I knew them when they were playing for Ronnie Hawkins when he was singing at a couple of honky tonks at the Univ. of Arkansas, called The Rockwood Club and The Shamrock Club. That was 1961 and early 1962. I knew Ronnie pretty well as he'd been a student at the U. of A. starting a year before I arrived. They performed at honky tonks all over the south and some in the midwest. Some of those places were so rough when you went in, they checked you for a gun. If you didn't have one, they gave you one.
At that time the group was called "Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks." Years later they ended up in Canada, hooked up with Bob Dillon and became "The Band." Hawkins became a single performer. i think he still is living in Canada where he made a big name for himself.
I believe today that Robbie Robinson and Dillon are the only two of the original Band who are still alive. They were one helluva group ... long ago and far away.
L.W.
