Watch Your Step is a 1982 album by Ted Hawkins, a collection of previously recorded songs.[2][8]
| Watch Your Step | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| 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 | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| 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] |
| Tom Hull – on the Web | B+ ( )[7] |
Release
editAt the time of the album's release, Hawkins was a guest of the California Medical Facility in Vacaville.[9]
Critical reception
editThe Boston Phoenix called Watch Your Step "a triumph ... much more than the best blues album of the year -- it's an unexpected hybrid, the first folk-soul masterpiece."[10] 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."[11] 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
editAll songs were written by Theodore Hawkins, Jr. (i.e. Ted Hawkins); who also sang and played guitar on all of them.[12]
- "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
editAccording to an early vinyl release:[12]
- 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
edit- ^ a b "Ted Hawkins | Biography & History". AllMusic.
- ^ a b Wynn, Ron. Ted Hawkins: Watch Your Step at AllMusic. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
- ^ a b "Robert Christgau: CG: Ted Hawkins". www.robertchristgau.com.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4. MUZE. p. 185.
- ^ "This Ted Hawkins reissue is a deep dive into a tortured character". The Line of Best Fit.
- ^ a b The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. Random House. 1983. p. 220.
- ^ Hull, Tom (May 10, 2021). "Music Week". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Miles, Milo (3 August 1982). "Blues with a feeling: Ted Hawkins's acoustic soul". The Boston Phoenix. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
- ^ "Ted Hawkins". Trouser Press. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
- ^ a b Liner notes to WOLP 1
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