Onward Through The Fog
"Rockin' Hawk" (Joe Darden)
The Night Hawks, Alon 9001, 1962
This bird has flown
Continuing the exploration of my own ignorance, I submit for your indulgence a track that I know zilch about, other than what’s written on the label and heard in the grooves. After several fruitless months of research, I thought I’d put it up and see if anybody out there can shed some light on the particulars of this record and/or the group it is credited to.
“Rockin’ Hawk” b/w “Your Somethin’ Else” was just the second single issued on Alon, which Joe Banashak, owner of Minit, Instant and others, started for Allen Toussaint to run. Neither of the record’s instrumental sides fits well with tracks by Willie Harper and Eldridge Holmes (to name a notable few) that Toussaint was producing for the label at the time, which helps make this recording an anomaly.
While “Rockin’ Hawk” is not my usual HOTG fare, I’ve grown attached to it since I found it this summer. There are not many mainly guitar instrumentals on record from New Orleans from the 1950’s to the late 1960’s, when the Meters let loose. So, again, it’s an oddity. The tune just sort of put-puts along; but I dig the guitar’s trebly vibrato with a rockabilly edge to it. And what is that cheesy organ effect that starts and runs though the song, even getting a solo? Low in the mix is some rolling New Orleans piano work that just may be Toussaint. Hard to tell. The Night Hawks might be a local group or possibly might not be from New Orleans at all. Don’t get me wrong. There were some great guitarists the city in 1962: Ernest McLean, Edgar Blanchard, Justin Adams, Roy Montrell, Walter “Papoose” Nelson. But I don’t recall any of them playing quite like this. I’ve read that Toussaint was using Montrell on a lot of his Minit and Instant sessions at this time, with “Deacon John” Moore and George Davis occasionally getting the call. And Montrell did have his own instrumental side, "Mudd" on Minit in 1960. . . . But, maybe the songwriter, Joe Darden, is the guitarist here. I haven’t come up with anything on him either.
Enough speculation. Somebody enlighten us here. The fog has literally been thick in these parts lately, and obviously it is seeping into the blog, now.
posted by Dan Phillips @ 1:28 AM
5 Comments:
Interesting record, Dan. The guitar style is completely unfamiliar to me, and I'm digging that weird sound. It has a NOLA vibe, but I can't place it...
Love that guitar. And that organ is indeed odd. In a couple of places it almost reminds me of the organ in "California Sun" of all things. Can't help you identify anything here but I really like the record. Thanks for posting it.
Thanks, fellas. I recall that back in the day Hammond (and probably other companies) had some tricked out smaller organs with various sound effects - way before synthesizers. My dad played church organ for years; so I know the big models had all sorts of instrument stops, too. I have been too lazy to do some research on that. But I wonder what was available c. 1962. I'll ask my dad next week. Again, way open to suggestions here on any of this.
And, yes, that guitar playing is unique.
great track, real cool one.
sort of somewhere between mac rebennack's storm warning on rex or his ebb session stuff and travis wammack
UPDATE: I've been meaning to mention this before. In my research on New Orleans guitarist, bandleader and producer, Earl Stanley, I discovered that one of his first bands in NO was called the Night Hawks (or Nighthawks). He played in many styles; so, I strongly suspect that he is the featured guitarist on this 45. It may have been the swan song for the group, as Stanley formed the Stereos soon thereafter.
Post a Comment
<< Home