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What sustains a
band for more
than three
decades? Not a
hit radio band,
but a
roll-up-your-sleeves/drive
to the next gig
overnight/carry
your own gear up
the steps and
night after
night make
people happy
kind of band.
One that makes
them dance;
sends them home
to come back
again - and
again. What
makes that kind
band stay
together through
relatively few
personnel
changes? Answer:
A good idea; a
universal yet
somehow unique
good idea.
The Nighthawks
sought not so
much to reinvent
rock and roll,
but simply to
have it reinvent
itself by taking
the original
ingredients and
following—if
somewhat
loosely—the
original recipe.
And like good
cooks, the
individual
personalities
involved
ultimately
affected the
outcome. The
band was over 10
years old and
had baffled the
mainstream
industry before
the term “roots
rock” was coined
to explain the
likes of West
Coasters like
Los Lobos and
The Blasters. By
then, the
affiliation with
many of the
living blues
greats seemed to
brand The
Nighthawks a
“blues band,”
despite the fact
that
they played with
Carl Perkins as
well as Muddy
Waters.
The Nighthawks
had its genesis
when lead
singer-harmonica
player
extraordinaire Mark
Wenner returned
to his native
Washington,
D.C., after six
years in New
York City, lured
back by the
success of his
friend Bobby
Radcliff's local
acclaim with a
blues band. Mark
joined forces
with a very
young Jimmy
Thackery and
formed The
Nighthawks in
1972. They spent
a couple of
years
building The
Nighthawks'
reputation with
a revolving cast
of characters
until, in 1974,
they decided to
get the best
rhythm section
the area had to
offer: Jan
Zukowski on bass
and Pete Ragusa
on drums.
The Nighthawks
set off on a
musical mystery
tour that took
them to 49
states and a
dozen countries. They
played
with nearly all
the living blues
legends as well
as a
new generation
of bands
sometimes called
“the Blue Wave,”
and released
several important
albums,
including the
best-selling
Jacks and
Kings with Pinetop Perkins, Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson,
Calvin Jones and
Bob Margolin.
In 1986, Jimmy
Thackery left to
launch a solo
career. The band
meandered
briefly, backing
up John Lee
Hooker
and Pinetop
Perkins and
touring the
East Coast with
Elvin Bishop. A
series of shows
with
guest-star guitarists including Steuart
Smith, Warren
Haynes, James
Solberg and Bob
Margolin led to
a multiyear
collaboration
with Jimmy Hall
(Wet Willie) and
Jimmy Nalls (Sea
Level). After
their departure
in 1990, a
young Danny
Morris joined as
guitarist; his
fine work can be
heard on the
albums
Trouble
and Rock This House. Danny's
pursuit of a
solo career
allowed Pete
Kanaras a
nine-year run
with the band,
leaving a
recorded history
of
Pain and
Paradise, Still Wild
and a DVD
performance
with blues
legend Hubert
Sumlin.
In early 2005,
after 30 years
as a Nighthawk,
Jan Zukowski
decided it was
time to move on.
Pete Kanaras had
left by then as
well. As luck
would have it,
Paul Bell and
Johnny Castle
were ready,
willing and able
to join up and
have since
helped to
reinvent the
group. Paul Bell
first sat in
with the band in
1975. He paid
his dues in a
guitar town
where he became
known for his
versatility and
taste. As a true
D.C. player, he
plays a Fender
Telecaster (The
Rhodes Tavern
Troubadours sing
it: "D.C.'s a
Telecaster
town”). Sure,
there are some
Strat cats and
Gibson guys, and
Paul Reed Smith
is from D.C.,
but after Roy
Buchanan, Danny
Gatton and
Steuart
Smith, the canoe
paddle is the
choice of the
D.C. faithful.
And Paul, like
his
predecessors, knows
a D.C. picker
must be at home
with country
cluckin' and
soul
chuck-chuck-chuckin’
to be "ignant"
in the low-down
blues or raw
rockabilly, and
then slip
through the
augmented and
diminished
chords of some
serious jazz.
Paul has brought
great vitality
and attitude to
the performing
stage and a vast
wealth of
recording
experience to
the mix. It was,
in fact, after a
recording
session where
Mark Wenner and
Paul, playing
slide on a
beautiful steel
Dobro, sat
improvising on
some blues licks
that Mark asked
Paul to join the
band. Quite a
few great
guitarists have
played extended
years in The
Nighthawks, and
Paul stands tall
among them.
Then there's
Johnny Castle.
Not John:
Johnny, like the
guy in “The Wild
One.” Johnny and
his bass are
one. He has
crossed every
genre in the
D.C. world of
genre crossing.
Johnny made a
name playing in
Crank, D.C.
early hard
rockers that
even opened for
Hendrix. He was
the first
electric bass
player on the
new grass
bluegrass
circuit, mixing
it up with Bill
Monroe and Ralph
Stanley and
clogging his way
past the
purists. He did
a stint with the
soul rockers
Spatz, through
Tex Rabinowitz's
Bad Boys as they
morphed from
pure rockabilly
to the
psycho/punkabilly
of Switchblade,
and on to a
decade with Bill
Kirchen.
Somewhere in
there, Johnny
also managed a
couple of tours
subbing for Jan
Zukowski with
The
Nighthawks. And
stylistically,
it has been
observed that if
Jan played much
like Paul
McCartney,
Johnny is
totally Bill
Wyman. Yet
unlike Wyman,
Johnny has a
huge presence
onstage,
thundering
around like an
unleashed pro
football
linebacker. No
stranger to the
studio, Johnny
has penned many
a tune, and he
sings real good,
too!
After a frenzied
couple of years
with Paul and
Johnny on board,
the first move
was to record a
live show.
Blue Moon in
Your Eye,
a CD and DVD
package, was
recorded at the
Barns at Wolf
Trap in 2006 and
released later
that same year.
It gave people a
taste of the new
band and a
glimpse of
things to come.
While keeping up
the touring
pace, the band
in 2008 began to
sort through the
material that
would become
2009’s
American
Landscape.
Including two of
Johnny’s
originals, the
songs were
road-tested and
found to run
extremely well
and handle in
the turns.
The start of
2010 brought a
milestone: Pete
Ragusa announced
his decision to
pursue other
projects. Again,
exceptional
talent was on
deck. The
fabulously
versatile Mark
Stutso, who
spent nearly two
decades with
Jimmy Thackery
and the Drivers,
jumped in
without missing
a beat. The West
Virginia native
says he
experienced his
“magic moment”
in second grade
when he first
tapped on a real
drum, a blue
sparkle snare
from Sears. From
1966 to 1977, he
played steadily
in his home
state and in
neighboring
Southwest
Virginia and
Kentucky before
joining Tricks,
a rock band from
Virginia Beach.
After what he
calls “10
fantastic
years,” he moved
to D.C. and
played with Mike
Melchione’s Smut
Brothers before
joining the
Drivers in 1991.
“Mark Stutso was
our very first
choice to
replace the
otherwise-irreplaceable
Pete Ragusa,”
Mark Wenner
says. “He can
handle any
groove and any
style with ease,
and he’s a
world-class lead
vocalist and
brilliant
harmony singer.”
In early 2009,
XM/Sirius blues
guru Bill Wax
heard that the
Nighthawks were
doing some
acoustic shows
and suggested
the band come in
and cut some
live tracks. The
last time the
Hawks had done a
Bluesville Live
Homemade Jam
Session, Pete
Kanaras and Jan
Zukowski were
still in the
band, and Hawks’
hero and
occasional
partner in crime
Hubert Sumlin
was included. So
early one
weekday morning,
the band showed
up at the
incredible
Sirius/XM
facilities in
downtown D.C.
After a short
sound check with
engineer Michael
Taylor and a lot
of coffee and
bagels, Michael
hit the record
button and in a
couple of hours,
the Nighthawks
proceeded to
knock out all
the songs on
what became
Last Train to
Bluesville.
A few days later
Bill handed the
boys a
beautifully
mixed disk with
permission for
its release. The
only addition
was Bill Wolf’s
mastering magic.
The opening
track, Big Joe
Turner’s classic
“Chicken and the
Hawk,” has been
a fan favorite
since its first
appearance on
the 1990’s
Trouble.
Johnny and Pete
deliver an
incredible
swinging groove
with the upright
bass and
brushes. No
wonder this tune
is often an
opener at swing
dances! Next up,
Muddy Waters’
“Nineteen Years
Old,” gets an
authentic
country blues
treatment, even
though the
original was
from Muddy’s
heavily
amplified
period. Mark has
slightly altered
the lyrics,
adding years to
the woman’s age
as the song
progresses.
Acoustic James
Brown? Well,
when James and
the Famous
Flames recorded
the original
“I’ll Go Crazy,”
they were
virtually a
doo-wop group,
and the only
amplified
instrument on
the session was
guitar. Johnny
redoes two tunes
he sang on the
2006 live CD,
Blue Moon in
Your Eye.
When the
acoustic
Nighthawks
concept was
evolving, the
band did a radio
show in
Milwaukee in an
almost-acoustic
format and,
hearing the
recording of
“Thirty Days,”
realized how
well acoustic
tunes could
rock. And “You
Don’t Love Me”
rocks even
harder.
Between those
two tracks, Mark
does a version
of Slim Harpo’s
“Rainin’ in My
Heart.” Slim
Harpo’s
recordings were
in Mark’s
collection when
he was just
beginning to
fiddle with the
harmonica in
high school, and
one of the high
points of his
life was a
chance to sit in
with Slim Harpo
and Lightnin’
Slim in New York
City. Mark
remembers Slim
Harpo
encouraging him
to get a group
together and
stick with the
guys!
“Can’t Be
Satisfied” was
Muddy Waters’
first hit after
he moved to
Chicago. Paul’s
slide is
nothing short of
spectacular,
really capturing
Muddy’s feel.
“Mighty Long
Time” is one of
the greatest,
gentlest, most
moving pieces
Sonny Boy
Williamson ever
recorded: “It’s
been so long,
the carpet have
faded on the
floor….” In the
Nighthawks’
version, much
tribute is paid
to Sonny Boy’s
harp and vocal
style, but the
solo is taken by
Paul, making the
track unique.
“High
Temperature” is
given the
doo-wop
treatment it got
on
Pain and
Paradise,
although the
band handles its
own vocals here
where they
imported the
Orioles on the
previous
version. The
groove is based
on one of Little
Walter’s
outtakes rather
than on the
original
release. And
what better
closer than the
Muddy
Waters/Little
Walter rave up
of “Rollin’ and
Tumblin,’ ” set
up here with
Pete’s
distinctive
tambourine-stick
drumming and
everybody
moaning. |
