dale hawkins & his pet manx zinger photo by shelia morris, the perfect image photography

dale hawkins brought the house down at the fine art’s center in new orleans, during jazz festival week, in may of 2002. his enthusiast audience would not let him leave the stage. in paris, france on june 30, 2002, his show was electrifying. at the 50′s festival in green bay, wisconsin, dale brought his road show “the wild cat tamer” to town and again brought the house down. he had three encores. finally dale said to his lead guitar player deke dickerson “let’s take ‘susie q”‘ home.” he told the audience you’ve been great. i love all of you. he then slung his guitar over his back and walked off stage and signed autographs for 2-1/2 hours. the master showman has not lost his touch. dale hawkins the legendary performer has become an icon of american music. he has learned his craft well. dale grew on louisiana swamp blues. the style and sound of music heard no place on earth, but in louisiana. he also learned the plantation blues sung by black field hands in the smoldering heat of summer to help to forget the back breaking work they had to face each day. dale learned the rhythm of these chants, as he worked in the cotton fields with these fine people who had nothing, but music in their soul to cling to as if it were life itself. dale hawkins a product of louisiana was born and raised there dale wrote “suzie q” when he was 15 and got his recording to checker records in chicago to do so at such a young age was a task few people could have handled. dale knew his calling would be a life in musical entertainment. from his first recording of “suzie q.” he surrounded himself with musicians such as james burton, carl adams, joe osborne, roy buchanan, scotty moore, and dj fontana who could play the style of music he wanted. he recorded for a record company of all black artist making getting a hit for a white artist almost impossible. however, dale is made up of “true grit.” the kind of man you would want with you walking down a dark alley in the baddest part of town. not only did he get a smash hit with “suzie-q.” he got two more hits on checker records. dale hawkins has lasted over forty years in a business that only a strong self willed determined person can survive in. dale has been a producer and has managed several record companies. he has become a giant in the industry of american music. he is taking his “wild cat tamer” road show this summer to decatur, il. hope, ak and boston, ma. he’s working on a new cd and is planning to add more excitement to his already exciting “wild cat tamer” road shows. dale hawkins, the man, his music, the legend.