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PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, June 19, 1984 -- 17 "They called it hot country at first because ney didn't have a name for it," The Hawk says about his own distinctive rockabilly-style music. Rompin' Ronnie was (From page 16) past 14 years. He's also leaving Canada. "Old elephants, they usually like to go home to die", he says, only half in jest. "Canada is home but you got all your roots and your blood. For six months of the year Canada is the promised land. But I don't like winter', he growls. The Hawk's roots are in Arkansas, where he grew up without elect- ricity or plumbing and his father was making seventy-five cents a day. "I was about five years old when I decid- ed I didn't want to pick cotton", he recalls, and picked up a guitar instead. He played through high school, college ("I thought if I didn't make it in music I'd teach girls phys ed') and the army. One of his first bands, the Black Hawks, ran itno some racial trouble just because of their name. "There was some real prejudice down there, let me tell you, I saw some shows that would absolutely scare you to death', he drawls, light- ing another cigarette. "We played for Jack Ruby, yeah, Jack Ruby. He had a place where Evel Kneviel on heroin would be afraid to go. I like it when you can see who you're playing for. I like them honky-tonks." wanted to see the iglnos and the dog sleds thny always talked about. I thought Canada was Iceland", he laughs. "All you have to do is drive through Detroit and Buffalo and come across the border. It's like driving through the gates of Eden'. It was 1958 and the "I met Elvis in 1952 when he was looking for a job just like everyone else.' In 1952 he was in Memphis when he met Elvis, who was looking for a job just as hard as everyone else. And then when Presley was draft- ed, they offered The Hawk one million dollars to come to Nash- ville "'but I wowdn't do it" Nashville was clique country, run by super- stars like Eddy Arnold and Hank Snow. Young Hawkins wanted no part of it. So he came to Canada. "It was cause of our geography books. 1 time was ripe for some- one like Ronnie to bring his rockabilly and his infectious rowdiness to every honky-tonk he could get his hands on. "I just liked the people up here until Toronto became the League of Nations. It's a rowdy rednecked bunch and I like that'. People liked him too and took him in as though he was their own. Even now he's still an American citizen but the fact comes as a shock to many Canad- ians, who assume The Hawk has always been here, accent and all. sees "I've slowed down. I used to be able to handle three or four women a night but now I have to stop at one or two" Lately he's been hitt- ing pretty heavy on the 'getting old" theme but its not surprising for someone who's got 25 years of rock and roll * under his belt. "It just proves you don't have to be 21 and look like Tom Selleck. Boy George and the Rolling Stones have proven you don't have to be pretty," he points out. "Yeah, I like his (Boy George's) material. But 1 don't need to wear panty hose and dresses to play. The music is good but they just added this freaky stuff on top of it. "The good ones are as good as the good "ones were anytime'. He's half a century old and still performing like a kid, still hoping for a backer to come along and make him a real star, to take him out PT ES I WR in top form last Wednesday in Ottawa at the Liberal leadership convention. from under the pseudo- stardom that has been bubbling under him for so long. "All I need now is a backer and I could blow Kenny Rogers off the stage. All it is is publicity and promo- tion. Without the media, nobody's nothing. There wouldn't have been a Jesse James without a journalist," he says. And the music? Well, he's going to be playing for a while yet, one- night stands across the United States where the pay is a lot better than it is here. He's got those bills to pay, after all. "It's just a job for me', he claims. "You play for the people. You play for yourself at home. Thank God, that's where most cats make their mistake. Novices learn that first. Even Kris Kristofferson can't get up there and play all new songs. He can slip one or two in there between all his old tunes but what the people really want to hear is Help Me Make It Through The Night." Pr CHRETIEN Wang Wi