The Daily Deep Cut

The editors at JamsBio like to think of ourselves as music fans first, not critics, and that’s the sensibility we strive for at JamsBio and that we seek in other sites as well. That’s why we’re so jazzed about Damn Fine Day, a site that each day profiles a deep album cut that’s been overlooked, but deserves a place in everybody’s collection. In the name of spreading the gospel about great music, we present “The Daily Deep Cut,” where we add our two cents about the songs featured on Damn Fine Day. Once you read our unique take, we’ll send you over to Damn Fine Day so you can stream the full track and download it if you like. Sometimes we might even suggest another deep track from the same album or present some other novel twist on what their hawking.

Ronnie Hawkins is a rock and roll treasure who is more than deserving of a third coming. In the late 1950s he hit it big with two colossal rockabilly rave-ups, “Forty Days” and “Mary Lou.” In addition to recording these and other memorable early rock and roll sides, Hawkins probably deserves even more credit for nurturing the talents of his backing bandmates, the Hawks. After the initial incarnation of the Hawks ditched him (save drummer Levon Helm), Hawkins hired some Canadian upstarts to provide the instrumental muscle behind his already legendary live shows. Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, Rick Danko, and Richard Manuel joined Helm to form the new Hawks and the band stayed with the rock pioneer from 1959-1963. After that they were asked to join a young Bob Dylan on the road, and the rest is history. The Hawks soon morphed into the Band and recorded some of the greatest music ever put to wax, both as Dylan’s backing band and on their own.

But back to Hawkins. If you’re a fan of early rock and roll then you must take a trip over to Damn Fine Day to listen to Hawkins earth shaking cover of Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love.” I promise you won’t ever listen to this well-known gem the same again. But before you click that hyperlink, enjoy an early rockabilly track from Hawkins’ 1960 record, Mr. Dynamo.

“Southern Love” by Ronnie Hawkins (from Mr. Dynamo, 1960)

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