Ted Hawkins (singer)

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Ted Hawkins , full name Theodore Hawkins Jr. (Born October 28, 1936 in Biloxi , Mississippi ; † January 1, 1995 in Los Angeles , California ), was an American singer-songwriter and blues musician. In Europe he was much better known for his songs than in his home country, where he earned his living as a street musician on Venice Beach until his death .

Life and music

Ted Hawkins had a difficult childhood as the son of an alcoholic prostitute and an absent father. He was on his own at an early age and came into conflict with the law at a young age, so that he was sent to a reformatory at the age of twelve . Already there he was noticed by the director's wife, who led a music group and encouraged him to practice and develop his voice further. Professor Longhair made the earliest impression on him. He was most strongly influenced by the voice and singing style of Sam Cooke . He was also influenced by the music of Otis Reddings and Robert Johnson . Ted Hawkins also developed a fascination for the guitar at a young age . Influenced by local blues and country musicians, he learned to play in the open C tuning (the Vestapol style ), which is characteristic of blues music from Mississippi and the southern states . Since this style put a lot of strain on the fingertips, he got used to protecting them with black leather gloves. The gloves became his " trademark " over time.

Ted Hawkins also ran into repeated police trouble during his teenage years , ending up with a three-year prison sentence at the infamous Parchman Farm for stealing a leather jacket from a Harley-Davidson store . After his release and now in his 20s, he wandered the United States as a hobo , traveling illegally on freight trains from Mississippi to New Orleans , Chicago , New York City, and Buffalo , trying as much as possible to learn about music.

Tired of rummaging around, Ted Hawkins moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1960s "where [he] didn't have to freeze" to try his luck in the music business. In 1966 he released the first of a series of singles for the Money record label , but these did not find any interest among music buyers. He then made his way through doing odd jobs and street music on Los Angeles' Venice Beach as an outlet for his creativity. He was later to tell that his typical voice had developed through the influences of the sea spray and the sand on the beach promenade.

In 1971 the music producer Bruce Bromberg became aware of the singer and encouraged him to record his own songs in the style typical for him instead of cover versions . Unfortunately, Ted Hawkins came back into conflict with the law, became addicted to heroin and was imprisoned for several years again. The contact with Bromberg broke off and the tapes were forgotten. After his release from prison and overcoming his heroin addiction, he met the producer again in 1982 and the eleven tracks from the recording sessions at the time were released on Rounder Records under the title Watch Your Step . The album did not make it into the music charts , but Rolling Stone magazine gave it the top rating of "5 stars" and included it in its list of records of the year.

It would take four years for Ted Hawkins to make his next studio recordings. They appeared in 1986 under the title Happy Hour . It was the album that should make the singer known internationally. The difficulty in marketing his music was that as an artist he could not be assigned to any particular style. Although he was rooted in the blues of his southern homeland, his singing style came more from soul music , as well as influences from country and gospel . This made a success in the American mainstream market difficult and airplays and record sales were low in his home country. In Europe , Australia and Asia, however, Hawkins' popularity grew when British radio DJ Andy Kershaw began playing his songs regularly on his influential show on BBC Radio 1 . Encouraged by this, Hawkins played in front of a steadily growing audience in England, u. a. 1989 at the Glastonbury Festival .

In 1987, documentary filmmaker Nick Shaw began work on a film about Hawkins' life and time. He accompanied him for two years, but the film was never released.

Despite his successful tours in Europe and the Australian continent, Ted Hawkins preferred the quieter life in California, where he returned in 1990 to start street music again. He received greater attention and success again in 1994 with the release of his last album The Next Hundred Years under producer Tony Berg on the Geffen Records label . It was here that renowned studio musicians accompanied him for the first time, although he said that he would like his solo recordings better.

He shouldn't live to see the breakthrough with this album. On December 28, 1994, Ted Hawkins suffered a stroke , from the consequences of which the father of five died on New Year's Day 1995. Hawkins' widow Elizabeth sold the rights to a film about his life after his death.

Choice discography

Original publications

  • Watch Your Step (Rounder Records, 1982)
  • Happy Hour (Rounder Records, 1986)
  • The Venice Beach Tapes (Hotshot Records, 1986)
  • I Love You Too (PT Records, 1989)
  • The Next Hundred Years (Geffen Records, 1994)

Compilations and live recordings

  • The Kershaw Sessions (Strange Roots, 1995)
  • Suffer No More (Rhino Records, 1998)
  • The Final Tour (Evidence Records, 1998)
  • Love You Most of All (Evidence Records, 1998)
  • The Unstoppable Ted Hawkins (Catfish CDs, 2001)
  • Nowhere to Run (Evidence Records, 2001)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Manfred Gillig-Degrave: Later fame and much too early death . Ted Hawkins. In: MusikWoche . No. 4/1995 , January 23, 1995, scene, p. 10 .
  2. ↑ hinternet.de (accessed on September 16, 2011)
personal data
SURNAME Hawkins, Ted
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hawkins, Theodore Jr.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American singer-songwriter and blues musician
DATE OF BIRTH October 28, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Biloxi , Mississippi
DATE OF DEATH January 1, 1995
Place of death los Angeles