Truely! I remember having another tape of him from that year where he's doing the ol' Garth two keyboards, two separate melodies at the same time thing! Still looking for it
His playing is so whimsical. Besides highlighting his virtuosity and ability to transition effortlessly between genres, it also reflects his genuine delight in making music. Go Garth!
In 2005 the boxed set, A Musical History, contains over a dozen cuts of Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks, The Hawks, Levon & The Hawks, and The Canadian Squires. I think this is the one that Garth was talking about. The Hawks were playing blues before the Rolling Stones or Eric Clapton, recording such song as Who Do You Love, Further On Up The Road and Robbie's Blues in Spetember 1961, along with other blues tunes.
Yep, as a Canadian I can say we were happy to adopt The Hawk into our lands! He found rockabilly a waning genre in the south, but well embraced in the music scene on Young St., Toronto while mining the local talent such as a 16 year old Robbie. I have an original pressing of Mr Dynamo (1960) where Robbie, despite not yet being a Hawk, gets a writing credit on a couple tracks (though whether he actually wrote them is under dispute). I really love the story of The Band origins, what an incredible bio pic that would make. Lets go Hollywood!
Tell us about Ronnie Hawkins. Garth was thankful for being hired. Wouldn't know where he'd have been if that hadn't happened. Drugs and alcohol? He didn't "hang out". God bless you Garth.
