Born: January 10, 1935 in Huntsville, Arkansas
Hawkins passed his time away in high school with a pick-up band. After graduation he put together a semi-pro band that toured around Arkansas. This was the first edition of Hawkins' The Hawks who stayed with the singer through his starving years in Memphis (not even Elvis nor Carl Perkins could catch a break in Memphis - until Elvis' "Heartbreak Hotel" in 1956).
In 1958 a friend of Hawkins, Harold Jenkins (aka Conway Twitty) was playing in a rockabilly band called the Rock Housers who was brought to Hamilton, Ontario to play a club called The Grange by booking agent Harold Kudletts.
Hawkins played the same brand of rock and roll and was also invited up to Canada to play the club as well. One gig led to another which rolled over into a permanent residency at the club and in Canada. By this point The Hawks had been reformed three times and with Hawkins setting up shop in Canada, many of the members became homesick and returned to the US.
Drummer Levon Helm did stick it out and a new Hawks was formed that included Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, and Garth Hudson. They would soon grow tired of Hawkins' straight ahead rockabilly and branch out on their own, first as Bob Dylan's backing group during his 'electric' period, but as prominent superstars The Band.
Hawkins was unphased and began recruiting new members to become yet another version of The Hawks. This group would appear on three singles in 1964 and 1965 for Hawkins' own Hawk Records. They would leave shortly thereafter and become Robbie Lane & The Disciples.
With out missing a beat, Hawkins brought in harmonica legend Richard Newell (aka King Biscuit Boy) who was then in charge of recruiting the new musicians. By the late '60's Newell had assembled a stellar group of musicians in Larry Atamniuk (drums), Roly Greenway (bass), Kelly Jay [aka Blake Fordham] (vocals, piano), Rheal Lanthier (guitar), Richard Bell (keyboards) and John Gibbard (slide guitar).
Hawkins named these guys And Many Others and used them for the recording of an album. They too grew tired of the low paying job of entertaining in some of the worst dives Canada had ever seen and split from him.
As with the band, And Many Others would record one album with Newell under the name Crowbar. Once Newell went solo, Crowbar established a career of their own culminating in the Daffodil Records hit single "Oh! What A Feeling".
Hawkins again shrugged off the defectors, wished them luck and set about trying to organise a peace festival with John Lennon in 1969. Lennon and Yoko Ono would visit Hawkins on his northern Ontario farm for several days.
Hawkins and Australian music journalist Ritchie Yorke were later recruited as Lennon peace emmissaries and toured the world spreading Lennon's message of 'Love Not War' all around the globe. The two were nearly arrested in China when they waved a banner with this slogan on the Great Wall Of China.
With his return to Canada and rock and roll, Hawkins put together another ad hock version of The Hawks -- this time with Hugh Brockie (guitar, banjo) and Dwayne Ford (guitar) as Ronnie's Rock 'n' Roll Revival And Travelling Medicine Show. By the early '70's Brockie and Ford had quit Hawkins' employ and formed Atkinson, Danko, and Ford before changing several members and re-christening themselves Bearfoot.
The critically acclaimed album 'The Hawk And Rock' was recorded live in England in 1982; He won a Juno for 'Country Male Vocalist' for his 1984 LP 'Making It Again'.
His most recent album, 1995's 'Let It Rock' went gold and gave him a 1996 Juno Award nomination. Also in 1996, Ronnie won the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award as CARAS' Industry Builder. Earlier, he went to The White House as a guest of President Bill Clinton, and to launch 'Let It Rock' in Washington.
The most current version of The Hawks features: Terry Danko (bass), Jerry Baird (keys), Brian 'Buzz' Thompson (rhythm guitar), Brent Bailey (piano), Mike Eastman (guitar),
Hawkins is also an accomplished actor in the television/film industry. He has hosted a number of television shows and has been the guest star on countless television variety shows. In 1981/82 he hosted his own television show called 'Honky Tonk', followed by the release of an award-winning documentary film on his career entitled 'The Hawk'. In 1983, he hosted a nationally syndicated special, 'In Concert', which marked his 25th year in Canada. Until the last few years, Hawkins had been the host of CITY-TV's New Years Eve Countdown from Nathan Philips Square in Toronto.
Hawkins' screen appearances include: 'The Last Waltz', a documentary film about the final concert by The Band; the controversial 1979 cinematic disaster 'Heaven's Gate', in which Hawkins played Major Walcott in a cameo; 'Renaldo & Clara' produced by Bob Dylan, wherein Hawkins portrays Dylan himself; 'Snakeater' with Lorenzo Lamas featuring Hawkins playing multiple rolls as well as musical contributions to the soundtrack.
Singles
1958 Hey Bo Diddley/Love Me Like You Can (Quality)
1959 Forty Days/One Of These Days (Apex)
1959 Mary Lou/Need Your Lovin' (Apex)
1960 Southern Love/Love Me Like You Can (Apex)
1960 Lonely Hours/Clara (Roulette)
1960 Ballad of Caryl Chessman/Death of Floyd Collins (Roulette)
1960 Ruby Baby/Hayride (Roulette)
1960 Summertime/Mister And Mississippi (Roulette)
1961 Cold Cold Heart/Nobodys Lonesome For Me (Roulette)
1961 Come Love/I Feel Good (Roulette)
1963 Bo Diddley/Who Do You Love (Roulette)
1963 High Blood Pressure/There's A Screw Loose (Roulette)
1964 Got My Mojo Workin/Let The Good Times Roll (Hawk)
1965 Bluebirds Over The Mountain/Diddley Diddley Daddy (Hawk)
1965 Goin' To The River/Little Red Rooster (Hawk)
1967 Home From The Forest/Will The Circle Be Unbroken (Yorkville)
1968 Mary Jane/Reason To Believe (Yorkville)
1969 Forty Days/Mary Lou (Roulette)
1970 Matchbox/Little Bird (Hawk)
1970 Down In The Alley/Home From The Forest (Hawk)
1970 Bitter Green/Forty Days (Hawk)
1970 Patricia/Black Sheep Boy (Hawk)
1972 Cora Mae/Lawdy Miss Clawdy (Monument)
1973 Lonesome Town/Kinky (Monument)
1973 Bo Diddley/Lonely Hours (Monument)
1973 Diddley Daddy/Cora Mae (Monument)
1975 Will The Circle Be Unbroken/ Lady Came From Baltimore (Polydor)
1977 Forty Days/Mary Lou (Roulette)
1980 Home From The Forest/[B Side by Terry Jacks] (Arc)
1981 (Stuck In) Lodi/Brown-Eyed Handsome Man (Quality)
1981 Only The Lucky/300 Lbs Of Heavenly Joy (Quality)
1982 Wild Little Willy/Johnny B. Goode (Quality)
1984 Hit Record/Ode To A Truck Drivin Man (Trilogy)
1985 Making It Again/Patricia (Epic)
1985 Look Out Time/Good Timing Song (Epic)
1987 Mary Lou/Girl With The Dark Brown Hair (Epic)
1987 Days Gone By/Mama Come Home (Epic)
US Released Singles
1959 Forty Days/One of These Days (Roulette)
1959 Mary Lou/Need Your Lovin' (Roulette)
1959 Southern Love/Love Me Like You Can (Roulette)
1960 Lonely Hours/Clara (Roulette)
1960 Ballad of Caryl Chessman/Death of Floyd Collins (Roulette)
1960 Ruby Baby/Hayride Summertime (Roulette)
1960 Summertime/Mister And Mississippi (Roulette)
1961 Come Love/I Feel Good (Roulette)
1961 Cold Cold Heart/Nobodys Lonesome For Me (Roulette)
1963 High Blood Pressure/There's A Screw Loose (Roulette)
1963 Bo Diddley/Who Do You Love (Roulette)
1970 Down In The Alley/Matchbox (Cotillion)
1970 Bitter Green/Forty Days (Cotillion)
1971 Little Bird/One More Night (Cotillion)
1972 Cora Mae/Lawdy Miss Clawdy (Monument)
1972 Lonesome Town/Kinky (Monument)
1973 Diddley DiddleyDaddy/Cora Mae (Monument)
1973 Bo Diddley/Lonely Hours (Monument)
1985 Forty Days/Mary Lou (Roulette)
1990 Forty Days/Mary Lou (Collectibles)
Albums
1959 Ronnie Hawkins (Roulette)
1960 Folk Ballads (Roulette)
1960 The Songs of Hank Williams (Roulette)
1964 Best of Ronnie Hawkins (Roulette)
1967 Mojo Man (Roulette)
1968 Ronnie Hawkins (Yorkville)
1970 Ronnie Hawkins (Hawk)
1971 The Hawk (Hawk)
1972 Rock'n'Roll Resurrection (Monument)
1974 Giant of Rock'n'Roll (Monument)
1976 Giant/Resurrection [2 LPs] (Monument)
1976 The Hawk In Winter (Polydor)
1978 Sold Out (Roulette)
1979 The Hawk (United Artists)
1981 Greatest Hits (Quality)
1981 Legend In His Spare Time (Quality)
1983 The Hawk And Rock (Trilogy)
1985 Making It Again (Epic)
1987 Hello Again... Mary Lou (Epic)
1989 Greatest Hits [3 LPs] (Silver Eagle)
1989 Treasure Chest (Polygram)
1989 Greatest Hits [re-issue] (Silver Eagle)
1989 Rock'n'Roll Favourites (Silver Eagle)
1990 Greatest Hits/Rock 'n' Roll Faves (Polytel)
1991 Then and Now (Elite)
1995 Let It Rock (Quality)
US Released Albums
1959 Ronnie Hawkins (Roulette)
1959 Mr. Dynamo (Roulette)
1960 Folk Ballads (Roulette)
1960 The Songs of Hank Williams (Roulette)
1970 Best of Ronnie Hawkins (Roulette)
1970 Ronnie Hawkins (Cotillion)
1971 The Hawk (Cotillion)
1972 Rock'n'Roll Resurrection (Monument)
1974 Giant of Rock'n'Roll (Monument)
1976 Giant/Resurrection [2 LPs] (Monument)
1979 The Hawk (United Artists)
1982 Premonition (Accord)
1990 Best of Ronnie Hawkins (Rhino)
1992 Mr. Dynamo/Sings Hank Williams (TNT)
1995 Let It Rock (Quality)
Video
Compilation Tracks
Submit corrections, additions and feedback
