Blues
The former L.A. street musician's major-label breakthrough was in a great many ways a far weaker outing than what came before, largely due to a plodding band unwisely inserted behind Hawkins that tends to distract rather than enhance his impassioned vocals and rich acoustic guitar strumming. Mostly originals ("There Stands the Glass" returns, as does "Ladder of Success") that would have sounded so much better in an intimate solo context.
By Bill Dahl. AMG.
**
For years Ted Hawkins sat on a milk crate on the Venice Beach boardwalk in California and passed the hat. Although he strummed an acoustic guitar, he was not a blues or folk artist; he was a soul singer in the fashion of his biggest hero, Sam Cooke. On Hawkins' first major-label release (though his sixth album overall), that passionate soulfulness in his raspy voice and insistent guitar still dominates the foreground, even though producer Tony Berg has tastefully mixed in supportive musicians. Readers have good reason to be suspicious when critics hail an obscure street singer as a major talent, but Hawkins, who died shortly after this record's release, was the real thing. If Cooke himself had bounced in and out of prison all his life and ended up singing on the street with an acoustic guitar, it's hard to imagine how he would have sounded any different than this. By Geoffrey Himes.
**
1994 found Ted Hawkins breaking through to his largest audience yet with the release of THE NEXT HUNDRED YEARS, Hawkins' first album for a major label. Sadly, on New Year's Day 1995 he succumbed to a massive stroke, leaving this record as his ... Full Descriptionfinal offering. The album is every bit the equal of his remarkable WATCH YOUR STEP and HAPPY HOUR.
Hawkins is supported by subtle and evocative accompaniment-churchly organ here, a steel guitar there-and the players are understated and perfectly suited to the material. The few covers include "There Stands The Glass," a stirring song that often opened Hawkins' concerts, Jesse Winchester's "Biloxi," and John Fogerty's "Long As I Can See the Light." Ted Hawkins was a big man with a big voice, and the spiritual and emotional shadows he cast here will linger for at least the next hundred years.
From CD Universe.
**
Jim Keltner- Drums, Percussion
Greg Leisz- Lap steel guitar, Hawaiian guitar, Pedal steel guitar
Patrick Warren- Keyboards
John Pierce- Bass
Guy Pratt- Bass
Martin Tillman- Cello
Chris Bruce- Guitar
Kevin McCormick- Bass
Greg Wells- Drums, Percussion
Ted Hawkins- vocals, Guitar
Tony Berg- Keyboards
Also:
Bill Payne- Drums
Pat Mastelotto- Drums
**
01. Strange Conversation 4.19
02. Big Things 2.41
03. There Stands the Glass 2.31
04. Biloxi 4.39
05. Groovy Little Things 3.28
06. Good and the Bad 4.54
07. Afraid 4.35
08. Green-Eyed Girl 3.25
09. Ladder of Success 3.23
10. Long as I Can See the Light 3.13
**
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