Hawkins nicknamed himself “The King of Rockabilly” and had minor hits in the 1950s with “Mary Lou” and “Odessa.”
Ronnie Hawkins, a brash rockabilly star from Arkansas who became a patron of the Canadian music scene after moving north and recruiting a handful of local musicians later known as the Band, has died.
"Hawkins is the only man I ever heard who can make a nice sexy song like 'My Gal is Red Hot' sound sordid," Greil Marcus wrote in his acclaimed book about music and American culture,"Mystery Train," adding that"The Hawk" was alleged to"know more back roads, back rooms and backsides than any man from Newark to Mexicali."
With drummer and fellow Arkansan Levon Helm, Hawkins put together a Canadian backing group that included guitarist-songwriter Robbie Robertson, keyboardists Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel and bassist Rick Danko. They became the Hawks, educated in the Hawkins school of rock. But Hawkins wasn't selling many records and the Hawks outgrew their leader. They hooked up with Bob Dylan in the mid-'60s and by the end of the decade were superstars on their own who had renamed themselves the Band.
"At that particular time, I thought I was doin' them a favor," he later told the National Post."I thought the Beatles were an English group that got lucky. I didn't know a lot about their music. I thought Yoko's was . To this day, I have never heard a Beatle album. For 10 billion dollars, I couldn't name one song on 'Abbey Road.' I have never in my life picked up a Beatle album, and listened to it. Never. But John was so powerful. I liked him.
Besides"The Last Waltz," Hawkins also appeared in Dylan's film"Renaldo and Clara," the big-budget fiasco"Heaven's Gate" and"Hello Mary Lou." A 2007 documentary about Hawkins,"Alive and Kickin,'" was narrated by Dan Aykroyd and featured a cameo from another famous Arkansan, Bill Clinton.
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