Ronnie Hawkins
Ronald Hawkins, OC (born January 10, 1935) is an American/Canadian rock and roll musician whose career has spanned more than half a century. His career began in Arkansas, where he was born and raised. He found success in Ontario, Canada, and has lived there for most of his life. He is considered highly influential in the establishment and evolution of rock music in Canada. Also known as "Rompin' Ronnie", "Mr. Dynamo", or simply "The Hawk", he was one of the key players in the 1960s rock scene in Toronto. Throughout his career, Hawkins has performed all across  North America and recorded more than twenty-five albums. His hit songs included covers of Chuck Berry's "Thirty Days" (entitled "Forty Days" by Hawkins) and Young Jessie's "Mary Lou", a song about a "gold-digging woman". Other well-known recordings are "Who Do You Love?", "Hey Bo Diddley", and "Susie Q", which was written by his cousin, rockabilly artist Dale Hawkins. Hawkins is also notable for his role as a talent scout and mentor of musicians he recruited for his band the Hawks. Roy Buchanan was an early Hawks guitarist on the song "Who Do You Love". The  most successful example of this were the musicians who left him to form The Band. Other musicians Hawkins had recruited went on to form Robbie Lane and the Disciples, Janis Joplin's Full Tilt Boogie Band, Crowbar, Bearfoot, and Skylark. Career. Hawkins was born on January 10, 1935, in Huntsville, Arkansas, two days after the birth of Elvis Presley. When he was nine years old, his family moved to nearby Fayetteville, Arkansas. After graduating from high school, he studied physical education at the University of Arkansas, where he formed his first band, the Hawks. He toured with them throughout Arkansas , Oklahoma and Missouri. Hawkins also owned and operated the Rockwood Club in Fayetteville, where some of rock and roll's earliest pioneers came to play including Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison and Conway Twitty. On advice from Conway Twitty, Hawkins began touring Canada in 1958. His first gig there was at the Golden Rail Tavern in Hamilton, Ontario, where he became an overnight success. Hawkins decided to move to Canada, and in 1964 became a permanent resident, eventually making Peterborough, Ontario, his home. After the move, the Hawks, with the exception of Hawkins and drummer Levon Helm, dropped  out of the band. Their vacancies were filled by Canadians Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson, all hailing from Southwestern Ontario. Helm and the rest of those Hawks would leave Hawkins in 1964 to form an act of their own, which eventually came to be named The Band. In December 1969, Hawkins hosted John Lennon and Yoko Ono for a stay at his home in Mississauga, Ontario, during the couple's campaign to promote world peace. Lennon signed his erotic "Bag One" lithographs during his stay there. Lennon also did a radio promo for a Hawkins single , "Down in the Alley". In the early 1970s, Hawkins noticed guitarist Pat Travers performing in Ontario nightclubs and was so impressed with the young musician that he invited him to join his band. Travers later had a very successful recording career and became one of the most influential guitarists of the 1970s hard rock genre. In 1975, Dylan cast Hawkins to play the role of "Bob Dylan" in the movie, "Renaldo and Clara". The following year he was a featured performer at the Band's Thanksgiving Day farewell concert, which was documented in the 1978 film "The Last Waltz". His  1984 LP, "Making It Again", garnered him a Juno Award as Canada's best Country Male Vocalist. In addition to his music, he has also become an accomplished actor, hosting his own television show "Honky Tonk" in the early 1980s and appearing in such films as "Heaven's Gate" with his friend Kris Kristofferson, "" and "Snake Eater". On January 10, 1995, Hawkins celebrated his 60th birthday by throwing a concert at Massey Hall in Toronto, which was documented on the album "Let It Rock". The concert featured performances by Hawkins, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Band and Larry Gowan . Jeff Healey sat in on guitar for most, if not all, of the performances. Hawkins's band, the Hawks, or permutations of it, backed most, if not all, of the acts. All of the musicians performing that night were collectively dubbed "the Rock 'n' Roll Orchestra". In 2002, October 4 was declared "Ronnie Hawkins Day" by the city of Toronto as he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame, in recognition of his lifetime contribution to music and his generous support of the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario and other charitable organizations. Hawkins was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry  Hall of Fame at the Canadian Music Industry Awards on March 4, 2004. His pioneering contribution to the genre has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. In recent years, Hawkins has battled pancreatic cancer. His current state of health, attributed to everything from psychic healers to native herbal medicine, is featured in the film "Ronnie Hawkins: Still Alive and Kicking". In 2005, he was awarded an honorary degree from Laurentian University. On May 2, 2013, Hawkins was made an Honorary Officer of the Order of Canada. He was invested on May 7, 2014. The citation read: Hawkins  recently reissued most of his albums on CD through Unidisc Music Inc. Discography. Albums. 2021 External links. In 2021, Hawkins release "Live at Fayetteville High School", December 10 1962 on Cosmic Cowboy Records. This set featured a concert by The Hawks in Fayetteville, Arkansas just before Christmas the same year. The recording was discovered in the archives of the Pryor Center at the University of Arkansas in 2020.