The Band & Ronnie Hawkins - Who Do You Love

Late last month the great Ronnie Hawkins died in Canada. An immense talent, but the Arkansan wasn't blessed with great career timing. Rockabilly was on the wane in the late 1950s when his career started, so he headed to Canada where it was still popular. His band, the Hawks, had Levon Holm as its drummer. 

Slowly, except for Helms, the members of the Hawks migrated back to the USA, replaced one by one by enormously talented Canadians. The newer Hawks, after breaking with Hawkins, became the Band, which arguably invented the Americana genre of music. 

Hawkins was a powerful singer and a great dancer--the Hawks were a great bar band and had Hawkins been at the peak of his career in the early 1980s--the music video era--his well-deserved superstardom would have been achieved. YouTube and TikTok would have been very kind to "the Hawk."

Ronnie was one of the few highlights in that 1980s big-budget movie bomb, Heaven's Gate.

But Hawkins great gift was eying talent. He also discovered Canadian rocker Pat Travers.

Here is Hawkins with the Band from The Last Waltz bellowing out "Who Do You Love."

Rest in peace.