Dale Hawkins

Dale Hawkins Delmar Allen Hawkins born, ( born August 22, 1936 in Goldmine, Louisiana, † February 13, 2010 in Little Rock, Arkansas ) was an American rock 'n' roll singer and guitarist, who often is referred to as the inventor of the swamp rock.

His music has been influenced by rock 'n' roll style of Elvis Presley and the guitar sounds of Scotty Moore. He mixed this sound with the Blue Sound, based in Louisiana black musicians and so invented the Swamp rock classic Susie Q.

Life

Childhood and youth

Hawkins was born in Goldmine (Louisiana ), which is located about 30 miles from Ferriday. Hawkins ' mother was a teacher in the small school of the community, while his father played in several country bands. Hawkins ' brother Jerry hit later also a career as a musician. In 1939, the parents divorced and Hawkins graduated from the High School in Bossier City. Musically, he was influenced at this time by the country blues of the African American population. In the cotton fields Hawkins worked with many blacks and also performed with them during breaks. At 16, he signed up for the United States Navy.

Career

After his military service, Hawkins lived in Shreveport (Louisiana ) where he daytime in Stan Lewis' record store worked and the current rhythm-and - blues records studied. At night he played in the clubs of Bossier City ( not far from Shreveport is located on the other side of the Red River ) mainly blues.

Motivated by the success of his friend Bobby Charles, who had at Chess Records with Later Aligator a hit he took in 1956 in a late-night session with the brothers John and Al Jones in the sender's KWKH studio on some tracks, including See You Soon Baboon. Stan Lewis Hawkins took on as manager and brought the title to Leonard Chess, owner of Chess labels, the See You Soon Baboon with Four Letter Word in July 1956 on his sub-label Checker Records released. The single was, however, granted no special success.

Hawkins joined in 1957 still on in the clubs around Shreveport and Bossier City. He and his band had been working longer on the song Suzie Q. At that time, Hawkins was also strongly influenced by Elvis Presley and guitarists Scotty Moore and influences its Roy Buchanan, yet he kept the strong connection to the blues. Suzie Q, has been resumed in the KWKH studio, along with Hawkins ' band and guitarist James Burton in 1957. Hawkins sent the tapes again to Chess, who published Suzie Q. It took some time, but ultimately could advance the song to number seven R & B charts and number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100. The title is considered groundbreaking for the swamp rock and influenced the band Creedence Clearwater Revival, which started a cover version of the song.

Hawkins was able to repeat his success in the subsequent period. In 1958 he succeeded with La -Do -Dada another chart success ( No. 32 ), but he was unable to establish at the national level. By 1962, he stayed with Checker Records, then moved for a year to Tilt Records and then picked up some more unnoticed singles.

In the 1960s, he worked for various labels as a producer and A & R manager. Among the many productions albums were of the Uniques, Five Americans, Ronnie Self, James Bell or Harry Nilsson. Was published in 1999 with the album Wildcat Tamer first time new material from Hawkins, which was positively evaluated in the trade press. Further albums followed such as Back to Louisiana from the year 2007.

When Dale Hawkins in 2006 was diagnosed with cancer, to which he succumbed in Little Rock (Arkansas ) in February 2010.