Hawkins came to Toronto from Arkansas in 1958 and never really left. He ran a tight ship as far as his bands were concerned. He insisted on suits ties, fresh clean white shirts and polished leather shoes on all band members. He fined those that arrived late for a show, and forced them to practice late into the night, after playing a full show starting at 8 pm. As a result the various iterations of his band became the " Ronnie Hawkins school of rock and roll " . He was awarded a honorary Order of Canada, honorary as he never became a Canadian citizen despite living here for over 50 years. He was friends with just about every one who was anything in the rock music business. When John Lennon and his wife stayed at Ronnie's house in Mississauga, Lennon stuck Ronnie with a $9000 long distance phone call bill. Ronnie Hawkins was a talented man, and a great story teller. His 60th birthday celebration was a amazing show, with a line up of the best players from all over the music world. Some people tout the movie "The Last Waltz " as a classic, but the relationship between Martin Scorzase and Robbie Robertson and a lot of shared cocaine resulted in a lop sided film, where some members of The Band were barely seen, and Robertson was placed front and center. The Band came out of the original Hawks who were Ronnie's back up band. Bob Dylan saw them perform live in Toronto in 1965, and he eventually offered them so much money to tour with him that they broke with Hawkins and went on tour with him. Eventually drugs and alcohol addiction saw the Band fall apart, with endless arguments and the death of Levon Helm was the end of it. Robbie Robertson laid claim to most of the song writing credits and the money associated with them. That was another endless source of argument that still continues, today.
IN the 60's and 70's Hawkins was known as the Mayor of Young Street, for his larger than life personality and dynamic stage presence. He set the style in terms of how he performed and how he interacted with the customers. He was the king of the one liners, and he was the ultimate interview subject on radio and TV. He mixed with a strange range of people, from the Vagabonds motorcycle club president, to the mayor of Toronto, and one of his life long best friends was the Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot. They used to perform at 2 clubs that were located side by side on Young street, and they could be seen standing outside in the cold of a Toronto winter, smoking and joking between sets. Life long friends.
It will be interesting to see which still living musicians will attend his funeral service. Lightfoot for sure, Robbie Robertson, Randy Bachman, Neil Young, Burton Cummings, all of whom are still performing. Bill Clinton, maybe. Thanks Ronnie, it was a blast. JimB.
