# Al Hawkes

Al Hawkes (December 25, 1930 – December 28, 2018) was an American musician, founder of Event Records, and pioneer of the American bluegrass movement. He received state and national accolades, including being recognized as a member of the first generation of bluegrass musicians by the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Kentucky.

## Biography

Hawkes was born in Providence, Rhode Island, but moved back to his family's homestead in Westbrook, Maine, when he was 10, in 1941.
His father helped him get hooked on southern hillbilly music by installing a radio with a long antenna that could pick up music from stations like WWVA, WCKY, WJJD, and WBT.
When he was thirteen, Hawkes's mother bought him a guitar and chord book, and his father soon gave him a Gibson A4 mandolin. Hawkes formed his first band (the Al Hawkes Hillbillies) as a high school sophomore. They played at local school functions and grange halls.
In the late 1940s, Hawkes built a pirate radio station broadcasting at 1210 KC on the AM dial, which he shut down in 1949 after the FCC learned of his illegal operation. He was soon broadcasting five days a week from WLAM radio in Lewiston, Maine.
In the 1940s, Hawkes performed as one half of the duo Allerton & Alton, the first interracial duo to play bluegrass. They performed live and on radio shows until 1951, despite the heavily segregated climate of the time.
In 1951, during the Korean War, Hawkes entered the Maine National Guard and was stationed in North Africa, where he was a disc jockey for Armed Forces Radio and performed for the troops. Here he had the opportunity to learn how to use up-to-date recording equipment. When he returned from North Africa, he went to Boston to attend the Massachusetts Radio and Broadcast School for two years, obtained his First Class Broadcast License, and graduated as an honor student.
In 1956, Hawkes formed Event Records, an independent label out of Westbrook, Maine, with Richard Greeley. Together, they recorded many high-profile artists, including Dick Curless, Hal Lone Pine, and Lenny Breau. Event Records operated until 1962,, when the warehouse of its Boston distributor was destroyed by a fire and thousands of records were lost, putting the company out of business.
In 2010, Andrew Jawitz made a 47-minute documentary, The Eventful Life of Al Hawkes, which was broadcast on the Maine Public Broadcasting Network and shown locally.
In 2013, Todd Hutchisen of Acadia Recording Company (a small recording studio in Portland, Maine) purchased all of the original recording equipment from Event Records and relocated and repaired the 1/4” mono tape decks, Altec stereo mixing board, Ampex 350s, real tape delay, spring reverb, and original RCA, Shure, and EV microphones for use at Acadia. That equipment has been used to record several split 45-inch vinyl records with groups looking to recreate the iconic rockabilly sound.
After Event Records, Hawkes opened a TV repair shop at the same site as his recording studio. Its sign is now eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
After his 80th birthday, then-Senator Olympia Snowe delivered a tribute to him in the Congressional Record, calling Hawkes "a Maine and national treasure."
Hawkes died on December 28, 2018, at the age of 88.

## Discography

| Year | Album | Group | Notes |
| 2004 | Keep On Smiling | Al Hawkes | Featuring Fred Lantz, Al Doane, Alan Stapleford, Sean Mencher, Bob Boothby and Bruce Milliard |
| | Gettin' It All Together | Al Hawkes and His String Fusion | |
| 1991 | I'll Go Somewhere and Sing My Songs Again | Al Hawkes and the Nighthawkes | |
| 1990 | Old Time Pickin' and Singin' | Al Hawkes | |
| 2014 | I Love the State of Maine | Al Hawkes | |
| 2011 | Black White and Bluegrass | Allerton & Alton | Bear Family Records |

## Event Records catalogue

| | Artist | 7" singles |
| 4256 | Charlie Bailey & His Happy Valley Boys | "Darling Nellie Across The Sea" / "The Memory of Your Smile" |
| 4257 | Hal "Lone Pine" and his Kountry Karavan | "Prince Edward Island Is Heaven To Me" / "Down By The Railroad Tracks" |
| 4258 | Dick Curless | "Foggy Foggy Dew" / "The Streets of Laredo" |
| 4259 | Johnny Copeland | "What Kind of Life" / "Radar" |
| 4260 | Harold Carter | "The Hot Mocking Bird" / "The German Waltz" |
| 4261 | Lilly Brothers | "Are You Tired Of Me My Darling" / "Tragic Romance" |
| 4262 | Sonny DeFreest & the Western Rhythm Boys | "Little Boy Blue" / "I've Been Hurt By Love Before" |
| 4263 | Clyde & Willy Joy | "From The Hills" / "Beautiful Heaven Up There" |
| 4264 | Ken Fairlie | "Tonight Is Just Another Night To Cry Myself To Sleep" / "The Table Turned" |
| 4265 | Pete Peterson | "Won't Cha" / "Don't Try" |
| 4266 | Dick Curless | "China Nights" / "Blues In My Mind" |
| 4267 | Slim Coxx & His Cowboy Caravan | "Sitting Here All Alone" / "Oh Golly, Gosh, Oh Gee" |
| 4268 | Curtis Johnson & The Windjammers | "Baby, Baby" / "Teenage Love Affair" |
| 4269 | Jimmy Copeland | "Jealous Hearted Me" / "Roses And Thorns" |
| 4270 | The Dreamers | "Rock & Roll Baby" / "Ding Dong" |
| 4271 | Javalans | "Come Dance With Me" / "Cynthia" |
| 4272 | Lilly Brothers | "John Henry" / "Bring Back My Blue Eyed Boy To Me" |
| 4273 | Danny & Audrey Harrison | "Rock-a-Billy Boogie" / "Let 'Em Talk" |
| 4274 | Dick Curless | "Nine Pound Hammer" / "You Never Miss The Water" |
| 4275 | Brice Sisters | "Your Jealous Mind" / "Please Understand" |
| 4276 | Pell Brothers | "Itch and Leave" / "Pretend" |
| 4277 | Johnny Houston | "Slick Chick" / "Playboy" |
| 4278 | Danny Harrison | "Mary Ann I'm Lonesome" / "Have You Ever Been Lonely" |
| 4279 | Statics | "The Day You Left Me" / "The Girl in My Dreams" |
| 4280 | Dick Curless | "Ragged But Right" / "I Ain't Got Nobody (And Nobody Cares For Me)" |
| 4281 | Curtis Johnson with the Windjammers | "Loverboy" / "Heading For The High School Hop" |
| 4282 | Curtis Johnson with the Windjammers | "Baby, Let's Play House" / "I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine" |
| 4285 | Velvets | "I" / "At Last" |
| 4286 | Herbie Lee III | "Champagne Charlene" |
| 4287 | Scarlets | "Dear One" / "I've Lost" |
| 4288 | Susan Capone | "Until The End of Time" / "I Understand" |
| 4289 | Ricky Coyne & His Guitar Rockers | "Rollin' Pin Mim" / I'll Love You Forever"" |
| 4290 | The Della Sisters | "Can You?" / "Hesitate" |
| 4291 | Les Seevers & The Oaks | "Wooden Angels" / "Something Old, Something New" |
| 4292 | Arvaks | "Beautiful Child" / "Donne-Moi" |
| 4293 | Three Little Pigs | "Little Piggy Cha Cha Cha" / "Georgie Porgie Cha Cha Cha" |
| 4294 | Ricky Coyne and his Guitar Rockers | "I Want You To Know" / "Angel From Heaven" |
| 4295 | Scotty McKay | "Rollin' Dynamite" / "Evenin' Time" |
| 4296 | Paula Gay | "Hi Mr. Moon (Cha-Cha)" / "Where Is That Rainbow" |
| 4297 | Paul Champagne | "My Boy" / "When You're Away" |
| 4298 | Ricky Coyne and his Guitar Rockers | "Kaw-Liga" / "Little Darleen" |