Farther On Up the Road

In May 1961, guitarist Rick Danko secured a position as the wanted new bassist for Ronnie Hawkins' backing band, The Hawks. This sudden whirlwind decision proved to be a life-changing one for 17-year-old Danko. The Hawk, as Ronnie was commonly known, wanted Rick to hop in that white Cadillac as soon as possible, and Rick wasted no time making sure he could go. This whole new world was one that Rick was completely unfamiliar with. Being a small town, close-knit family country boy, Rick was rather sheltered from the "wild-life" of rock 'n' roll. Even the bands that he had been involved with played family-friendly community events that were nothing like what Ronnie Hawkins was about to show him.

While Rick was excited to be out on the road, he did not know what to expect from this new group of guys (which included Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson). Ronnie and the Hawks had a "terrible reputation" as Rick explains in Levon Helm's book, This Wheel's on Fire. He further explains, "These guys were known as sex perverts having orgies, gang bangs, everything. I was just a kid from Simcoe and didn't know anything about this life they were living, this existence.". That very first night on the road, they put Rick in a small bedroom while they went to play their set. Ronnie gave Rick a couple of Dexedrine pills to take while he practiced bass in the bedroom. Occasionally the Hawks would check on him and notice him practicing away while chewing his teeth from the buzz. After two months of rehearsing and proving his fantastic skills as a bassist and musician in general, they finally let him perform on stage.

Just a few months after Rick joined the Hawks, Richard Manuel also came aboard. This was a breaking-in period for the two of them, who found that they sounded great singing together and had great camaraderie. In late 1961, Garth Hudson joined the Hawks as well, completing the membership for what would a few years later become The Band. While they all missed their parents and home on the road, there were plenty of new and exciting adventures awaiting and trouble to get into. There were bands to compete and get into fights with, new musicians to mingle and meet, exciting new cities that the boys had never seen, girls to flirt with, and lots of booze.

At this point in 1962, Ronnie had established himself musically as having the worst reputation and was proud of the antics that the other boys would get into, Richard Manuel and Levon Helm especially. Before Ronnie was married, he would beam with pride at Richard stealing Robbie or Rick's date. Ronnie had a rule of only hiring attractive-looking members, which was part of the reason why (besides for musical abilities) that he insisted on Rick Danko joining the band. The more girls attended, the bigger the success. After the Hawk married, however, the whole setting changed. He established a new rule, "No dates allowed at the shows.". Being older than any of the Hawks, this rule was met was some anger. In 1963, they started feeling stifled by the Hawk due to him playing music that only he wanted, not giving the others creative freedom and enough of an opportunity for Levon, Rick, and Richard to sing, and fining the boys for breaking rules. Ultimately, Ronnie felt that as the bandleader, it was his duty to discipline them if his rules were broken. All of this started talks amongst the members if they really needed Ronnie.

The first Hawk who wanted out was Rick. Ronnie fined him $50 for having a girlfriend at one of the shows. While Rick thought that the rule was valid of not having a girlfriend at the show, she showed up anyways since they were going to play a show while Ronnie was out of town. Ronnie ended up missing the plane he was supposed to be on, walked inside the club, and there was Rick's girlfriend. This caused a fight between Ronnie and Rick. Rick always had a strong sense of justice and equality, and when he felt that there was injustice and unfair treatment, even at a young age he was not afraid to stand up to whoever may be the perpetrator. Being the youngest member of the Hawks, Ronnie often bullied Rick and had already made him start paying back everything he won in a card game at a club they were playing at. When the Hawk told Rick that he would have to pay the $50, he said, "You are not fining me for this one. You missed your plane. It's not my fault that she showed up. I didn't bring her."

This indignancy infuriated Ronnie and from then on got on Rick's case. He would keep looking at Rick funny and a few nights later, high on pills, took Rick into a stairwell explaining how all of the rest of the Hawks were going to be somebody important in the future and Rick would just be back in Simcoe at the meat market because that is all he was good for.

Rick approached Levon telling him what happened saying, "Maybe we are reaching the breaking point here with this sheer ridiculousness. We should go see about working on our own.". The band that he envisioned was one where everyone played an instrument, everyone sang and there was no one above them deciding how they were going to play and create. Levon having seniority in the Hawks consoled Rick saying, "Let me handle it Rick. We will have a meeting.". He then talked to the rest of the boys who agreed that they had had enough. The next night, they all approached Ronnie with Levon saying, "Nobody is very happy right now. Especially young Rick. He is VERY unhappy. With all due respect, we are giving you our two weeks' notice." This didn't phase Ronnie any who wasn't sorry this has happened. In fact, he quit showing up to the gigs which left the Hawks performing on their own.

The early days of 1964 were spent trying to figure out what to do next. Having quit the Hawks, they needed to set up a game plan. They started doing some budgeting, grabbed some station wagons, hired more members, got new suits, and set out on their own to become Levon and the Hawks. While they quickly found success playing many clubs and venues and rapidly became one of Canada's hottest bands, they were restless, still living week to week, and felt in a rut. Rick especially wanted the group to go to New York so they could get discovered and hopefully have a breakthrough. As Levon and the Hawks, they cut some singles in 1965 in New York City, but unfortunately, they flopped.

It all happened to change in August 1965, after playing Tony Mart's Nite Spot in Somers Point New Jersey. The phone rang and was handed to Levon backstage. It was Bob Dylan on the phone who asked him if the Hawks would like to play with him at the Hollywood Bowl. This was a mutual benefit since Bob was going electric and needed a backing band, and the boys desperately were needing a big break and a change of pace. While Bob Dylan was mostly unknown to the Hawks, they knew that he was a folksinger and had just made a big hit called "Like a Rolling Stone". There was a lot to consider, and everyone agreed that this decision could make or break them. However, at this point, the boys agreed that in the current situation they were in, it would be good to at least meet with Bob and see what his conditions were. From there, they would see what lay farther on up the road.