Ted Hawkins
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Ted Hawkins | |
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Background information | |
Born | Biloxi, Mississippi, United States | October 28, 1936
Died | January 1, 1995 Los Angeles, California, United States | (aged 58)
Genres | Soul blues |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Labels | DGC |
Ted Hawkins (October 28, 1936 – January 1, 1995) was an American singer-songwriter born in
Life and career
Hawkins was born in
For the next ten years or so he drifted in and out of trouble around the country, living in Chicago, Buffalo, Philadelphia, and Newark.
A series of record producers and promoters "discovered" Hawkins over the years, only to be thwarted by circumstance and Hawkins's unconventional life. The first was the
In December 1984, Hawkins was released from the California State Medical Facility at Vacaville, after serving 18 months of a three-year sentence on a child molestation charge (due to indecent exposure in the midst of suffering nervous breakdowns).[4] Hawkins reunited with Bromberg in 1985 for a second album, Happy Hour.[3] This album featured more original songs by Hawkins and was again ignored in the U.S.; however, it won acclaim and sales in Europe. English radio DJ Andy Kershaw encouraged Hawkins to come to the United Kingdom, and he moved to the resort town of Bridlington in 1986 and enjoyed his first taste of commercial musical success, touring Europe and Asia. However, after four years in England, in 1990 he was deported back to the United States by the British Government, ostensibly on drug-related charges, although Hawkins later dismissed this by saying the reason was simply "I was having visa problems...they deported me. My time ran out. England is a good place. It’s just that I had a lot of bills back home and I hadn’t seen my family. I had to get back home."[5]
During this period Hawkins refined his musical style, a mixture of folk music,
In 1987, the documentary filmmaker Nick Shaw approached Hawkins about producing a profile of his life and times, for which he followed Hawkins closely for the next two years. The documentary was eventually taken up by the Arts Council of Great Britain, but it has never been formally released. Some of the footage was included in the film Amazing Grace, produced by David Geffen.[citation needed]
Despite the recognition and fame he received in Europe, Hawkins was restless and moved back to California in the early 1990s and again took on the role of a street performer. Several musicians and promoters encouraged Hawkins to record, but he did so only on occasion and without much enthusiasm, until he agreed to record a full album for Geffen Records and producer Tony Berg. For this first major-label release, The Next Hundred Years,[3] Berg added session musicians to Hawkins's typical solo guitar-and-vocal arrangements for the first time, and brought national attention and respectable sales to Hawkins (though Hawkins, in typically contrary fashion, claimed to dislike the result, preferring his unaccompanied versions). Hawkins began to tour on the basis of this success, commenting that he had finally reached an age where he was glad to be able to sing indoors, out of the weather, and for an appreciative crowd. He died of a stroke at the age of 58, just a few months after the release of his breakthrough recording.[3]
His widow, Elizabeth Hawkins, sold the rights for a film version of Hawkins's life story.[citation needed]
Hawkins is the subject of Mick Thomas's song "57 Years". In the novel The Island (2010), by R J Price (better known as the poet Richard Price), the fictional Graham and Linda are brought together at a concert by Hawkins in Glasgow, Scotland.[citation needed]
Cold and Bitter Tears: The Songs of Ted Hawkins was released in late 2015 by Eight 30 Records, based in Austin, Texas. The album was produced by Kevin Russell, Jenni Finlay and Brian T. Atkinson and features James McMurtry ("Big Things"), Kasey Chambers ("Cold and Bitter Tears"), Mary Gauthier ("Sorry You're Sick"), Shinyribs ("Who Got My Natural Comb") and several others singing songs by Hawkins.[citation needed]
In 2014, with in cooperation with his family the Killer Blues Headstone Project placed a headstone for Ted Hawkins at Ingelwood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.[6]
Discography
Date | Title | Label | Charted |
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1982 | Watch Your Step | Rounder | — |
1985 | Happy Hour
|
Rounder | UK, No. 82[1] |
1986 | On the Boardwalk at Venice Beach[7] | Thorp Minister | — |
1989 | I Love You Too | PT Records | — |
1994 | The Next Hundred Years | Geffen | AUS No. 20[8] |
1995 | Songs from Venice Beach | Evidence | — |
1998 | Love You Most of All – More Songs from Venice Beach | Evidence | — |
1998 | The Final Tour (live 1994) | Evidence | — |
1998 | The Ted Hawkins Story: Suffer No More | Rhino, compilation | — |
2000 | The Kershaw Sessions: Live at the BBC (1986–1989) | Varese Sarabande
|
— |
2001 | The Unstoppable Ted Hawkins (live in London, 1988) | Catfish Records | — |
2001 | Nowhere to Run | Catfish Records | — |
2009 | Cold and Bitter Tears, compilation | Rounder | — |
Hawkins also appears on the Geffen Records 1996 compilation Just Say Noël.
References
- ^ ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ Neil Strauss (January 11, 1995). "Ted Hawkins, 58, Blues Writer And Singer on Brink of Fame". The New York Times.
- ^ ISBN 1-85227-969-9.
- ^ "Los Angeles Times: POP MUSIC : Sidewalk Soul Pays Off". Los Angeles Times. November 21, 1993. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
- ^ "The Unofficial Ted Hawkins Homepage". Archived from the original on December 28, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2011.
- ^ "RISING BLUES STARS BATTLE IT OUT IN MEMPHIS THIS FEBRUARY AT THE BLUES FOUNDATION'S 33rd ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL BLUES CHALLENGE". The Blues Foundation. November 30, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
- ^ "Ted Hawkins Music". Archived from the original on October 13, 2008. Retrieved November 3, 2008.
- ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 126.
External links
- Ted Hawkins at AllMusic
- Ted Hawkins discography at Discogs
- Ted Hawkins discography at MusicBrainz