Roy Theodore Hawkins (February 7, 1903 – March 19, 1974) was an American blues singer,

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, j ...

, and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

. After working in clubs, he broke through with his 1950

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

"Why Do Things Happen to Me" inspired by an auto accident which

paralyzed Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...

his right arm. Several of his songs, most notably "

The Thrill Is Gone "The Thrill Is Gone" is a slow minor-key blues song written by West Coast blues musician Roy Hawkins and Rick Darnell in 1951. Hawkins's recording of the song reached number six in the Billboard R&B chart in 1951. In 1970, "The Thrill Is Gone" ...

", were

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

by later artists, including

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

, and James Brown.

Biography

Hawkins was born in

Jefferson, Texas Jefferson is a city in Marion County, in the U.S. state of Texas's northeastern region. With a population of 1,875 at the 2020 United States census, it is the county seat of Marion. History Almost every commercial building and house on the main ...

. Little is known of the early part of his life. By the mid-1940s he was performing as a singer and pianist in the

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

area, where he was discovered by musician and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Bob Geddins, who was impressed by Hawkins' "soulful, doom-laden style". Hawkins seems to have made his first recordings when about 45 years old, for the Cava-Tone and Down Town

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the prod ...

s in 1948. His band, the Four Jacks, included saxophonist William Staples, guitarist Ulysses James, bassist Floyd Montgomery, and drummer Madison Little. Roy Hawkins, Illustrated Discography, ''wirz.de''
Retrieved 5 November 2016
Retrieved 4 November 2016 He signed with

Modern Records Modern Records (Modern Music Records before 1947) was an American record company and label formed in 1945 in Los Angeles by the Bihari brothers. Modern's artists included Etta James, Joe Houston, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turner and John Lee ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

the following year, and stayed with that label until 1954. He had his first chart hit with "Why Do Things Happen To Me" (also known as "Why Do Everything Happen To Me"). Though the song had been written by Geddins while Hawkins was hospitalized after his auto accident, he sold it to Jules Bihari at Modern, and the record was released with the songwriting credit given jointly to Bihari (as "Jules Taub") and Hawkins. "Why Do Things Happen To Me" reached number 2 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 advertis ...

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

in early 1950, and was later recorded by both

B. B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shimm ...

and James Brown (as "Strange Things Happen"). Hawkins continued to release singles on Modern and had his second hit in 1951 with "

", again co-credited to Bihari but in fact co-written with Rick Darnell. The record featured

Maxwell Davis Thomas Maxwell Davis, Jr. (January 14, 1916 – September 18, 1970), was an American rhythm and blues saxophonist, arranger, bandleader and record producer. Biography Davis was born in Independence, Kansas in 1916. In 1937, he moved to Lo ...

(saxophone), Willard McDaniel (piano) and Johnny Moore (guitar), and reached number 6 on the R&B chart. The song was later recorded by many other artists, including B. B. King – whose

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

it became Ted Carroll, "Roy Hawkins - The Thrill Is Gone", ''Ace Records''
Retrieved 5 November 2016 –

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the "Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

, and

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and ''Stardust'' (1978 ...

. "The Thrill Is Gone", ''SecondhandSongs.com''
Retrieved 5 November 2016 After several less successful singles, including "Gloom and Misery All Around", an early song by

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as " Hound Dog" ( ...

, Hawkins left Modern in 1953. He recorded for a series of labels over the next few years including Flair,

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimension ...

, Rhythm, and Music City, for whom he recorded as Mr. Undertaker. His last recordings were made for

Kent Records Kent Records was a Los Angeles-based record label, launched in 1958 by the Bihari brothers. It was subsidiary of Crown Records Corporation. Kent was a follow-up to Modern Records which ceased operations in 1958. The label reissued Modern's singles, ...

in 1961. His later years were spent working in a furniture store. Hawkins died in

Compton, California Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and, on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city in Los Angeles County to incorporate ...

in 1974.

Allmusic biography AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the datab ...

/ref>

Discography

Singles

* "They Raided The Joint" (1947) * "Christmas Blues" (1948) * "It's Too Late To Change" (1949) * "Forty Jive" (1948) * "Quarter To One" (1949) * "Easy Going Magic" (1949) * "West Express" (1949) * "Sleepless Nights" (1949) * "Why Do Things Happen To Me" (1950, R&B: #2) * "On My Way" (1950) * "My Temper Is Rising" (1950) * "Just A Poor Boy" (1950) * "Blues All Around Me" (1951) * "You're The Sweetest Thing" (1951) * "

" (

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

, R&B: #6) * "Gloom And Misery All Around" (1951) * "You're A Free Little Girl" (1952) * "Highway 59" (1952) * "The Thrill Hunt" (1952) * "Bad Luck Is Falling" (1953) * "I Wonder Why" e-make of "Why Do Everything Happen To Me"(1953) * "If I Had Listened" (1955) * "Trouble In Mind" (1962)

LP/CD releases

* ''Why Do Everything Happen To Me'' ec. 1949-54(Route 66 #KIX-9 P 1979) * ''Highway 59'' (Ace #CHD 103 P 1984) * ''The Thrill Is Gone: The Legendary Modern Recordings'' (Ace #CHD-754, 2000) * ''Bad Luck Is Falling: The Modern, RPM and Kent Recordings, Vol. 2'' (Ace #CHD-1096, 2006)

References

External links