Roger Hawkins (Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section)

Roger G. Hawkins (b. October 16, 1945, Mishawaka, Indiana - ) – Drummer, songwriter, and producer. Drummer Robert G. Hawkins was born in Mishawaka, Indiana, and became a member of the famous Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section while only around twenty years old. The four-piece back-up band began with Rick Hall’s Fame Studios in Florence, Alabama, around 1966. In 1969, the group founded the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio (hence the group’s name). While at Fame and at Muscle Shoals, the band backed a plethora of top draw artists of soul and R & B. Executives of Atlantic, Stax, Elektra, Columbia, Capitol, Warner Bros., Motown, RCA, and many others did not hesitate to send their stars to Muscle Shoals. In fact, Hawkins and the other three provided the nucleus for the following blockbuster hits biggest hits of the late 1960s and early 1970s: Percy Sledge, “When a Man Loves a Woman”; Wilson Pickett, “Mustang Sally” and “Land of a Thousand Dances”; Aretha Franklin, “Respect,” “Think,” and “Chain of Fools;” James and Bobby Purify, “I’m Your Puppet”; Clarence Carter, “Slip Away”; and the Staple Sisters, “I’ll Take You There.” Also known as the “Swampers,” the Atlantic Rhythm Section also recorded with Lynyrd Skynyrd (who immortalized the group in “Sweet Home Alabama”), Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Joe Cocker, Glenn Fry, Alice in Chains, John Prine, and the Oak Ridge Boys. Along with two other members of the band, Hawkins once toured with Traffic. In collaboration with bandmates, Hawkins did production work for Paul Simon, Bob Seger, and Canned Heat.