Blues, Stomps, & Rags #30

Edward Lee "Ted" Hawkins (1894-1985) -- or was it Ezra "Ted" Hawkins? -- was an excellent mandolin player from Atlanta, Georgia. Besides mandolin, he played fiddle, banjo, and guitar. Hawkins was a member of the Hometown Boys from 1918 to at least 1922, when they made their radio debut, then performed regularly on WSB in Atlanta. He was also a member of the Hapeville String Band. He became more influential through his fine mandolin playing on 1934 recordings with Gid Tanner's Skillet Lickers, a popular old-time band from Georgia, in a San Antonio studio. According to Wikipedia, the band's founders, Gid Tanner and Riley Puckett, were signed to Columbia in 1924, making them the label's first "hillbilly" act. The Skillet Lickers came together in 1926, and recorded 88 sides for Columbia by 1931 when they disbanded. However, they still gathered for occasional recordings, some that included Ted Hawkins, a chicken farmer. His Wikipedia page tells us: "Ted Hawkins was one of the first mandolinists in the history of country music and influenced the next generation of musicians who were to develop bluegrass." However, the writer says that Bill Monroe stated that he'd never heard a record by Hawkins.

(Information from: notes to Rags, Breakdown, Stomps & Blues by Dr. Richard Cherry; notes to Early Mandolin Classics by Terry Zwigoff; and from "Ted Hawkins Mandolinist" in German on Wikipedia. Hawkins should not be confused with another "Ted Hawkins," a singer-songwriter with his own page in Wikipedia, who was born in 1936.)

If this Ted Hawkins rag doesn't get your body moving, you'd better check your pulse. If the links don't work, search YouTube for "Skillet Lickers-Hawkins Rag-1934".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bItaBzKric

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bItaBzKric

Here's another fine rag, showcasing Hawkins's mandolin playing. If the links don't work, search YouTube for "Gid Tanner & The Skillet Lickers - Tanner's Rag".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdqq3I-05sM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdqq3I-05sM

I'm very fond of Ted Hawkins's playing with The Skillet Lickers, and want to thank "Maudlin Mandolin" for prompting me to post him here.