Watch Your Step (Ted Hawkins album)
Watch Your Step is a 1982 album by Ted Hawkins, a collection of previously recorded songs.[2][7]
Watch Your Step | ||||
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Compilation album by | ||||
Released | 1982 | |||
Recorded | 1971–72 | |||
Studio | Eldorado Recording Studios, Los Angeles | |||
Label | Rounder[1] | |||
Producer | Bruce Bromberg[1] Dennis Walker | |||
Ted Hawkins chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Robert Christgau | A-[3] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [4] |
The Line of Best Fit | 7/10[5] |
The New Rolling Stone Record Guide | [6] |
Release
At the time of the album's release, Hawkins was a guest of the California State Medical Facility at Vacaville.[8]
Critical reception
Trouser Press wrote: "Teaching a mighty acoustic lesson in roots music, Hawkins inhabits that secular place just outside the churchyard where gospel, folk and soul meet."[9] Robert Christgau wrote that "these little dramas of passion, tenderness and betrayal are stamped with the sin-and-redemption of a lived life."[3] The New Rolling Stone Record Guide wrote that "soul and blues fans need to hear this, if only to restore their faith in the dying art of emotional conviction."[6]
Track listing
All songs were written by Theodore Hawkins, Jr. (i.e. Ted Hawkins); who also sang and played guitar on all of them.[10]
- "Watch Your Step" – Acoustic version
- "Bring It Home Daddy"
- "If You Love Me"
- "Don't Lose Your Cool"
- "The Lost Ones"
- "Who Got My Natural Comb?"
- "Peace & Happiness"
- "Sweet Baby"
- "Stop Your Crying"
- "Put In a Cross"
- "Sorry You're Sick"
- "Watch Your Step" – Full band version
- "TWA"
- "I Gave Up All I Had"
- "Stay Close to Me"
Personnel
According to an early vinyl release:[10]
- Ted Hawkins – guitar, vocals
- Elizabeth Hawkins – vocals on "Don't Lose Your Cool" and "I Gave Up All I Had"
- Phillip Walker – lead guitar on 2, 6, 8, 12
- Arthur Woods – piano on 2, 6, 8, 12
- Ollie "Count" Gaines – bass on 2, 8, 12
- Dennis Walker – bass on "Who Got My Natural Comb?"
- Donny Tucker – drums on 2, 6, 8, 12
- David Majal Li – saxophone on 2, 6, 8, 12
- Melvin Moore – trumpet on 2, 6, 8, 12
- Ina Bea Walker and Jimmy Grisby – backing vocals on "Bring It Home Daddy"
References
- "Ted Hawkins | Biography & History". AllMusic.
- Wynn, Ron. Ted Hawkins: Watch Your Step at AllMusic. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
- "Robert Christgau: CG: Ted Hawkins". www.robertchristgau.com.
- Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Volume 4: MUZE. p. 185.CS1 maint: location (link)
- "This Ted Hawkins reissue is a deep dive into a tortured character". The Line of Best Fit.
- The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. Random House. 1983. p. 220.
- "TED HAWKINS is a singer, a songwriter, and a guitarist who for almost 30 years was a street mu..." NPR.org.
- Dineen, Donal. "Sunken Treasure: Ted Hawkins' Watch Your Step". The Irish Times.
- "Ted Hawkins". Trouser Press. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
- Liner notes to WOLP 1