~
Hawkshaw Hawkins was born on December 22, 1921. He was an American country
music singer popular from the 1950s into the early 60s known for his music drawn from
blues,
boogie and
honky tonk.
Ling Ting Tong ~ lyrics:
I went to Chinatown
'way back in old Hong Kong
To get some Egg Foo Yung
And then I heard a gong
Ling ting tong tried to sing that song
Called Tie-ess-a mo-cum boo-die-ay
Tie-ess-a mo-cum boo
Ling ting tong, he would never be wrong
Go on and sing your song, a-ling ting tong
And I looked around
The lights were going down
And this is what I found
A back in Chinatown
The tune is moderately fast and bouncy with some great guitar work and could be classed as "
honky tonk". The song would probably not be considered PC now but it worked in the 50's.
The first
music genre to be commonly known as
honky tonk was a style of
piano playing related to
ragtime but emphasizing
rhythm more than
melody or
harmony;
the style evolved in response to an environment in which pianos were
often poorly cared for, tending to be out of tune and having some
nonfunctioning keys. This
honky tonk music was an important influence on
the
boogie-woogie piano style. Before
World War II, the music industry began to refer to
hillbilly music being played from Texas and Oklahoma to the West Coast as "
honky tonk" music. In the 1950s,
honky tonk entered its
golden age, with the popularity of
Webb Pierce,
Hank Locklin,
Lefty Frizzell,
Ray Price,
Faron Young,
George Jones, and
Hank Williams.
45 RPM
By contrast the "B" side, Ko Ko Mo, is fast and jivey. It's a pretty innocuous song but then most songs back then were.
Hawkins was 6 ft 5 inches tall and was christened "Eleven Yards of Personality". He had an imposing stage presence and his
tasteful Western suits set him apart from the rhinestone gaudiness of
other male country singers.
date & photographer unknown
Hawkins died on March 5, 1963, in a plane crash that
also killed country stars
Patsy Cline and
Cowboy Copas. He was a member
of the
Grand Ole Opry and was married to country star
Jean Shepard.
Tracklist:
Side 1:
A – Hawkshaw Hawkins - Ling Ting Tong, written by Mable Goodwin
Side 2:
B – Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Rita Robbins - Ko Ko Mo (I Love You So), written by Levy*, Forest Gene Wilson*, Porter*
Musicians:
Hawkshaw Hawkins [vcl]
Chet Atkins [ld gt]
Eddie Hill [rh gt]
Bob Foster [steel]
Bob Moore [bass]
Buddy Harman [drums]
Tommy Jackson [fiddle]
Owen Bradley [piano]
Notes:
RCA Victor Black label with Silver lettering.
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (A side label): F2WW-0235
Matrix / Runout (B side label): F2WW-0234
Hawkshaw Hawkins, Rita Robbins – Ling Ting Tong / Ko Ko Mo
Label: RCA Victor – 47-6022
Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1955
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Country, Vocal
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
Discography
honky tonk Etymology
honky tonk History
YouTube links:
Hawkshaw Hawkins ~ Ling Ting Tong
Hawkshaw Hawkins with Jean Shepard ~ Ko Ko Mo
Styrous® ~ Sunday, December 22, 2019
