Watch Your Step
White album cover featuring words "Ted Hawkins" and "Watch Your Step" with an image of a man in a pink shirt playing guitar in front of a white building.
Compilation album by
Ted Hawkins
Released1982
Recorded1971–72
StudioEldorado Recording Studios, Los Angeles
LabelRounder[1]
ProducerBruce Bromberg[1]
Dennis Walker
Ted Hawkins chronology
Watch Your Step
(1982)		 Happy Hour
(1986)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Robert ChristgauA−[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]
The Line of Best Fit7/10[5]
The New Rolling Stone Record Guide[6]
Tom Hull – on the WebB+ ((3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention))[7]

Watch Your Step is a 1982 album by Ted Hawkins, a collection of previously recorded songs.[2][8]

Release

At the time of the album's release, Hawkins was a guest of the California Medical Facility in Vacaville.[9]

Critical reception

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."[10] 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

All songs were written by Theodore Hawkins, Jr. (i.e. Ted Hawkins); who also sang and played guitar on all of them.[11]

  1. "Watch Your Step" – Acoustic version
  2. "Bring It Home Daddy"
  3. "If You Love Me"
  4. "Don't Lose Your Cool"
  5. "The Lost Ones"
  6. "Who Got My Natural Comb?"
  7. "Peace & Happiness"
  8. "Sweet Baby"
  9. "Stop Your Crying"
  10. "Put In a Cross"
  11. "Sorry You're Sick"
  12. "Watch Your Step" – Full band version
  13. "TWA"
  14. "I Gave Up All I Had"
  15. "Stay Close to Me"

Personnel

According to an early vinyl release:[11]

  • 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

  1. 1 2 "Ted Hawkins | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  2. 1 2 Wynn, Ron. Ted Hawkins: Watch Your Step at AllMusic. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Robert Christgau: CG: Ted Hawkins". www.robertchristgau.com.
  4. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4. MUZE. p. 185.
  5. ↑ "This Ted Hawkins reissue is a deep dive into a tortured character". The Line of Best Fit.
  6. 1 2 The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. Random House. 1983. p. 220.
  7. ↑ Hull, Tom (May 10, 2021). "Music Week". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  8. ↑ "TED HAWKINS is a singer, a songwriter, and a guitarist who for almost 30 years was a street mu..." NPR.org.
  9. ↑ Dineen, Donal. "Sunken Treasure: Ted Hawkins' Watch Your Step". The Irish Times.
  10. ↑ "Ted Hawkins". Trouser Press. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  11. 1 2 Liner notes to WOLP 1


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