Ted Hawkins Shines Again on Vinyl

Ted Hawkins is the voice of pain. His take on Webb Pierce’s ’53 country classic “There Stands a Glass” was an exercise in sheer misery, listening to a man drowning in alcohol. Hawkins hits and holds onto that high note on the intro that even Pierce couldn’t reach when he’d been standing too close to the glass. Pierce’s rendition is more of a proclamation, a declaration of sorriness and a dedication to self pity and self-medication. Hawkins’ version is that of a desperate man with no other means left to him but the searing burn of alcohol to cauterize the wound that won’t heal.

Hawkins lived rough, and it showed in his lyrics and his vocals.  But even though he was homeless most of the time, living on the street never dimmed or diminished his powerful, soulful voice. Hawkins always sounded like a fallen angel.

Hawkins was in prison at the California State Penitentiary for this ’82 release. It’s not his debut. In 1971, he had cut about a dozen songs for Bruce Bromberg when Bromberg discovered him busking in Venice Beach. Bromberg did release one song of his, “Sweet Baby,” backed by Phillip Walker’s band, on the Joliet label. He cut a few other acoustic tunes with wife Elizabeth on harmony vocals. But Hawkins drifted off, disappearing for nearly a decade, in and out of prison and addicted to heroin, before Bromberg and Rounder records’ Scott Billington found Hawkins once again and got him to record this collection, Watch Your Step, now re-released on vinyl.

Hawkins voice hits like a lash, raising welts on anybody who gets to close. “Watch Your Step” is a love song of sorts, a rough ride with Hawkins trying to be in charge of a lover he can’t rein in. “You just like money, honey,” he tells his his spirited, two (or more) timin’ lover, “jumpin’ from hand to hand.” He tries to tell how he wants the lovin’ done- why don’t you squeeze me baby like I told you to, he asks but she’s soon off to her other lovers “Think I can take it/you’re mistaken,” he sighs. “My heart’s breakin’, I ain’t fakin’,” he professes as the song fades. .

There are two versions , but the acoustic version is stronger than the band version, which despite some wiggly country style guitar tweaks ends up sounding like cheesy ’70s Nashville pop rock.

“Who Got My Natural Comb” is an easygoing rocker that wants to be laid-back reggae, but just can’t contain its rocky roots. It’s great fun to listen to, but would make you look like a drunken chicken being electrocuted on the dance floor trying to keep up with the push, pull, and stagger beat.

It’s great, but its the only Ted Hawkins song that had some good stiff competition from a cover. Gourds founder Kevin Russell’s latest aggregation, Shinyribs, has a take on it that’s like the Oliver Woods former outfit King Johnson channeling the Isley Brothers in their ’59 “Shout” era.

“Don’t You Lose Your Cool” features wife Elizabeth echoing the refrain, sounding like a ’60s girl group all by her lonesome as Ted horsewhips the melody like a rougher soulful clone of Sam Cooke on how to deal with hurt feelings caused by your beloved.

“Put In a Cross” is a sermonette accompanied only by handclaps and a stomping foot, Hawkins warning other potential cheaters “don’t be greedy/ don’t be be doggish/ don’t be deceitful /don’t be selfish, eventually wishing that he had stayed home with the one he loved sincere an true, but wasn’t satisfied with one, tried concentrating on two.”

Imagine Van Morrison as a reggae star,delivering honeyed soul like Jimmy Cliff with a sore throat on “Sweet Baby.”

Hawkins got some fame and lived pretty well over in England from ’86- ’90 before being deported, ending up on the streets of Venice Beach once again. He recorded two more albums, ’86’s Happy Hour and The Next Hundred Years in 94. A posthumous album Love You Most Of All: More Songs From Venice Beach in ’98. A live album, The Unstoppable Ted Hawkins (Live in London 1988 )came out on Catfish Records in 2001 as did Nowhere to Run.

There’s no bad Hawkins material. His voice, delivery, and sensitive soul came through in everything he did. This vinyl re-release is a glorious amplification of his talents, a tortured soul at the peak of his powers.