| In 1980, The Nighthawks had
the opportunity to record with Mercury Records. It seemed like
this was a big break with a major label. While they continued
to tour, the plan was to go to the famous Muscle Shoals Sound
Studio in Alabama and work with one of the legendary session
players there, guitarist Eddie Hinton. Unfortunately, things
did not go smoothly—starting with the January recording
sessions. The band was burned out from being on the road, and
Hinton had problems of his own. Mercury had somebody else come
in to produce, and songs were re-recorded—then they were
further remixed back in Maryland. The result was the self-titled “The
Nighthawks” album, another solid effort but perhaps not
everything the band had hoped for. Another frustration for the
band was that they recorded another album, but Mercury didn’t
see fit to release it. The Nighthawks were also falling victim
to labeling in the music business—their unique blend of
blues, rock and soul was viewed by the record companies as not
a marketable mix in that “roots rock” had not yet
been named.
Mercury had agreed to let the group have
the right to re-record the material from the second, unreleased
studio sessions. This
became the album “Ten Years Live” and featured all
original material. Marking the group’s anniversary, they
played on New Year’s Eve 1981 at The Bayou in D.C.—and
the show was broadcast over WAVA and hosted by well-known DJ
Cerphe Colwell. The Bayou had been enlarged with a bigger stage
and balcony, and The Nighthawks played three sets a night for
four nights to celebrate the holiday season and their 10-year
anniversary. They played their original material in a set developed
over months of road work. At The Bayou shows, this set was performed
and recorded in the middle of each evening’s show. The
album was mixed at Virginia’s Bias Studios and originally
released on the band’s own label, Chesapeake, in 1982.
It features some excellent musical performances and is a fine
showcase of the band’s abilities after their first decade
together. One of the challenges to D.C. area radio airplay of
this album was that radio station WHFS wouldn’t play it
because of some bad feelings left over from Cerphe’s departure
from that station.
There were big ups for the band around
this time. They signed with the Rosebud Agency and that led
to a number of performance
opportunities. One was their first West Coast tour, opening for
the great Muddy Waters. Solidifying their credibility and status
in the blues world, they would get to play with him over 100
times before his death in 1983. And they continued to play over
300 shows a year—a very demanding schedule that they continued
for 10 years.
The band also began to expand their horizons
beyond the U.S. Their association with the famous Japanese
blues singer Toru
Oki led to what became a series of annual trips to Japan. They
also headed to Germany with bluesman John Hammond. The first
show at the Berlin Jazz Festival didn’t go well, as the
fans didn’t take to the music. But the next show in Bremen
was a totally different story, as the blues fans loved them.
They would perform shows throughout Europe in the coming years,
including at the Amsterdam Blues Festival and North Sea Jazz
Festival.
There were also some downs. The band had
become involved in a lawsuit with the owner of their former
record company, Gene
Rosenthal. To try to keep this unfortunate and painful episode
simple, here are the basics of what happened. The band sued Gene
for a modest amount of monies believed owed. Gene counter sued
The Nighthawks and Mercury for much greater amounts of money,
and much unpleasant legal maneuvering followed. In 1982, the
band chose to settle the lawsuit—which unfortunately meant
giving up the ownership of all their previous recordings including
unreleased masters. The ultimate legal resolution was that Mercury
won the suit in Federal Court.
The Genes label—formerly Adelphi—used the material
they had gained control over to release the album “Times
Four.” This included music from four distinct sessions—live
at the Psyche Delly in 1976, live at the El Macombo in Toronto
in 1977, some 1977 studio recordings and a 1978 studio recording
with Luther “Guitar Jr.” Johnson . While a compilation
of material from multiple sources, it again showcases the energy
of the band both on stage and in the studio.
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