Mickey Hawks
David Michael "Mickey" Hawks (born July 17, 1940 in Thomasville , Davidson County , North Carolina , † August 31, 1989 ) was an American rock 'n' roll musician and pianist .
Life
Childhood and youth
Mickey Hawks was born in Thomasville, which is about nine miles from Winston-Salem . His family moved to High Point near the Virginia border in 1942 , where Hawks grew up and learned to play the piano from his mother when he was 13 . On the radio he heard pop and country music ; He was influenced by Ernest Tubb and Louis Armstrong, among others .
Career
In 1956, when rock 'n' roll changed the entire music world, Hawks left pop and country. Mainly inspired by Chuck Berry , Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino , but mostly inspired by Little Richard , he formed his own band, the Rhythm Rockers , and played at high school events . At the time, Moon Mullins had a rockabilly band, the Night Raiders , in High Point that was on the radio every day and was the only one of its kind in the area. Hawks ' drummer knew Mullins, and Hawks was eventually inducted into Mullins' band as a singer in 1957. Drummer Bob Mathews joined the Night Raiders with Hawks, which consisted of Bill Ballard and John Owens alongside Mullins.
In 1958 the first session was produced in Greensborough in a small garage studio. Hawks had written the title Bip Bop Boom for it, which came out in May 1958 on the small Robbins Red label with a circulation of 500 records. Shortly thereafter, the single was re-released on Mart Records. When Hawks and the Night Raiders were playing in a club in Sanford, North Carolina, she was discovered by Ian Thomas, who referred her to label owner Mike Dury. Dury signed Hawks and Mullins' Night Raiders for three years for Profile Records and reissued Bip Bop Boom in the fall of 1958. The single sold over 50,000 copies in the Midwest and was number one in Chicago for weeks . Even in Johannesburg , South Africa , the title was at the top of the charts there.
In 1959 another session was organized at the Universal Record Studio in Chicago to replicate the success. There were Hidi, Hidi, Hidi , 'Mimi Jeanie Screamin , I'm Lost , Date Tonight Late , Down the Road a Piece and instrumental Cottonpickin' installed; of these six titles, two singles were released. Hidi, Hidi, Hidi held their own in 1959 with moderate success and in June 1960 Billboard magazine wrote about Screamin 'Mimi Jeanie : “A wild and pounding blues. The vocal lead man really blows his stack here, in the style of earlier Little Richard offerings. An exciting side. " But the success could not be repeated.
A year later, Hidi, Hidi, Hidi / Cottonpickin 'was re-released on the Hunch label, but Hawks and the Night Raiders didn't make any new recordings. The group then continued to play together and was engaged as a house band in Mullins' Club Moon's Danceland . After a few changes in the line-up, the Night Raiders separated around 1968. Most members then played in other groups.
Hawks himself never gave up on music. In 1968 he recorded a single with Moon Mullins and Gwynn Kellum. In 1977 and 1982 Bip Bop Boom / Rock'n'Roll Rhythm were re-released in the United Kingdom and Sweden , while in Germany in 1985 an EP with Hawks' old recordings came out on Dee-Jay Jamboree Records . During this time, Hawks also traveled a few times to Europe, where he made appearances. His last single was released in 1989 by C-Horse along with his first album Invites You to Go Back in Time with Mickey Hawks and the Sounds of the 50's . Mickey Hawks died that same year. He was 49 years old.
Discography
Singles
| year | title | Label # |
|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Rock and Roll Rhythm / Bip Bop Boom | Robin's Red |
| 1958 | Rock and Roll Rhythm / Bip Bop Boom | Mart 45-113 |
| 1958 | Bip Bop Boom / Rock and Roll Rhythm | Profile 4002 |
| 1959 | Cottonpickin '/ Hidi, Hidi, Hidi | Profiles 4007 |
| 1960 | Screamin 'Mimi Jeanie / I'm Lost | Profile 4010 |
| 1961 | Cottonpickin '/ Hidi, Hidi, Hidi | Hunch 45-347 |
| 1968 | Baby, I Got You / Ain't Gonna Cry (with Moon Mullins & Gwynn Kellum) | Piedmont 45-2044 |
| 1989 | Me and My Harley-Davidson / The Good Old Days | C-Horse CH-589 |
| Unpublished titles | ||
|
||
| 1959 |
|
Profile Records |
| 1962 |
|
|
Albums
- 1989: Bip Bop Boom
- 1989: Invites You to Go Back in Time with Mickey Hawks and the Sounds of the 50’s
- 1999: Bip Bop Boom (Sweden)
Web links
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hawks, Mickey |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hawks, David Michael |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American rock and roll musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 17th July 1940 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Thomasville , North Carolina |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 31, 1989 |