Billy Hawks - The New Genius Of The Blues 1967......... Heavy Soul! 1968(2014)BGP - Rare Soul/Blues/R&B+++Full Artwork-FLAC

Thanks to BGP you get 2 Rare Classic Soul/Blues Albums together in Flac....When i was an excited kid(long time back...lol)who had just discovered the delights of Black Music,and the fact you could Dance to it also just overwhelmed my young head !   Billy Hawks’ ‘O’ Baby (I Believe I’m Losing You)’ is one of the best records To have graced the Mod Clubs Back in the day. Years later it has become a staple of the more discerning clubs, a clarion call to the dancefloor. It’s 53 years since I first heard the record, and I have never tired of it, yet until i started this Blog I knew very little about Billy Hawks,a little surprising, considering he recorded two entire albums for Prestige. This is where the research side of things comes in to play.There was a time in the latter part of the 80s when the great records Prestige released in the late 60s were rediscovered and almost all the musicians reappeared,appealing to the MOD/JAZZ Scene. Billy was a notable exception.I did post his "Heavy Soul"album up on the old blog in mp3 so its a joy to post both of these gems in the best sound quality Flac.But many of the leads for info hit a dead end. His albums, “The New Genius Of The Blues” and “Heavy Soul”, were produced by Cal Lampley, who is now dead, and Bob Porter, Cal’s successor at Prestige, never encountered Billy. Then someone pointed the guys at BGP  in the direction of a website for Leroy Hawkes & the Hipnotics. It turned out Leroy is Billy’s brother.A singer in his own right who recorded two rare 45s for Philly labels, Leroy explained Billy had died in the early 80s, just too early to enjoy his rediscovery. Leroy also provided them with photos of his brother and his band and gave an interview about his and Billy’s lives. Thanks to Leroy’s co-operation, this is the most fully realised reissue of Billy Hawks’ work. But the core of the release is the music. The organ-led trio with voice was very popular in 1966 and 1967, Jimmy Smith added vocals to ‘Got My Mo-Jo Working’ and hit the charts – and Billy proved to be one of its finest practitioners. Self-written songs mingled with covers of old R&B hits, and all of those are topped by ‘O’ Baby (I Believe I’m Losing You)’, which would be worth the price of purchase of this great CD on its own.   Billy Hawks,(William)was a US R&B/Jazz organist,for those who have never heard of him. Born in Richmond,Virginia,he grew up singing,playing piano and listening to the blues. In 1961 he joined Steve Gibson’s Red Caps,and the following year joined the Modern Flamingos.In 1964 under the guidance of manager Clifford Doubledee and together with guitarist Maynard Parker and drummer Henry Terrell he formed his own group,the Billy Hawks Organ Trio and together they performed along the East coast.Two years later he released his debut album,The New Genius of the Blues,for Prestige Records,with guitarist Boogaloo Joe Jones replacing Parker. The album was followed in 1968 by Heavy Soul! on which he,Parker and Terrell were joined on some tracks by tenor sax player Buddy Terry.This is the Album that featured,"O Baby (I Do Believe I’m Losing You)"and  although the track appeared on the US pressing of this LP,it never made it to a US single release…hence its monster value now £1000!

AMM

                                                                The MOD Taster below!

                                                Tracks & Line Ups On Back Cover Below(FLAC)