A Huntington native Grand Ole Opry star that was killed in the plane crash with Patsy Cline and Cowboy Copas, is one of the seven artists being inducted into the third class of The West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.

Michael Lipton, director of the Hall of Fame made the announcement this morning at a news conference at the Great Hall in the Cultural Center Theater.

The inductees, including the late,great honky tonk singer, Hawkshaw Hawkins, will be honored in a ceremony this November at the Cultural Center, along with a wide variety of Mountain State musicians who’ve made an impact on their respective musical fields.

 Born and raised in the west end of Huntington, Hawkins racked up four top 10 singles starting with "Pan American" in 1948, but his only No. 1 single, "Lonesome 7-7203," appeared on the charts three days before his death.

Before joining the Opry in 1955, Hawkins (who blended up honky-tonk, country, boogie and blues) had honed his act to perfection on the Wheeling Jamboree, where he played from 1946-1954.

Hawkins, who could play any traditional acoustic instrument with strings (fiddle, guitar, bass, mandolin), taught himself to play guitar with a homemade instrument he traded for five rabbits at the age of 13.

His sister Mary Berry said one of Hawkins' biggest early influences was John Moore, a man who lived near them in the West End.

"He had a band, and my brother would go down there and sit in the yard and listen to their music, and they invited him in and he started picking with them, and he picked up a lot with them," Berry said in a previous feature about Hawkins in the Herald Dispatch. "He started on the radio when he was quite young."

By about age 16, Hawkins was heard for the first time on radio, WCMI out of Ashland. Hawkins won a talent contest on WSAZ and got a job at $15 per week.

He and friend, the late,Clarence Jack teamed up to form "Hawkshaw and Sherlock," a duo who played regularly over WSAZ.

With music calling, Hawkins left Huntington High School in his senior year. He and Sherlock traveled to Massachusetts in 1941 with a Wild West show providing the music.

And they were going great before World War II called and both served their country.

Jack came back injured and unable to perform while Hawkins, who spent 15 months of combat duty including Battle of the Bulge, came back from the war and signed onto the Wheeling Jamboree and King Records - both in 1945.

The two other deceased artists being inducted include: Moundsville composer/conductor, Frank DeVol, who wrote more than 50 movie scores, including, “The Dirty Dozen,” “Guess Who is Coming to Dinner,” and “The Longest Yard.”
 He’s best known for his TV show scores including, “The Brady Bunch,” and “My Three Sons.”
 
 Mercer County native Don Redman was considered one of the first great arrangers in jazz history as he was the main arranger and saxophone player for Fletcher Henderson and played sax on records by Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith and Louis Armstong.

The living inductees to the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame include coalfield blues man, Nat Reese, who has traveled the world playing country blues music.

 Wheeling Jamboree stars Doc and Chickie Williams, who made their debut on the Jamboree in 1937, and appeared together on the radio for more than five decades. Doc is now 94 years old.

The Bailes Brothers, who were the first West Virginia act to become regulars on the Grand Ole Opry. Still living of the four brothers is 86-year-old Homer Bailes.
 The brothers, who also helped start The Louisiana Hayride, had some of their first gigs on WSAZ radio in Huntington.

 Two-time Grammy Award-winning jazz artist, Larry Combs, who is considered one of the world’s leading orchestral clarinetists.  He is also active in chamber music and the Chicago jazz scene.

For more info about the Hall of Fame, go online at www.wvmusichalloffame.com.

 

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File photo/The Herald-Dispatch

Grand Ole Opry star and Huntington native Hawkshaw Hawkins was killed on March 5, 1963 in the plane crash that claimed the lives of Patsy Cline and Cowboy Copas. At the time of the crash, Hawkins was in the midst of his biggest success.

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