Music: The Nighthawks

[special-K]

Has anyone heard of them? They are classified as a blues band, but thay have a wider realm. Basically, they do the roots of rock, the blues, and anything that goes with those. Many original songs. They are based out of the Washington,DC area and have been around since the early-70s.. These guys are in their 60s now and they have a more refined sound than the beginnings. Mark Wenner (singer/harmonic) is now the only original member. My brother-in-law, Paul Bell, came on as their guitar player at the same time Johnny Castle became their bass player. Then came Mark Stutso on drums a few years later. They place around the country and abroad, so they may come to your area. If you check their site, www.thenighthawks.com you can get their play dates. Right now their 2016 schedule is far from filled out, so check back later.

Here they are before Mark came on as drummer. Pete got kinda burned out on all the traveling and left the band by mutual agreement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2TzOEqu0cY

The earlier stuff with Jimmy Thackery was more rockin' . But they still hit it hard on some songs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLSwfrBIOiA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7nm4gBh8g8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-PtONTC2rY

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OhoJellCexI/default.jpg

[special-K]

They do a lot of car shows and bike events. I thought I'd share so people might recognize when they come to your town. May not be what you usually listen to, but they gettem up and dancin'. This is probably my favorite all time song they do. This version is off an Album Wenner did with other artists, but The Nighthawks play it. This stuff is live, not super produced and refined. Just get on stage and do it. I figure most will relate to this one. I think it's badass!:
https://www.song365.org/track/mark-w...ic-785705.html

[pritch]

Oh yeah!

I thought I had some pictures of the last time I saw them, but they must be on my aux hard drive and I can't find the connector wire just now. I thought it was at the Greeley Blues Jam a couple years ago, but I'm not sure about that. I know I saw them at the King Biscuit fest in Helena, Ark. a couple of times. They don't seem to get this far west too often though. (hint hint)

Awesome band! Thanks for the videos.

[special-K]

Pritch, I figured I'd hear from you. We seem to have a few parallels going on and music is one of them. After we touched on the topic of popular music in that Clay Walker thread I decided to do this thread I often considered doing. Johnny had played with Bill Kirchen earlier and Mark S did drums for Tom Principato. Paul reminded me yesterday about the movie that is coming out about them. It was supposed to be out before Christmas, but that ain't happenin'...quite yet. I got to know Mark before Paul joined up. We share a common interest in the love of old American motorcycles, as well as the realm of blues music. Although, I could never compare with Marks knowledge ...and collection...of bikes. It was a great day when I got word Paul had been hired up.
They have a booking agent and not sure how all that works, but they also get hired straight from club owners as well as Mark W's connections over the years. They break for January. Tell me some venues and I'll drop a hint. I can't remember where, maybe SLC, but they played somewhere a couple few years ago where my sister who lives in Targhee, ID got to go hear them.

[flashed]

Never heard of them but I like them ,listened to several of their songs on youtube ,very good .most definitely my kind of music .My current favorite band is based in Spartenburg ,South Carolina and they call themselves The Silver Travis Band .They play southern blues ,country /rock and they write most of their own stuff but they also cover Allman Bros and other southern bands they played with in their younger days .We met and became friends with these guys in a little biker bar in Myrtle Beach during a car show and have been following them since.

[special-K]

Sounds like a band right up my ally, or should I like that Jonrah? I'll have to look into them. Great to hear you like the Nighthawks. I somehow got on a music thread kick. Music, and finding the lesser known, has always been a big part of my life. I had a sister 4 years older growing up, and her boyfriends were in garage bands in the '60s. She and her boyfriends were a big influence on me as a kid. I remember hearing Buffalo Springfield's "Rock & Roll Woman" playing in her room. What a great song! I wondered why I never heard it on the radio, and that's when I realized some of the best music ever never gets aired. That's when Top 40 stopped meaning a thing to me. I like music created from an artist's soul, not the recording industry

[pritch]

Originally Posted by special-K

I remember hearing Buffalo Springfield's "Rock & Roll Woman" playing in her room. What a great song! I wondered why I never heard it on the radio, and that's when I realized some of the best music ever never gets aired. That's when Top 40 stopped meaning a thing to me. I like music created from an artist's soul, not the recording industry

Well said.

I have 3 older sisters (one was born before WWII, so she ain't even a baby boomer) so I went through all the various stages of Rock & Roll. Enter a mother that loved show tunes and a dad into Country & Western, and I had an extremely eclectic musical upbringing.

I remember the first 45 I bought, CCR's Green River. And at our 6th grade dance party (woulda been 69-70), everyone was supposed to bring a record. Most brought like Bobby Sherman or Partridge Family or some Motown, stuff like that. I brought Abbey Road.

After a time, I started noticing/realizing that most of my favorite songs were covers of older tunes, written by guys I'd never heard of. Guys with names like McKinley Morganfield and Chester Burnett. Bessie Smith and Big Mama Thornton. The Rolling Stones had hit songs written by guys named Robert Johnson and Slim Harpo. The Who even had a cover on their awesome rock opera Tommy by some dude name of Sonny Boy Williamson!

So I started doing some research and discovered that most wonderful American music: The Blues. Still, I wasn't completely convinced until about '74 or so, when I happened into a Charlie Daniels concert and some old black dude opened the show by just sitting on a chair and pouring out his soul. John Lee Hooker turned my head around and it's been the blues for me ever since. I love it. I am a fanatic. Member #2 of the Utah Blues Society.

tomorrow night, I am going to see a guy named Tommy Castro. I've seen him several times before, and every single time it's a better show than the time before. I'm stoked!

[davischevy]

Thanks for drawing my attention to them special-K. My kind of music.

I don't listen to commercial radio. My kids bought me an ipod and I have my own collection of music to listen to.

I too was surprised when I learned how much of the stuff we listened to in the sixties were covers of previous versions. I have spent quite a bit of time figuring out who had the original and the best version of some of my favorites.

[special-K]

Originally Posted by pritch

I remember the first 45 I bought, CCR's Green River. And at our 6th grade dance party (woulda been 69-70), everyone was supposed to bring a record. Most brought like Bobby Sherman or Partridge Family or some Motown, stuff like that. I brought Abbey Road.:metal

And, those were years I feel original rock peaked. It seems the record industry had not quite yet latched on to all this stuff those damn hippies were making. I guess it took Woodstock...then a couple years...to respond. Up to that point it was pure creativity. In '70 Steven Still did his first album after Buffalo Springfield with Jimmy Hendrix on one song and Eric Clapton on another. They all had contracts with rival record companies but that didn't matter. It was the music dictating the record industry, not vice versa. There was no super star BS or competitions, just collaboration.

Originally Posted by davischevy

I'm glad you like them, Larry. I too was surprised when I learned how much of the stuff we listened to in the sixties were covers of previous versions. I have spent quite a bit of time figuring out who had the original and the best version of some of my favorites.

Me too. As far as blues songs go, some songs took decades for me to realize were the same song I was listening to. I'd catch a phrase and think, that's what in a Muddy Waters song. I'd go listen to both and BAM! Same song.
Then there was "The Wrecking Crew", which I just came to learn of in the last year. Kind of a bummer, yet totally amazing. Google that and read for yourself if the scoop hasn't come your way yet.
............................................................

My sisters and I grew up with both parents exposing us to folk, blues, bluegrass, (acoustic) jazz, as well as ethnic music. My dad grew up in Baltimore and would lay outside basement windows to listen to the blues. He played guitar piano, and banjo. He was into the original blues and would play and sing Robert Johnson, Leadbelly, Bessie Smith, etc. He had a pretty good collection of old 78s, too. He was a teacher and started a folk music club in the '60s. We lived on a farm and the students would come out on the weekends, hang out, and play music. Then there was Dicky Woodard, his buddy shop teacher, and a huge influence on me (in many ways). He could make any string instrument and he had students making guitars!. I remember going to the HS shop at night and it was going full-tilt with students making their guitars. I'll have to start a thread on Dickie and all he influences on me.

My oldest sister, may she rest in peace, left home at 18. She ended up with a fellow named David Phillips, who also influenced me musically. There was one of the first progressive (called it underground back then) music station in Bethesda, MD... WHFS. It was free-form format and Davis did a blues show. This was 68/69. Google it. She ended up in Taos, NM and married Brad Hockmeyer, the owner of KTAO, which had/has the wide array free-form format as well.
It's funny, all this exposure to music and I don't play. I do play drums but never went anywhere with it. It's not something you play alone and with me hooking up with a gal with two children I needed to be close to home, home at night, and make steady pay. I always figured I'd pick up the guitar one day, but hasn't happened yet.

[special-K]

Oh yeah, and my first record was Rolling Stones Now, their first one in '64. Lots of Chuck Berry and it was SOLO!. I still have it. "...If you care to know, I'm gone like a coooool breeze..."

[davischevy]

There were no musicians in my family. My first exposure to rock and roll was about 1965 We lived in Michigan and Illinois for a period and could get WLS Chicago on the radio. I spent lots of miles in my 57 Chevy's listening to WLS on the AM radio.

I figured out I liked the blues later. Before that I only knew about the Grand Ole Opry.

I have a B-25 Gibson and a Stratocaster and I can play enough to entertain the grandkids.

BTW: we sent you some nice cold rain Tim.

[special-K]

The rain wasn't so bad. I'm sure you'll be sending worse before long. That next one is upon us now, just rain still... 40s

I remember when it was all AM. Late at night we could pick up shows from far far away. I don't recall the call letters but I do remember a station from Chicago blasting all the way to Maryland.

[davischevy]

AH yes. W...L...S. I still can't say it, I have to sing it.

[davischevy]

Oh, I forgot the rain. We didn't send all of it. The tail end is still here.

[pritch]

That being said, my favorite is the North Mississippi Hill Country Blues. I'll start with Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU3ZFNIa0t0

Years later, Some kid from Tupalo covered than one and started something...

One of my favorites who is no longer with us (Katrina got him in a round-about way)
R L Burnside:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueQGgqzuWQ0

Who then inspired the North Mississippi Allstars:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bij5HSoaBGQ

And then there's these kids from that hot bed of the blues, Kansas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPORQ_qHvNU

Some will argue that Rock & Roll came from the Chicago blues, but I think it was this stuff. And it has stayed true, for the most part.

[special-K]

Greg Allman said, when the band was credited with bringing it about, "There is no such thing as Southern Rock. Rock is southern. It was born the south"

[davischevy]

pritch said it with his Tupelo comment. Most of the music that came out of Sun Records had the blues sound with a twist. Rock n roll.

[RenoKeene]

I'm a little late to this thread but I think I have all the Nighthawks recordings, my favorite being "Times Four" Live album. I have a lot of Thackery's stuff too!
Pritch....I also have a ton of Burnside's music and got to hang out with Cedric and R.L. JR at Skippers Smokehouse in Tampa (Got the t-shirt to prove it).
You guys might want to check out the "Backtrack Blues Band", great band that only plays part time for fun now, they all have real jobs...the lead singer is a practicing attorney!
Here is a pic of one of my all time favorites, John Mayall. I took this one from the VIP section.

[special-K]

Oh yeah. John Mayall was one who really helped put the love of blues in me as a teeny bopper. I got to see him live many times. Remember when concerts were like $2? No big production. All you had to do is get there with your $2

[RenoKeene]

The show I took Mayall's picture at was actually FREE. Orlando's downtown concert series a few years back. The VIP section cost us $35 I think. Only way to go if you like private, up front seating; your own bar and restrooms too.

[special-K]

Nice. There were plenty of free concerts back then, too. But, big venue big name shows for current hot bands were dirt cheap.

[pritch]

Originally Posted by special-K

Oh yeah. John Mayall was one who really helped put the love of blues in me as a teeny bopper. I got to see him live many times. Remember when concerts were like $2? No big production. All you had to do is get there with your $2

And sooo many guys (and gals) came up through the Bluebreakers, too. The Godfather of British Blues. I saw him last during his 70th birthday tour a few years back. Totally amazing player and bandleader.

[RenoKeene]

Originally Posted by pritch

And sooo many guys (and gals) came up through the Bluebreakers, too. The Godfather of British Blues. I saw him last during his 70th birthday tour a few years back. Totally amazing player and bandleader.

The first time I heard "Room to Move" I was hooked!

"ROOM TO MOVE" - JOHN MAYALL , best...

[pritch]

Aw, see what ya went and done...

Further on down the page was this one:

https://youtu.be/dwc7ZEYfWYc

And then one thing led to another:

https://youtu.be/iUaevnP1LLg
RIP, guys!

And then, just in case anyone is still not convinced:

https://youtu.be/lbJI1y0i1mk

[flashed]

All those links bring back many memories when we actually had good radio stations here ,good taste in mucsic guys .