Levon And The Hawks - Flying High (1965)

The Hawks started out with Ronnie Hawkins as Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks, but also recorded in the studio on several occasions on their own, with Levon Helm taking the vocal duties. One of the earliest sessions took place during September 1961 with Rick Danko on bass, Levon Helm on drums and vocals, Robbie Robertson on guitar, Ronnie Hawkins on vocals and Jerry Penfound on saxophone. The sessions were produced by Henry Glover at Bell Sound Studio in New York City, and resulted in tracks like Jimmy Reed’s 'You Know I Love You', 'Further On Up the Road' and Muddy Waters' 'Nineteen Years Old', which featured Roy Buchanan on rhythm guitar. After leaving Hawkins in 1964, the group was briefly known as the Levon Helm Sextet, with sixth member sax player Jerry Penfound, and then as Levon and the Hawks after Penfound's departure. The band toured extensively, with personnel changing periodically, but by the time they next went into the studio all the members of the group that would go on to become the Band were in place. Hawkins' producer at Roulette, the legendary Henry Glover, brought them into Bell Studios in New York to record two fine Robbie Robertson originals, 'Leave Me Alone' and 'Uh Uh Uh', in the spring of 1965, and Glover released these on the Ware label in the U.S., and on Apex in Canada under the name of The Canadian Squires. In 1964 some members of the band (Robertson, Hudson and Helm) joined bassist Jimmy Lewis, a young Michael Bloomfield on piano and Charlie Musselwhite on harmonica to record an electric blues session with John Hammond Jr., which would become his Vanguard album 'So Many Roads', released at the beginning of 1965. In late 1964 to early 1965, the band recorded in the studio on a few occasions with producers Duff Roman and Henry Glover respectively, with The Roman sessions, as they became known, resulting in fine examples of early Robertson compositions such as 'Bacon Fat' and 'Robbie’s Blues'. 

In September they recorded two further Robertson originals, the soulful 'He Don’t Love You' and 'The Stones I Throw', and these were released as the first single under the Levon And The Hawks banner on the Atco label, but all this was overshadowed by their meeting Dylan in late summer of 1965. The band were recommended to him by John Hammond Jnr., who remembered them helping him out on his album, and after hearing the band play and meeting with Robertson, Dylan invited Helm and Robertson to join his backing band. After two concerts backing Dylan, Helm and Robertson told Dylan of their loyalty to their bandmates and told him that they would continue with him only if he hired all of the Hawks. Dylan accepted and invited Levon and the Hawks to tour with him. With Dylan, the Hawks played a series of concerts from September 1965 through May 1966, billed as Bob Dylan and the Band. From this point on their lives became inextricably linked with Dylan's, and Levon And The Hawks essentially ceased to exist, although in late 1968, Atco dug up another song that was recorded at the September 1965 sessions, and released 'Go Go Liza Jane' in 1968 as a Levon And The Hawks single, recycling 'He Don’t Love You' for the flip. This album collects all of the studio recordings by the band, plus a couple of live tracks, one featuring Dylan, to show just why they were considered one of the hottest bar bands in North America and Canada in the early 60's. 

Track listing

01 What A Party (recorded at Bell Sound Studio 1961)
02 Farther Up The Road (recorded at Bell Sound Studio 1961)
03 She's Nineteen (recorded at Bell Sound Studio 1961)
04 You Don't Know Me (Texas 1964)
05 Leave Me Alone (single by The Canadian Squires 1964)
06 Uh Uh Uh (b-side of 'Leave Me Alone')
07 Bacon Fat (studio recording 1965)
08 The Stones I Throw (single 1965)
09 He Don't Love You (And He'll Break Your Heart) (b-side of 'The Stones I Throw')
10 Robbie's Blues (studio recording 1965)
11 Number One (studio out-take 1965, with Bob Dylan)
12 Honky Tonk (studio recording 1965)
13 Go Go Liza Jane (single, recorded 1965, released 1968)