Dale Hawkins

It had been close to 50 years since Dale Hawkins first hit the charts with "Suzy Q" when he cut the sessions for Back Down to Louisiana in 2006 and he was edging up on 70 years of age, but anyone expecting this album to be a tired rehash of what Hawkins was doing back in the '50s is in for a surprise. With its thick, fuzzy guitar and rollicking boogie piano figures, "New Generation" sounds more than a little like the Faces (OK, not quite contemporary, but also not what most folks would anticipate), and if Hawkins' voice shows a bit of its age, he also sounds sly as a fox and more than ready to shake out some swampy, Dixie-fried rock & roll. Hawkins serves up the rockabilly-style sound folks might expect on "Bang Bang" and "Feelin' Like a King" as well as some potent country blues on "Mighty Mississippi" and the title cut, but even when he's following a familiar musical template, Hawkins is fully engaged and as committed as a man half his age, with the greasy slide of his voice sounding a little dirty in all the right ways. Hawkins can also sing a convincing love ballad these days, and offers two takes of "This Love of Mine" to prove it, but the man is really in his element when he's getting funky on numbers like "Do the Thang" and "Word Song," and when he and his band gets rolling, they deliver enough potent roadhouse stomp to convince anyone that Hawkins remains a viable natural resource of rock & roll. Hawkins also had a hand in writing all but one of the tunes on Back Down to Louisiana as well as producing the sessions, and it's hard to imagine another member of the AARP rocking out this convincingly anytime soon -- the guy still has it, and it doesn't sound like he's going to give it up without a fight. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide