Ronnie Rocks

Personnel: Ronnie Hawkins (vocals); Fred Carter, Jr. (vocals, guitar); Dee Dee Warwick, Dionne Warwick, The Anita Kerr Singers (vocals); Grady Martin, Harold Bradley, Walter L. "Hank Sugarfoot" Garland (guitar); Sonny Terry (harmonica); Jerry Penfound (tenor saxophone, drums); King Curtis (tenor saxophone); Stan Szelest, Mort Shuman (piano); Garth Hudson (organ); Ed Burks (percussion).
Liner Note Author: Ian Wallis.
Illustrators: R.A. Andreas; Ian Wallis; Jimmy Evans.
Photographers: R.A. Andreas; Ian Wallis; Jimmy Evans.
As the man best known for putting together the Hawks--who later backed Bob Dylan and had their own international hits as the Band--Hawkins is more famous as a recruiter of talent than as a volcanic one in his own right. This fantastic Bear Family release, RONNIE ROCKS, aims to remedy that unfair designation. As evidenced on the collection's 32 tracks, Hawkins was a tremendous bandleader--each performance rips with the high-wire tension of the greatest rockabilly--but the man could also sing a rock-&-roll tune with the best of them, and his feral showmanship put him in the same category as Jerry Lee Lewis and Screaming Jay Hawkins. All the sides here come from his late 1950s to late `60s stints with the Quality and Roulette labels and include his best-known hits, "Mary Lou" and "Forty Days." Many of these recordings are the first snapshots of the Band, and part of the fun is being privy to the same field guide that made them one of the most schooled units in rock history. Robbie Robertson's ridiculous fretwork on "Who Do You Love?"--a staple of Hawkins's live set--is alone worth the price of admission. Includes a 48-page booklet.