Can't We Have Something To Feel?: The Early Years of The Band, 1958-1969, Part One

Ronnie Hawkins was a rockabilly singer looking for a new group in the spring of 1958. He headed back to his home state, Arkansas, to get together a band. Among his recruits into "The Hawks" was a high school senior named Levon Helm, a guitarist and singer who could keep a Bo Diddley beat on the drums if necessary. After six months of practice (by which time Helm had finished his studies), drummer Helm, singer Hawkins, guitarist Jimmy Ray "Luke" Paulman and pianist Willard "Pop" Jones went north to Toronto, where rockabilly still packed the audiences in, setting up the city as a base while continuing to perform on a hellacious arc that stretched all the way back to Arkansas. Adding bassist Jimmy "Lefty" Evans to the fold and signing to Morris Levy's Roulette Records, the group cut a rocking version of Chuck Berry's "Thirty Days", adding ten days to their version and souping up their rockabilly arrangement with a piano solo that took the listener to outer space and back. It hit #45 on the Billboard charts, a success right out of the gate. Their second single, a cover of Young Jessie Obie's "Mary Lou" went to #26 shortly afterward, bolstered by a dynamic lip syncing performance on American Bandstand with Hawkins backflipping like a madman.

Among the earliest fans of Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks was Jaime Robbie Robertson, a budding songwriter and guitarist, half-Mohawk and half-Jewish, who pestered Hawkins to consider recording some of his nascent compositions while setting up stages, grabbing coffee and hauling equipment. Robertson had appeared with a wide variety of teenage groups, honing his skills on guitar, though he wasn't quite good enough to be a Hawk. Still, Hawkins cut two of Robertson's songs for the group's second album, Mr. Dynamo. In 1960, with Evans needing a change of scene, Hawkins drafted Robertson to play bass for the group. After Paulman's departure shortly thereafter, second keyboardist Stan Szelest joined up while Fred Carter, Jr. and Roy Buchanan both took brief spells on lead guitar. By the end of the year, Robertson had finally progressed on guitar enough to take over for Buchanan, with Rebel Payne taking his place on bass and Jerry Penfound joining the group on baritone saxophone.

Among those musicians in the orbit of the Hawks were rhythm guitarist and singer Rick Danko, like Robertson, a veteran of several teenage groups and Richard Manuel, whose rhythm piano and jaw dropping vocal abilities had made him a stand-out in the Revols, a band Hawkins hired to play the same Arkansas to Ontario arc that the Hawks themselves played. Impressed with both, he invited them both into the group at different points in 1961, Danko to replace Payne on bass (learning one string at a time) and Manuel to replace Jones. The final member of what would become The Band to come aboard was Garth Hudson, a college-educated music teacher who played rock and rhythm and blues more for fun than for anything else. Had he so desired, Hudson could have easily sat in with any number of classical, country, jazz, rock or rhythm and blues acts. A pianist like Manuel, he had desired switching to a Lowrey organ for quite some time (he couldn't afford it on his own) and made it a condition of his hiring. Hawkins agreed, additionally giving Hudson extra money to teach his new band mates fundamental aspects of music. Shortly before Christmas, Hudson replaced Szelest. Hawkins had already demanded his group practice endlessly; the addition of Hudson brought a new dimension to the group. With his tenor saxophone, the group now had a two-man horn section with Penfound ansd with his organ, they had an otherworldly second lead instrument.

Hawkins' band may have been red hot, but his chart success was not. None of his first four albums had much action on the charts and no single had performed better than "Mary Lou". Even if the songs weren't selling, they were certainly showcasing a rapidly maturing group. Sessions with Helm singing lead were recorded in 1960, showcasing a confident singing drummer far removed from the green kid who had drummed a rather typical rockabilly beat on "Forty Days". A cover of Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love" cut with Hawkins featured a stinging guitar part from Robertson and a piano part from Manuel that, like "Pop" Jones' had on "Forty Days", took the listener to outer space and back.

Helm, Robertson, Danko, Manuel, Hudson and Penfound left Ronnie Hawkins in 1963 after an altercation involving Danko- one of his girlfriends had shown up at a gig, causing Hawkins to issue a fine, as he was wont to do when his group acted up. With three voices among them, the group, taking the name "Levon and the Hawks", didn't need to find a new singer, though singer Bruce Bruno would occasionally sit in when Penfound was absent. For two years, the group played an endless stream of shows throughout the United States and Canada, from Texas to Quebec. Two singles, one for Henry Glover's Ware Records and another for Atco, were issued after Penfound's 1964 departure, neither had much impact on the charts.

In the spring of 1965, Levon and the Hawks were in Arkansas taking a brief breather from their endless live shows when they heard the legendary Sonny Boy Williamson on the radio performing on the King Biscuit Time program. The group was determined to meet the aging harmonica wizard, confident of their instrumental prowess. Williamson, impressed by the youngsters, asked them to be his backing group. The Hawks agreed, promising to return after playing a handful of dates in New Jersey. Unfortunately, Williamson died while the Hawks were away. The group was busted for drug trafficking- an ounce of marijuana was found on Danko- shortly thereafter. Just as it seemed fate had kicked them to the ground, a folk singer that had recently gone electric called them up.

Bob Dylan needed a drummer and guitarist to flush out his line-up. Helm and Robertson signed up. After two shows with organist Al Kooper and bassist Harvey Brooks, the two Hawks demanded the inclusion of their three band mates, which Dylan agreed to. For the next eight months, the group went around the world with Dylan, playing electric sets to booing and catcalls, excepting Helm, who couldn't stand the negative atmosphere and split in late November, replaced with a succession of pick-up drummers. After the May 1966 conclusion of a European tour, the remaining four-piece went to New York, eager to take advantage of their first sizable break in years. Dylan had the quartet on retainer without requiring anything of them, in the interim, they worked with Peter Yarrow and Tiny Tim on the film You Are What You Eat.