Sunday, February 21, 2010

Dale Hawkins RIP


I've been away in the sunshine of Sharm El Sheikh for the last week (30 degrees every day!) so I missed the sad death of Dale Hawkins at the age of 73. There's been a lot written about this rockabilly pioneer who found fame with the classic Susie Q. He never quite found a follow up, despite some good early 45s including La-Do-Dada, Yea-Yea and Liza Jane, all of which were recorded for Checker and released in the UK on the London label. I saw Dale quite a few times, including a great performance at the Tennessee rock and roll club in Wood Green (pictured) and, most recently, at the Ponderosa Stomp in 2008. He always put on an excellent show and never failed to entertain.
One other death worthy of note was that of calypso singer Cy Grant at the age of 90. There was a time, back in the 50s, when Cy was rarely off the TV.

1 Comments:

At 6:53 pm , Blogger Dave C said...

Another death reported while you were away is that of Barbara Brown of Barbara and The Browns. News of her passing on 3 February was posted last week on the Ace Records website - http://www.acerecords.co.uk/content.php?page_id=1723.
There is also an excellent evaluation of her recordings by the estimable John Ridley here: http://www.sirshambling.com/artists/B/barbara_browns.htm. He rightly points soul fans in the direction of her Kent CD ‘Can’t Find Happiness’. And if one crown recommendation is not sufficient then Dave Godin adds another by including Barbara on one of his Deep Soul Treasures compilations.

 

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