Ted Hawkins

There is a natural suspicion whenever anyone picks a relative-unknown as a favorite. How can someone so good stay under the radar? Does the reviewer think he is too cool for regular 'greats'?

I make no claims to discovering Ted Hawkins. I believe it was Schoolkids Records (late of A2)that put me on to him. (One of those little informational signs that they were famous for) Based on the many positive reviews at Amazon, numerous others have discovered him as well, some soon enough to have seen him live. So, what makes him my favorite?

Ted Hawkins is my favorite because he owns every song he sings, his voice is a blend of the best of soul and country, and the songs are eminently listenable and singable.

Ted Hawkins 'owns' his songs. He does not always change them significantly. He gives mostly respectful interpretations of anything by Sam Cooke, in fact most soul songs. Yet Ted's version is often the one I now prefer to hear. Knowing a bit about his history, I think his power over the songs is that he has enough world experience to be able to place himself in the character often better than the original. His original compositions have tragedy and humor but also reflect a deeply spiritual side. Though he recorded a lot of soul music, his range is amazing as he covers Doris Troy's Just One Look, Simon and Garfunkel's 59th Street Bridge, even a TWA ad, always giving each song a fresh appealing shine.

Like many great soul singers he has wonderful range without leaving his own person. He can rumble deep and fly high in the same song, even repeating the same verse. His voice captures the 'truth' of the song. He sang on Venice Beach for years and his voice pleads for the inattentive audience to listen. He draws you in. His soul voice is smooth enough but not Jerry Butler smooth. He Will Break Your Heart is an amazing song performed by Jerry Butler, who wrote it thinking of all the men he hurt as he picked up girls from town to town. Jerry Butler's voice is technically better, but Ted Hawkins IS the scorned lover.

Harder than picking Ted Hawkins as my favorite is picking my favorite of his songs. Ladder of Success has saved my life more than once, so that has to be #1. But the humor in Bring It on Home Daddy and Bad Dog are quite infectious and the reggae beat and insistent questioning on Who Do You Love? rank close behind.

Good info at:
http://guterman.com/
guterman_clips/guterman_Ted_Hawkins/guterman_ted_hawkins.html