ago," the Five Americans
' "Western Union," Jon & Robin's "Do It Again – A Little Bit Slower." He served as executive vice president of Abnak Records
; Vice President, Southwest Division, Bell Records (here he produced Bruce Channel
, Ronnie Self
, James Bell
, the Festivals, the Dolls, and the Gentrys
); and A&R director, RCA West Coast Rock Division, working with Michael Nesmith
and Harry Nilsson
. In the 1990s, he produced "Goin Back to Mississippi" by R. L. Burnside
's slide guitarist, Kenny Brown.
Hawkins' pioneering contributions have been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame
.
honored Dale Hawkins for his contributions to Louisiana music by inducting him into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame. At the same time, he released his latest recording, "Back Down to Louisiana," inspired by a trip to his childhood home. It was recognized by the UK
's music magazine
, Mojo
, as #10 in the Americana category in their 2007 Best of issue, while "LA, Memphis and Tyler, Texas," was awarded #8 in the reissue category.
Hawkins died on February 13, 2010, from colon cancer
in Little Rock, Arkansas
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
singer, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, and rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
ist who was often called the architect of swamp rock boogie. Fellow rockabilly pioneer Ronnie Hawkins
Ronnie Hawkins
Ronald "Ronnie" Hawkins is a Juno Award-winning rockabilly musician whose career has spanned more than half a century. Though his career began in Arkansas, USA, where he'd been born and raised, it was in Ontario, Canada where he found success and settled for most of his life...
was his cousin.
Biography
In 1957, Hawkins was playing at ShreveportShreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
clubs, and although his music was influenced by the new rock and roll style of Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
and the guitar sounds of Scotty Moore
Scotty Moore
Winfield Scott "Scotty" Moore III is an American guitarist. He is best known for his backing of Elvis Presley in the first part of his career, between 1954 and the beginning of Elvis' Hollywood years...
, Hawkins blended that with the uniquely heavy blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
sound of black Louisiana artists for his recording of his swamp-rock classic, "Susie Q
Susie Q (song)
"Susie Q" is a song by Louisiana-born singer and guitarist Dale Hawkins . He wrote the song himself, but when it was released, Stan Lewis, the owner of Jewel/Paula Records, and Eleanor Broadwater, the wife of Nashville DJ Gene Nobles, were also credited as co-writers to give them shares of the...
." Fellow Louisiana guitarist and future Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
r James Burton
James Burton
James Burton is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001 , Burton has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame...
provided the signature riff and solo. The song was chosen as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....
's version of the song on their 1968 debut
Creedence Clearwater Revival (album)
Creedence Clearwater Revival is the first album by the American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, released in 1968.The reissue liner notes state that while "Susie Q" proved to be a hit, the band had played for years as the Golliwogs in the early 1960s, releasing numerous singles before...
album helped launch their career and today it is probably the best known version.
In 1958 Hawkins recorded a single of Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
's "My Babe
My Babe
"My Babe" is a blues song and a blues standard written by Willie Dixon for Little Walter. Released in 1955 on Checker Records, a subsidiary of Chess Records, the song was the only Dixon composition ever to become a no...
" at the Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
studio in Chicago, featuring Telecaster guitarist Roy Buchanan
Roy Buchanan
Roy Buchanan was an American guitarist and blues musician. A pioneer of the Telecaster sound, Buchanan was a sideman and solo artist, with two gold albums early in his career, and two later solo albums that made it on to the Billboard chart. Despite never having achieved stardom, he is still...
. He went on to a long and successful career, recording more songs for Chess
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
. In 1998, Ace Records
Ace Records (US)
Ace Records was a record label that was started in August 1955 in Jackson, Mississippi by Johnny Vincent, with Teem Records as its budget subsidiary. Ace also had the Vin label. Its records were distributed independently until 1962 when a distribution arrangement was set up with Vee-Jay Records....
issued a compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, Dale Hawkins, Rock 'n' Roll Tornado, which contained a collection of his early works and previously unreleased material. Other recordings include the cult classic "LA, Memphis and Tyler, Texas," and a 1999 release, "Wildcat Tamer," of all-new recordings that garnered Hawkins a 4-star review in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
. However, his career was not limited to recording or performing. He hosted a teen dance party, The Dale Hawkins Show, on WCAU-TV in Philadelphia.
He then became a record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, and found success with The Uniques' "Not Too Long Ago," the Five Americans
Five Americans
Five Americans was a 1960s American band, most famous for the song "Western Union", which reached #5 in the U.S. Billboard chart and was their only single to chart in the Top 20...
' "Western Union," Jon & Robin's "Do It Again – A Little Bit Slower." He served as executive vice president of Abnak Records
Abnak records
Abnak Records was a record label based in Dallas, Texas, owned by Fort Worth insurance man John Howard Abdnor, Sr., active from 1963 to 1971, begun mainly as an outlet for his son John H. Abdnor, Jr., primarily as Jon & Robin. The most success for the label came from the group The Five Americans. ...
; Vice President, Southwest Division, Bell Records (here he produced Bruce Channel
Bruce Channel
Bruce Channel is an American singer, known for his 1962 million selling number one hit, "Hey! Baby".-Career:...
, Ronnie Self
Ronnie Self
Ronnie Self was a United States rockabilly singer and songwriter. His solo career was unsuccessful, despite being signed to contracts with Columbia and then Decca from the late 1950s through the early 1960s. His only charted single was "Bop-A-Lena"; recorded in 1957 and released in 1958, it...
, James Bell
Jimmy Velvit
Jimmy Velvit is an American rock and roll singer, who began his career in the 1960s. His real name is James Mullins, originally from Coalgate, Oklahoma, later from Dallas, Texas. He is best known for recording a white rhythm and blues version, in 1961, of Robert & Johnny's 1958 hit "We Belong...
, the Festivals, the Dolls, and the Gentrys
The Gentrys
The Gentrys were an American band of the 1960s and early 1970s best known for their 1965 hit "Keep on Dancing"...
); and A&R director, RCA West Coast Rock Division, working with Michael Nesmith
Michael Nesmith
Robert Michael Nesmith is an American musician, songwriter, actor, producer, novelist, businessman, and philanthropist, best known as a member of the musical group The Monkees and star of the TV series of the same name...
and Harry Nilsson
Harry Nilsson
Harry Edward Nilsson III was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. On all but his earliest recordings he is credited as Nilsson...
. In the 1990s, he produced "Goin Back to Mississippi" by R. L. Burnside
R. L. Burnside
Not to be confused with R. H. Burnside, stage director.R. L. Burnside , born Robert Lee Burnside, was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist who lived much of his life in and around Holly Springs, Mississippi. He played music for much of his life, but did not receive much attention...
's slide guitarist, Kenny Brown.
Hawkins' pioneering contributions have been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame
Rockabilly Hall of Fame
The Rockabilly Hall of Fame was established on the internet on March 21, 1997, to present early rock and roll history and information relative to the artists and personalities involved in this pioneering American music genre....
.
Death
In 2005, he was diagnosed with colon cancer and began chemotherapy while continuing to perform in the US and abroad. In October 2007, The Louisiana Music Hall of FameLouisiana Music Hall of Fame
The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame is an IRS certified 501 non-profit organization based in the state capitol of Baton Rouge, La., that seeks to preserve Louisiana's rich music culture and heritage and to further educate its citizens and people worldwide about the state’s unique role contributing...
honored Dale Hawkins for his contributions to Louisiana music by inducting him into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame. At the same time, he released his latest recording, "Back Down to Louisiana," inspired by a trip to his childhood home. It was recognized by the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's music magazine
Music magazine
A music magazine is a magazine dedicated to music and music culture. Such magazines typically include music news, interviews, photo shoots, essays, record reviews, concert reviews and occasionally have a covermount with recorded music.-Notable music magazines:...
, Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
, as #10 in the Americana category in their 2007 Best of issue, while "LA, Memphis and Tyler, Texas," was awarded #8 in the reissue category.
Hawkins died on February 13, 2010, from colon cancer
Colorectal cancer
Colorectal cancer, commonly known as bowel cancer, is a cancer caused by uncontrolled cell growth , in the colon, rectum, or vermiform appendix. Colorectal cancer is clinically distinct from anal cancer, which affects the anus....
in Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
.