Dale Hawkins: Swamp Blues Rock 'n' Roll

dale hawkins began his music career when he was 15, working the gaudy rough bossier city nite clubs. where if you didn't know how to take care of yourself you would be found in the alley, behind the club bleeding to death from a knife, whiskey, wine, or beer bottle.
           bossier city wasn't no cute sweet town like orlando, florida. this was no disney world. it was as far away from a florida retirement community filled with rich yankees as you can get. bossier city was a rough tough working mans town. this was the environment dale hawkins grew up in.
           dale picked cotton with black field hands to make a buck. he learned their lingo and they taught him to play guitar and how to sing the blues. you can get no better education than from the folks that originated the blues. if you sing the blues the louisiana swamp style, foot stomping, grinding it out, down and dirty, the way its meant to be sung. you've got to be born into it or forget it. dale hawkins grew up in the middle of it. he learned from the people who lived it. when those field hands said, " i ain't fattin up no mo frogs fo snakes," it wasn't from a song it was every day life that was later made into a song. somebody had messed up and a beatin, a cuttin, or a shootin was about to happen.
           "i got my mo jo workin," wasn't getting extra horse power out of a car engine. it was casting a spell on some good lookin woman to get some love makin goin on. that's the stuff the blues is made out of. muddy waters said,"the blues got pregnant and they called the baby rock n roll," most likely that's how rock n roll came to be, if not muddy waters was right about the blues most of the time anyway. so by now, you begin to get the idea of this music style called the blues. go down to "the big easy" on a hot summer night and watch the stars dancing out on a moon lite bayou and listen to the sounds coming out of the swamp, that's the blues your hearing. if you can't understand what that means go home and play some of your perry como records. your not ready for the blues yet.  most likely if your names not recorded in the louisiana state record book as being born there it's going to take you a little longer to understand "swamp blues."
           dale hawkins didn't need any introduction to "the blues," he knew what it was at the age of l5. when he wrote "susie q," he knew the beat he wanted and he knew the sound he was looking for. he went over to kwkh in shreveport and recorded "susie q," one of the all time classic's of rock n roll.
           other artists have tried to recreate "susie q," down through the years with little or no success and for a good reason. when dale recorded "susie q," he caused the song to come into existence as something unique that could not evolve or be made by any ordinary process. "susie q," was anything but ordinary. his imagination was a true work of art and his own artistic design and style that has a sensational effect on the music word to this day.
           there will be more on the life and legend of dale hawkins as the time grows near for the 4th annual ponderosa stomp in new orleans april 26th and 27th 2005. the ponderosa stomp is held each year at the rock n bowl on carrolton avenue. dr. ike and the mystic knights of the mau mau present the show each year as a part new orleans jazz feast week. dale hawkins will be appearing at the ponderosa stomp. for more information visit the mystic knights of the mau mau web site or email sjmorris850@aol.com . if you would a complete package of all dale hawkins recordings or to do some professional studio recording contact:
the hawks nests
recording studio
little rock, arkansas