Rockabilly legend Ronnie Hawkins dies at 87

You can thank U.S. country star Conway Twitty for introducing Ronnie Hawkins to Canada.

It was Twitty, who was based out of Hamilton when he toured southern Ontario regularly as a rockabilly star in the late ‘50s, who told Hamilton agent and promoter Harold Kudlats that because of growing demand south of the border, he had to relocate his base of operations.

In a 2016 interview with FYIMusicNews, Kudlats recalled asking Twitty if he had a replacement he could recommend.

“I asked, ‘Conway, are there any more acts like this back in Arkansas?’ ” Kudlats recalled at the time. “He recommended Ronnie Hawkins. And I brought Hawkins up in 1958.”

He booked Hawkins at the Golden Rail Tavern, and when he first set eyes on the man who would come to be known as “Rompin’ Ronnie Hawkins,” he remembered him as “an exciting act. He’d do backflips — it was an exciting show.”

It was the beginning of a great love affair between the larger-than-life singer and “the promised land” he called Canada, one that sadly ended 64 years later with the passing of Hawkins on May 29 at a Peterborough hospital, following a long illness.

He was 87.

Born in Huntsville, Arkansas, Hawkins was legendary in the ‘50s and ‘60s for his Camel walk and regularly performing sold-out residencies at such Yonge Street clubs as Le Coq D’or and the Nickelodeon. Always a popular entertainer, he never really ruled the charts. In 1959, he scored a Top 30 Billboard hit with “Mary Lou” that was preceded by his Top 50 entry “Forty Days.”

But what he really deserves credit for is having an eye for talent, and a reputation for being a relentless taskmaster when it came to band rehearsals, notes veteran Celebrity Access journalist Larry LeBlanc.

“He rehearsed those bands til their fingers bled — literally,” LeBlanc said. “He changed the course of Canadian music — no question.”

The list is impressive: former Hawks include future Grammy-winning artist-producer David Foster and legendary Nashville session guitarist Fred Carter Jr., among others.

And then, of course, there were the most famous Hawks of the lot: drummer Levon Helm, guitarist Robbie Robertson, bass player Rick Danko, keyboardist Richard Manuel and multi-instrumentalist Garth Hudson, later collectively known as The Band.

“He was straightforward and he tolerated my instrumental part of the thing,” Hudson told The Star over the phone Sunday from Woodstock, New York. “He was an entertainer from the get-go. We all loved him.”

After they split with Hawkins, the Hawks teamed up with Bob Dylan. Dylan took them on the road for his infamous 1966 tour where he opened the show with an acoustic set and closed the show with an electric set backed by The Band and a chorus of boos.

Later, Dylan teamed up with The Band in Woodstock New York to record the mythical “Basement Tapes.”

“Without Ronnie Hawkins, there would be no Hawks and there would be no ‘Basement Tapes,’ ” said Jan Haust, Grammy-winning producer of “Bob Dylan and The Band: The Basement Tapes: Complete.”

“Bob Dylan was very fortunate when he wanted to go electric to have a Ronnie Hawkins-trained band, a dynamite rock ‘n roll band. Without the Hawkins boot camp, they wouldn’t have been the tight band that they were.”

Another member of the Hawks during the post-Band years was David Foster, who said he appreciated Hawkins more after he left the band than while he was in it.

“Ronnie was so wise and so smart and he had this incredible ability to pick musicians,” Foster said just prior to a New York performance Sunday. “His track record speaks for himself. But as the years went on, I just valued and appreciated the lessons that he taught and his real contribution to music more and more.”

Foster also echoed Garth Hudson’s sentiments that Hawkins was a fair boss.

“Very early in the beginning there was a bit of rumbling in the band about how much money we were making,” Foster said. “And he walked into the room with a contract in hand and he said, ‘Boys? Here’s my contract with the clubs. You’re welcome to see them anytime you want. Our deal is 50/50 — this is what I’m making — you guys get half. You can see the contracts anytime you want — now shut the f$&% up and let’s get to work.’ And it was just great — he was a soulful dude.”

Even aspiring music writers fell under his spell. For LeBlanc, meeting Hawkins was a life-changing experience.

“Ronnie Hawkins was my first interview of my career in 1965 for the Ajax News Advertiser,” LeBlanc said. “He took the time to talk to me and I was only a high school student.”

LeBlanc also credits Hawkins at the time with being one of the few rock artists who had full albums available.

“He was actually an artist, who back in 1965-to-’67, had albums out. You could buy them. I think it was 1964 that you could get his first album on Roulette. Nobody had albums in Canada. Nobody — until about ‘67, ‘68.”

There were many other colourful aspects to Hawkins’ career.

In 1969, Hawkins hosted John Lennon and Yoko Ono during their famous “Bed-In” protests at his Mississauga home, and accompanied music journalist Ritchie Yorke to China to take the couple’s world peace campaign message across the Pacific. He tried his hand as an actor, starring as Bob Dylan in Dylan’s experimental film “Renaldo and Clara” in the ‘70s. He played pal U.S. President Bill Clinton’s inauguration ceremony in 1990.

An Officer of the Order of Canada, a two-time Juno Award winner, as well as an inductee into the Canadian Walk Of Fame and the Rockbilly Hall of Fame, Hawkins is also remembered for his steadfast support of charities and his ribald sense of humour.

“There’s truly a dozen stories that I can never tell you — just the craziest s–t you could imagine,” David Foster said.

“But he should be remembered as the godfather of Canadian rock ‘n roll. I was fortunate to spend time with him. I was fortunate to be in his band. I was fortunate to stay friends with him all these years. That’s saying something when you can stay really good friends with somebody after they’ve fired you.”

Hawkins is survived by his wife Wanda, his wife of 60 years, and his children, Robin, Leah and Ronnie Jr.

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