Harold Franklin "Hawkshaw" Hawkins (December 22, 1921 – March 5, 1963) was an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer popular from the 1950s into the early 1960s. He was known for his rich, smooth vocals and music drawn from

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

boogie Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm,Burrows, Terry (1995). ''Play Country Guitar'', p.42. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. . "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie mus ...

and

honky tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano ( tack piano) ...

. At tall, Hawkins had an imposing stage presence, and he dressed more conservatively than some other male country singers. Hawkins died in the 1963 plane crash that also killed country stars

Patsy Cline Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...

and

Cowboy Copas Lloyd Estel Copas (July 15, 1913 – March 5, 1963), known by his stage name Cowboy Copas, was an American country music singer. He was popular from the 1940s until his death in the 1963 plane crash that also killed country stars Patsy Cline an ...

. He was a member of the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

and was married to country star

Jean Shepard Ollie Imogene "Jean" Shepard (November 21, 1933 – September 25, 2016) was an American honky-tonk singer-songwriter who pioneered for women in country music. Shepard released a total of 73 singles to the Hot Country Songs chart, one of which ...

Biography

Harold Hawkins was born on December 22, 1921, in

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Cabell County, and the largest city in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as the Tri-State Area. A h ...

, United States. He gained his nickname as a boy after helping a neighbor track down two missing fishing rods: the neighbor called him "Hawkshaw" after the title character in the comic strip, '' Hawkshaw the Detective''. He traded five trapped rabbits for his first guitar, and performed on WCMI-AM in

Ashland, Kentucky Ashland is a home rule-class city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The largest city in Boyd County, Ashland is located upon a southern bank of the Ohio River at the state border with Ohio and near West Virginia. The population was 21,6 ...

. At 16, he won a talent competition and a job on WSAZ-AM in Huntington, where he formed Hawkshaw and Sherlock with Clarence Jack. They moved to WCHS-AM in

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...

in the late 1930s. In 1940, at 19, he married Reva Mason Barbour, a 16-year-old from Huntington. During 1941, Hawkins traveled the United States with a musical revue. He entered the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in 1943 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and served as an engineer stationed near

Paris, Texas Paris is a city and county seat of Lamar County, Texas, United States. Located in Northeast Texas at the western edge of the Piney Woods, the population of the city was 24,171 in 2020. History Present-day Lamar County was part of Red River Co ...

, where he and friends performed at local clubs. As a staff sergeant, he was stationed in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and fought in the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

, winning four battle stars during 15 months of combat. He was also stationed in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

and performed there on the radio.

Postwar success

After he was discharged, Hawkins became a regular on ''

WWVA Jamboree The ''Wheeling Jamboree'' is the second oldest country music radio broadcast in the United States after the ''Grand Ole Opry''. The Jamboree originated in 1933 in Wheeling, West Virginia on WWVA (AM), WWVA, the first radio station in West Virginia ...

'' from 1945 to 1954 in

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extending ...

. In 1946, he signed a recording contract with King Records in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. This nearly never happened, as

Syd Nathan Sydney Nathan (April 27, 1904 – March 5, 1968) was an American music business executive who founded King Records, a leading independent record label, in 1943. He contributed to the development of country & western music, rhythm and blues a ...

almost threw his poorly-made demonstration record away without listening to it. However, upon listening Nathan agreed to record four Hawkins sides in West Virginia. His first two recordings with King, "Pan American" and "Dog House Boogie", were top ten country hits. A minor hit, and the song that become his signature tune, was "The Sunny Side of the Mountain." "Slow Poke", recorded in 1951, was another notable King recording. He stayed with the label until 1953. Because of his height of six feet, five inches and his outgoing personality, he was christened "Eleven Yards of Personality". In 1951, Hawkins and his wife adopted four-year old Susan Marlene. They divorced in 1958 and Susan traveled back and forth between her parents in summers and for holidays. Beginning in 1954, Hawkins was a regular performer on ABC Radio and TV's ''

Ozark Jubilee ''Ozark Jubilee'' is a 1950s United States network television program that featured country music's top stars of the day. It was produced in Springfield, Missouri. The weekly live stage show premiered on ABC-TV on January 22, 1955, was renamed ' ...

'' in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

, where he met his second wife,

.''Ozark Jubilee Souvenir Picture Album'' (first edition, 1955) After a few years with Columbia and

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

, he joined the Grand Ole Opry and returned to King; and in 1962 he recorded his biggest hit, "

Lonesome 7-7203 "Lonesome 7-7203" is a 1963 single by Hawkshaw Hawkins, written by Justin Tubb. It was the final single release of his career, released in 1963 on the King label. History "Lonesome 7-7203" was Hawkins's first chart entry since "Soldier's Joy" in 1 ...

". It first appeared on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

country chart Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

as a March 2, 1963 release, three days before Hawkins died. The song was absent from the charts for the two weeks following his death, but re-appeared on March 23 and spent 25 weeks on the chart, four of them at No. 1, an accomplishment that eluded him in life.

Aircraft accident

On March 3, 1963, Hawkins, Patsy Cline and Cowboy Copas performed at a benefit concert at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas for the family of disc jockey "Cactus" Jack Call, who had died in January after an automobile accident. Among the performers was Billy Walker, who received an urgent phone call and needed to return to Nashville immediately. Hawkins gave Walker his commercial airline ticket and instead flew back in a private plane in Walker's place. On March 5, Hawkins, Cline and Copas left for Nashville in a

Piper Comanche The Piper PA-24 Comanche is an American four-seat or six-seat, low-wing, all-metal, light aircraft of semimonocoque construction with tricycle retractable landing gear. Piper Aircraft designed and developed the Comanche, which first flew on Ma ...

piloted by Randy Hughes, Cline's manager (and Copas' son-in-law). After stopping to refuel in Dyersburg, Tennessee, the craft took off at 6:07 p.m. CT. The plane flew into severe weather and crashed at 6:29 p.m. in a forest near Camden, Tennessee, 90 miles from Nashville. There were no survivors. Fans around the world mourned the loss; Hawkshaw was survived by his daughter Susan Marlene, his young son Donnie, and his wife Jean Shepard, who was pregnant at the time with their second son, Harold Franklin Hawkins I. Hawk Jr., who was born one month after his father's death. Hawkshaw Hawkins

Hawkins was buried at

Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens is a cemetery noted for the number of musicians' graves located within it. It was established in 1960, and is located at 1150 Dickerson Pike in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, just north of Nashville. One area of the ceme ...

in Goodlettsville, Tennessee in Music Row with Copas and other country music stars.

Legacy

The location of the airplane crash in the still-remote forest outside Camden is noted by a stone marker, dedicated on July 6, 1996. Hawkins is remembered in "Love Never Dies" on

Martin Simpson Martin Stewart Simpson (born 5 May 1953) is an English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music reflects a wide variety of influences and styles, rooted in Britain, Ireland, America and beyond. He builds a purposeful, often upbeat voi ...

's 2003 album, ''Righteousness and Humidity''. In the song, Simpson meets an old truck driver who used to play guitar: "I gave old Hawkshaw a

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

one time, it was a J-200, man, such a sweet neck! And they say it stood up like a country grave marker, right there in the middle of that plane wreck."

Discography

Albums

*1958: ''Hawkshaw Hawkins Sings Grand Ole Opry Favorites, Vol. 1'' (King) *1958: ''Hawkshaw Hawkins Sings Grand Ole Opry Favorites, Vol. 2'' (King) *1959: ''Hawkshaw Hawkins'' (La Brea) *1959: ''Hawkshaw Hawkins Sings Grand Ole Opry Favorites, Vol. 3'' (King) *1959: ''Country Western Cavalcade'' (Gladwynne) *1963: ''Taken from Our Vaults, Vol. 1'' (King) *1963: ''Taken from Our Vaults, Vol. 2'' (King) *1963: ''The All New Hawkshaw Hawkins'' (King) *1963: ''The Great Hawkshaw Hawkins'' (Harmony) *1964: ''Hawkshaw Hawkins Sings Hawkshaw Hawkins'' (RCA Camden) *1964: ''Taken from Our Vaults, Vol. 3'' (King) *1965: ''Gone, but Not Forgotten'' (Starday) *1966: ''The Country Gentlemen'' (RCA Camden)

Singles

Notes

References

* *McNeil, W.K. (1998). "Hawkshaw Hawkins." In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music.'' P. Kingsbury, Ed. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 232–233. *''Ozark Jubilee Souvenir Picture Album'' (first edition, 1955)

External links

*
Hawkshaw Hawkins biography and tribute
by the ''

Huntington Herald-Dispatch ''The Herald-Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper that serves Huntington, West Virginia, and neighboring communities in southern Ohio and eastern Kentucky. It is currently owned by HD Media Co. LLC. History ''The Herald-Dispatch'' was founded in 190 ...

''
Hawkshaw Hawkins page at patsyclinetribute.comHawkshaw Hawkins biography at hillbilly-music.comHawkshaw Hawkins biography at CMT.com
* ttp://www.wheelingjamboree.org Website of the Wheeling Jamboree where Hawkins was a staff performer {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Hawkshaw 1921 births 1963 deaths Musicians from Huntington, West Virginia American male singer-songwriters American country guitarists American male guitarists American country singer-songwriters King Records artists RCA Victor artists Country musicians from West Virginia Grand Ole Opry members Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1963 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Accidental deaths in Tennessee 20th-century American singers 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from West Virginia 20th-century American male singers Musicians killed in aviation accidents or incidents United States Army personnel of World War II Singer-songwriters from West Virginia