Hawkshaw Hawkins

Harold Franklin "Hawkshaw" Hawkins (born December 22, 1921 in Huntington , West Virginia , † March 5, 1963 near Camden , Tennessee in a plane crash) was an American country singer, who was next to Hank Williams as one of the best singers of Country ballads of its time was considered. He was active in the country scene from the mid-1940s to the early 1960s. At the height of his career, he was killed in a plane crash.

Beginnings

Harold Franklin Hawkins was born on December 22, 1921 in Huntington, West Virginia . His parents were Icie Hawkins and her husband Alex. As a toddler, his family lived briefly in Lawrence County on the Ohio River . His younger sister Lena was also born here. The family soon returned to Huntington, where his father worked as a foreman for the Kerr Glass Company. Hawkins had three younger sisters, Lena, Leona and Betty. As a teenager, Hawkins discovered his talent for singing and his love for country music .

Personal

stage name

Since the Tom Taylor melodrama The Ticket of Leave Man from 1863, with its famous “super” dangerous and “super” clever “super” hero Hawkshaw , this term has become synonymous with detective in the USA . From 1913 to 1922, from 1931 to the end of the 1940s there was a in the US Cartoon Hawkshaw the detective of Gus Mager . It is rumored that while young Harold Franklin Hawkins was playing marbles with friends, a neighbor who was looking for two fishing rods that had disappeared from his workshop asked if he might have seen the rods. Harold told him that he had noticed two such (or similar) rods in another neighbor's workshop. A few minutes later the neighbor who had asked him returned with the two stolen rods and flicked a fifty-cent piece as a reward at Harold, saying, "Thank you, Hawkshaw." Harold kept this nickname as his stage name , even years later, when his first record company, King Records, resisted it.

Basic setting

Hawkshaw Hawkins was a staunch nature lover. He enjoyed hunting, fishing and horse riding. Friends and Grand Ole Opry stars such as Grandpa Jones , Charlie Louvin ( Louvin Brothers ) and Stoney Cooper often joined him on hunting and fishing trips. Hawkshaw had always loved his old friends, even when they were unable to go on his hunting tours. Wilma Lee Cooper remembered a visit from Hawkins to her husband Stoney after he had had a heart attack and Hawkshaw brought him a chicken for a fortifying chicken soup. His early days friends in Huntington fondly remembered that he always stopped by for quick visits whenever he was in town.

family

In 1940 he married Reva Barbour of Huntington, West Virginia. They were both very young when they married; he was barely twenty and she was only sixteen. The marriage was very turbulent and, after several separations and reconciliations, ended in divorce in 1958. The future gospel singer Marlene Gilliam was adopted by them as an illegitimate daughter at the age of four. He later married the acclaimed Grand Ole Opry star Jean Shepard . The marriage had two sons, Don Robin and Harold Franklin Hawkins II. The latter was born on April 8, 1963, about a month after Hawkshaw's early death, and began singing his father's songs as Hawkshaw Hawkins II in 2005 (CD : Hawk's Back! ).

Colleagues and friends

Colleagues called him with respect “The man with eleven and a half yards of personality” or “The best guy who ever wore a pair of cowboy boots”. On March 6th, after news of his early accidental death hit the world, one of his fans from England wrote in a letter to the Country Music Association, “... Hawkshaw Hawkins was the best country ballad singer, in my opinion, next to Hank Williams . He had a voice of astonishing depth and quality, so that he could perform country songs with a reality like hardly anyone else. ” Hawkshaw Hawkins was considered an outspoken gentleman who, unlike many of his colleagues, generally rejected smoking and drinking alcohol. He had a great sense of humor. On stage he was an actor who, through his personality, could steal the show from anyone and everyone. He was very professional and everyone enjoyed working with him. Unfortunately, he never succeeded in capturing the flair and magic of his personality, which he was able to radiate so wonderfully during his live performances, on his records. He ended most of his shows with the words: "May the Lord take a likin 'to you" ("May the good Lord be inclined to you").

farewell

On 3 March 1963 Hawkshaw Hawkins, joined Roy Acuff , George Jones , Dottie West , Cowboy Copas and Patsy Cline in Kansas City ( Missouri ) in a charity concert for the family of the killed in a car accident Disc Jockeys "Cactus" Jack call on that for the regional country broadcasters KCKN and KCMK had worked in Kansas City . The return flight, on March 5, 1963 Hawkshaws took career to an abrupt end when the small plane, a four-seat Piper Comanche, with whom he from the charity concert in Nashville ( Tennessee wanted to return), around 18:30 in a thunderstorm in a depression a heavily forested range of hills near Camden, Tennessee (Sandy Point, Fatty Bottom Area, five miles west of the Tennessee River ). On board the plane, which was piloted by the pilot Ramsey (Randy) D. Hughes, the manager of Patsy Cline, were the country stars Patsy Cline and Cowboy Copas, who also did not survive. The Hawkshaw Hawkins family, and with them the entire country music fan base, suffered a great loss on March 5, 1963.

Career

Hawkshaw got his first recording contract with King Records in 1946. Here were his first recordings: After All We Have Meant to Each Other and The Way I Love You , which came out on July 26, 1946. During his time at King Records, Hawkins covered numerous songs by well-known singers, such as Pan American by Hank Williams , I Love You a Thousand Ways by Lefty Frizzell and Slow Poke by Pee Wee King . With the song The Sunny Side of the Mountain , which would later become his "trademark", he had only modest success at that time. He had his really first success with Pan American , which made it into the top ten of its time. In the following three years he had another four singles in the top ten: Dog House Boogie (1948), I Love You a Thousand Ways (1951), I'm Waiting Just for You (1951) and Slow Poke (1951).

In May 1953 Hawkshaw moved from King Records to RCA Victor, as RCA was able to move him more into the national spotlight due to the broader distribution network. In 1955, Hawkshaw joined the Grand Ole Opry , where he became a good friend of Marty Robbins and Don Gibson . It was here that he renewed his old friendships with Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper when they joined the Opry in 1957. Wilma Lee Cooper is still part of the Oprycast today, as is her daughter, Carol Lee Cooper, who appears in a background choir with the Carol Lee Singers.

Similar to the early recordings of Patsy Cline , Hawkshaw's RCA recordings of this time also included both slow country ballads and alternately tearful and gleeful songs based on traditional country and honky tonk numbers on the one hand and country versions on the other of pop and rhythm and blues songs. In particular, RCA marketed Hawkshaw's pleasant voice in songs that had what it takes to become popular and from which good sales were hoped. His repertoire during this time was varied, but the songs themselves were too "smooth" and never had the quality that the audience would have immediately heard the singer Hawkshaw Hawkins from them.

In 1959 Hawkshaw moved to Columbia Records , where his friend Marty Robbins was also under contract. Johnny Horton's title The Battle of New Orleans was a huge hit that year and prompted similar songs, including Hawkshaw's first Columbia title Soldier's Joy . The song became number 15 on the country charts and number 87 on the pop charts .

In September 1962, Hawkshaw returned to his first record company, King Records. In just three days, he recorded what would become his last twelve songs. This also included his biggest hit, Lonesome 7-7203 . Justin Tubb (son of Ernest Tubb ) originally wrote this song for Hawkshaw's second wife, Jean Shepard , who recorded the song with her record company, Capitol Records , but has never released it to this day. Hawkshaw liked this song very much and had a feeling very early on that this could be a real hit for him. The song first appeared on the Billboard Country Charts on March 2, 1963 , three days before his death. In the two weeks immediately after Hawkshaw's death, the song was not in the charts, but came back on March 23 and stayed that way for 25 weeks. Number one for four weeks.

Discography

Albums

• 1951 Country Western Cavalcade
• 1958 Hawkshaw Hawkins, Vol. 1 (King Records)
• 1958 Sings Grand Ole Opry Favorites, Vol. 2 (King Records)
• 1959 Hawkshaw Hawkins (King Records)
• 1959 Big Beat Jazz (King Records)
• 1959 Sings Grand Ole Opry Favorites (King Records)
• 1963 The All New Hawkshaw Hawkins (King Records)
• 1963 Taken from Our Vaults, Vol. 1 (King Records)
• 1963 Taken from Our Vaults, Vol. 2 (King Records)
• 1963 The Great Hawkshaw Hawkins (Harmony)
• 1963 In Memory (with Cowboy Copas) (King Records)
• 1963 Legend (with Cowboy Copas) (King Records)
• 1964 Hawkshaw Hawkins Sings Hawkshaw Hawkins (RCA)
• 1964 Taken from Our Vaults, Vol. 3 (King Records)
• 1965 Gone, But Not Forgotten (with Patsy Cline And Cowboy Copas) (Starday)
• 1965 The Country Gentleman (RCA)
• 1967 24 Greatest Hits (with Cowboy Copas) (King Records)
• 1968 His Everlasting Hits (Nashville)
• 1969 Lonesome 7-7203 (King Records)
• 1978 16 Greatest Hits (Starday)
• 1987 22 Greatest Hits (Deluxe)
• 1991 Hawk (Bear Family)
• 2000 I'm a Rattlesnakin 'Daddy: The King Anthology, 1946–1963 (WestSide)
• 2004 Best of the Best 1921–1963 (Federal)
• 2004 The Country Gentleman / Hawkshaw Hawkins Sings (Collectables)
• 2006 Radio Memories of the Late (Bronco)

Singles

Columbia Records

• (A) Big Red Benson - (B) Soldier's Joy
• (A) Patanio (The Pride Of The Plains) - (B) Arkansas Lil And Texas Bill
• (A) Put A Nickel In The Jukebox - (B) Your Conscience
• (A) You Know Me Much Too Well - (B) My Story
• (A) No Love For Me - (B) The Love I Have For You
• (A) Twenty Miles From Shore - (B) Big Ole Heartache
• (A) Darkness On The Face Of The Earth - (B) I Can't Seem To Say Goodbye

King Records

• (A) Be My Life's Companion - (B) Everybody's Got A Girl But Me
• (A) I Am Slowly Dying Of A Broken Heart - (B) Over The Hillsung w / Huby Wright
• (A) Unwanted - (B) Got You On My Mind
• (A) I Love The Way You Say Goodnight - (B) Loaded With Love
• (A) I'm A Lone Wolf - (B) I Hope You're Crying Too
• (A) Tangled Heart - (B) Betty Lorainne
• (A) The Life Of Hank Williams - (B) Picking Sweethearts
• (A) Kaw-Liga - (B) If I Ever Get Rich Mom
• (A) The Life Story Of Hank Williams - (B) Barbara Allen
• (A) Rattlesnakin 'Daddy - (B) I Hate Myself
• (A) Two Roads -
• (A) Nothing More To Say - (B) Between The Lines
• (A) After All - (B) The Way I Love You
• (A) Never Cry Over You - (B) I Ain't Goin 'Honky Tonkin'
• (A) Soldier's Last Letter - (B) There's A Little Bit Of Everything In Texas
• (A) Try Me One More Time - (B) Blue Eyed Elaine
• (A) Are You Waiting Just For Me - (B) You Nearly Lose Your Mind
• (A) It's Been So Long Darling - (B) I Wonder Why You said Goodbye
• (A) Walking The Floor Over You - (B) I'll Get Along Somehow
• (A) Mean Mama Blues - (B) Mean Old Bed Bug Blues
• (A) I'm Wondering How - (B) That's When It's Coming Home To You
• (A) Girl Without A Name - (B) Silver Threads And Golden Needles
• (A) Lonesome 7-7203 - (B) Everything Has Changed
• (A) Love Died Tonight - (B) Sunny Side Of The Mountain
• (A) Caught In The Middle Of Two Hearts - (B) If I Ever Get Rich Mom
• (A) I'm Beginning To Forget - (B) Teardrops On Your Letter
• (A) There's A Little bit Of Everything In Texas - (B) Soldier's Last Letter
• (A) Waiting In The Shadows - (B) This Particular Baby
• (A) Never Mind The Tears - (B) Last Letter
• (A) Jealous Fate - (B) It's Easy To Remember
• (A) Since You Went Away - (B) When They Found The Atomic Power
• (A) Blue Skies In Your Eyes - (B) Moonlight On My Cabin
• (A) After Yesterday - (B) Sunny Side Of The Mountain
• (A) Secrets Of My Heart - (B) Never Say Goodbye
• (A) Pan American - (B) I Suppose
• (A) I'm Waiting Just For You - (B) A Heartache To Recall
• (A) Dog House Boogie - (B) I Can't Tell My Broken Heart A Lie
• (A) I Don't Have The Heart To Say Goodbye - (B) Some Of These Nights
• (A) Somebody Lied - (B) Memories Always Linger On
• (A) All Because Of My Jealous Heart - (B) Life Lost It's Color
• (A) Would You Like To Have A Broken Heart - (B) The Longer Were together More We Drift Apart
• (A) I Wasted A Nickel - (B) I'm Kissing Your Picture Counting Tears
• (A) There's A Teardrop In Your Eye - (B) Wanted Someone To Love Me
• (A) Back To The Dog House - (B) Pardon Me For Loving You
• (A) Yesterday's Kisses - (B) That's All She Wrote
• (A) Stop Please Stop - (B) Handcuffed To Love
• (A) I Love You A Thousand Ways - (B) Teardrops From My Eyes
• (A) Shotgun Boogie - (B) You Don't Belong To Me
• (A) Rattlesnakin 'Daddy - (B) I Hate Myself
• (A) I'm Waiting Just For You - (B) A Heartache To Recall
• (A) Skies in Your Eyes - (B) Side of the Mountain
• (A) Slow Poke - (B) Two Roads

RCA Victor

• (A) Oh How I Cried - (B) Action
• (A) I'll Trade Yours For Mine - (B) The Long Way
• (A) A Heap Of Lovin '- (B) The Mark Round My Finger
• (A) I'll Never Close My Heart - (B) When You Say Yes
• (A) Waiting For My Baby - (B) Flashing Lights
• (A) rebound - (A) rebound
• (B) Why Didn't I Hear It From You - (B) Why Didn't I Hear It From You
• (A) One White Rose - (B) I Wanna Be Hugged To Death By You
• (A) Why Don't You Leave This Town - (B) I'll Take A Chance With You
• (A) Koko Mo - (B) Lin Ting Tong
• (A) Pedro Gonzales Tennessee Lopez - (B) How Could Anything So Purty Be So Doggone Mean
• (A) Car Hoppin Mama - (B) The Love You Steal
• (A) I Gotta Have You - (B) Standing At The End Of My World
• (A) Borrowing - (B) If It Ain't On The Menu
• (A) Baby, It's In The Making - (B) You Can't Divorce My Heart
• (A) I'll Be Gone - (B) My Fate Is In Your Hands
• (A) Dark Moon - (B) With This Pen
• (A) Sensation - (B) The Ring On Your Finger
• (A) Guilty Of Dreaming - (B) It's Easier Said Than Done
• (A) I Don't Apologize - (B) I'll Get Even With You
• (A) Waitin 'For My Baby (Rock, Rock) - (B) Flashin' Lights
• (A) Why Don't You Leave This Town - (B) I'll Take A Chance With You
• (A) Ko Ko Mo (I Love You So) - (B) Ling Ting Tong
• (A) Standing At The End Of My World - (B) I Gotta Have You
• (A) Borrowing - (B) If It Ain't On The Menu
• (A) It Would Be A Doggone Lie - (B) Sunny Side Of The Mountain
• (A) My Fate Is In Your Hands - (B) I'll Be Gone
• (A) Sensation - (B) Is My Ring On Your Finger
• (A) Guilty Of Dreaming - (B) It's Easier Said Than Done
• (A) I'll Get Even With You - (B) I Don't Apologize
• (A) Freedom - (B) I've Got It Again
• (A) She Was Here - (B) Are You Happy

Starday Records

• (A) Slowpoke - (B) Lonesome 7-7203

Individual evidence

1. ↑ www.marlene.org ( Memento of the original dated December 9, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ www.hillbilly-music.com
3. ↑ Newspaper report about the crash cf. Tennessee Plane Crash Kills Three Singers And Pilot . In: New York Times , March 7, 1963 issue, p. 5
4. ↑ About the crash and the details see Rick Everitt: Falling Stars. Air Crashes That Filled Rock And Roll Heaven . Augusta / Georgia: Harbor House Books, 2004, pp. 24–44, specifically on Hawkshaw Hawkins, see pp. 33–35
5. ^ Opry Member: Wilma Lee Cooper .
6. ↑ www.reocities.com ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 

literature

• Stambler, Irwin / Landon, Grelun: Encyclopedia Of Folk, Country And Western Music . New York / London: St. Martin's Press, 1969, p. 129
• Shestack, Melvin: The Country Music Encyclopaedia . London: Omnibus Press, 1977, pp. 102f
• Dellar, Fred / Thompson, Roy: The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Country Music . Foreword by Roy Acuff. 2nd edition London: Salamander Books, 1979, p. 113

Web links

• Harold "Hawkshaw" Hawkins - Eleven And A Half Yards Of Personality
• Hawkshaw Hawkins Pictures