Calling it "Part swamp and part soul-stomp," National Public Radio recently did a story on the resuscitation of the 1969 Dale Hawkins album "LA, Memphis & Tyler, Tx." It has been reissued on a British label, Rev-Ola.
The NPR story gives a listener 3 tracks: 'Heavy on My Mind,' 'Hound Dog' and 'Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town. '
Writes Tom Moon, "Louisiana-born guitarist, singer and songwriter Dale Hawkins owns one of the most unlikely resumes in rock 'n' roll. He's the author of the swamp-rock classic "Suzy Q," which he recorded for the powerhouse blues label Chess in 1957; it's been covered countless times since, most famously by Creedence Clearwater Revival. After four years at Chess, Hawkins hosted a TV dance party, worked as a DJ and eventually went behind the scenes, landing a job at Bell Records as a producer and talent scout. Among his successes was "The Letter," a massive hit for The Box Tops. Hawkins then went on to work for the rock division of RCA Records, where he shepherded works by Michael Nesmith and Harry Nilsson, among others."
Helping Hawkins on this, his second solo album, was " the amazing guitar triumvirate of Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal and James Burton (the guitarist who backed Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson and others)."
The original "Suzy Q," with Burton creating all the guitar licks later used by Creedence, was cut in downtown Shreveport.
No comments:
Post a Comment