Co-founder of The Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and
session drummer for FAME studio and the backbone of The Muscle Shoals
Rhythm Section, which made itself indispensable in as a hit-making
juggernaut in the '70s and '80s.Hawkins was playing the club scene
in Alabama and Tennessee until he was snapped up by FAME studio, where he
backed such notables as Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett.He and Barry Beckett, along with
David Hood and Jimmy Johnson, founded Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and Rhythm
Section in 1969, and the stars literally fell on Alabama for about two
decades. He toured with Traffic in the '70s, Eric
Claton in the '80s and he and Barry Beckett produced Mel & Tim's
"Starting All over Again". Throughout the course of his career
he has performed with hundreds, if not thousands, of artists such as
Alabama, Duane Allman, The Amazing Rhythm Aces, Paul
Anka, Patti Austin, Joan Baez, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Bonnie Bramlett,
James Brown, Solomon Burke, J.J. Cale, Canned Heat, Jim Capaldi, Kim
Carnes, Pete Carr, Clarence Carter, Jimmy Cliff, Joe
Cocker, Steve Cropper, Dawn, Willy DeVille, Dr. Hook, The Dramatics, The
Emotions, Donna Fargo, Eddie Floyd, Connie
Francis, Glenn Frey, Art Garfunkel, Screamin'
Jay Hawkins, Isaac Hayes, Etta James, Lulu, Herbie Mann, Ronnie
Milsap, Dorothy Moore, Willie Nelson, Mickey Newbury, Laura Nyro, The Oak Ridge
Boys, Tony Orlando, Stella Parton,
Eddie Rabbitt, Johnny Rivers, Linda Ronstadt,
Billy Joe Royal, Leon Russell, Sam & Dave, John Simon,
Percy Sledge, The Staple Singers, Cat Stevens, Billy Swan, Johnnie
Taylor, Joe Tex, Irma Thomas and Ruby Winters among many
others. The albums he has featured on are far too many to
mention but a few of them include Beach House on the
Moon by Jimmy Buffett, Double Barrel by The Burrito
Brothers, 3614 Jackson Highway by Cher, Crossroads
by Eric Clapton, Boomer's Story by Ry Cooder, Where the
Hits Are by Connie Francis, No Fun Aloud by Glenn
Frey, Breakaway by Art Garfunkel, Phases and
Stages by Willie Nelson, Linda Ronstadt by Linda
Ronstadt, My Time by Boz Scaggs, Back in '72 by
Bob Seger, There Goes Rhymin' Simon by Paul Simon, Best
Of... by Candi Staton, Atlantic Crossing by Rod
Stewart and Communication by Bobby Womack. In the '90s,
they sold Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, although Hawkins continued to manage it,
and produces and records to this day.In 1995, he was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.
