{"id":255097,"date":"2021-05-21T03:26:50","date_gmt":"2021-05-21T00:26:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/roger-hawkins-muscle-shoals-rhythm-star-dies-at-75\/"},"modified":"2021-05-21T03:26:50","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T00:26:50","slug":"roger-hawkins-muscle-shoals-rhythm-star-dies-at-75","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/roger-hawkins-muscle-shoals-rhythm-star-dies-at-75\/","title":{"rendered":"#Roger Hawkins, Muscle Shoals Rhythm Star, Dies at 75"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Roger Hawkins, Muscle Shoals Rhythm Star, Dies at 75<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

Roger Hawkins, a drummer who shaped American popular music as part of the Alabama\u2019s famed Muscle Shoals music scene, has died. The Muscle Shoals Music Foundation announced the news<\/a> on Thursday afternoon (May 20). According to AL.com<\/a>, Hawkins died following an extended illness and several years of health struggles. He was 75.<\/p>\n

As a member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section\u2014a group more casually known as the Swampers\u2014Hawkins brought a groovy country-funk sensibility to scores of pop, soul, R&B, and rock hits. A 2013 documentary, Muscle Shoals<\/em>, documented the international influence of Hawkins and his peers. Hawkins most notably worked with Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett, app<\/a>earing on massive hits like \u201cRespect,\u201d \u201cThink,\u201d \u201cChain of Fools,\u201d \u201cMustang Sally,\u201d and \u201cLand of 1000 Dances.\u201d He also played drums on the Staple Singers\u2019 iconic \u201cI\u2019ll Take You There,\u201d drawing on reggae influences for the song\u2019s signature rhythm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Hawkins was born in Indiana and developed an interest in percussion from childhood, encouraged by family members. He arrived in Alabama as a teenager, following a few itinerant years as a touring musician. In 1965, Hawkins played drums on a song by a local singer: Percy Sledge. The single was \u201cWhen a Man Loves a Woman,\u201d which quickly achieved massive success. At Muscle Shoals\u2019 FAME Studios, he joined Jimmy Johnson, Barry Beckett, and David Hood in the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. The group frequently worked with Aretha Franklin, acting as her band on Aretha Arrives<\/em>, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You<\/em>, Lady Soul<\/em>, and others. They joined Solomon Burke on King Solomon<\/em> before backing Etta James on 1968\u2019s Tell Mama<\/em>, which includes her classic \u201cI\u2019d Rather Go Blind.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Hawkins left FAME with his fellow Swampers in 1969, co-founding the new Muscle Shoals Sound with funding help from super-producer Jerry Wexler in nearby Sheffield, Alabama. Cher\u2019s 3614 Jackson Highway<\/em> was the first album recorded there, with the singer borrowing the studio\u2019s address for its title. After Atlantic Records head Ahmet Ertegun took notice of the studio later in 1969, the group remained in high demand throughout the 1970s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Hawkins\u2019 credits in this period include Mavis Staples\u2019 Only for the Lonely<\/em>, Linda Ronstadt\u2019s self-titled record, Ry Cooder\u2019s Boomer\u2019s Story<\/em>, and Paul Simon\u2019s There Goes Rhymin\u2019 Simon<\/em>. In 1973, Steve Winwood recruited Hawkins and his fellow Swampers to be his backing band on Traffic\u2019s Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory<\/em> and the live album On the Road<\/em>. Later in the decade, Hawkins appeared on more records by Art Garfunkel, Rod Stewart, Bobby Womack, Millie Jackson, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, and more.<\/p>\n

Hawkins continued an active music career well into the 1990s, slowing as he began to experience tinnitus but remaining close with his Muscle Shoals colleagues. \u201cWe loved what we were doing. And when we were in that studio nothing else mattered,\u201d he told AL.com<\/a> in 2019. \u201cWe had such a good time making things sound like what we wanted them to sound like, hoping people would like what we’re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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