Preview
RONNIE HAWKINS: STILL ALIVE AND KICKIN’
Friday, August 20, 7:30 p.m.
CTV
Ronnie (The Hawk) Hawkins’ loud, distinctive smoker’s cackle can be heard throughout Ronnie Hawkins: Still Alive and Kickin’, a film soon to debut on the CTV Television Network. The ring of that unmistakable laugh, heard over and over again during the course of the documentary, is testament to the legendary rocker’s remarkably positive spirit. You see, for a good chunk of the 17 months documented in the film, the Arkansas-born King of Rockabilly was living under the belief that he had terminal pancreatic cancer.
In fact, the grimmer the news gets regarding The Hawk’s health, the more he jokes, laughs and flirts with nurses during every hospital visit. In a situation where people are initially falling all over themselves, trying to take care of Ronnie’s physical and emotional well-being, it soon becomes apparent that the Hawk is taking care of them.
"You’ve got to keep everybody up and having fun," Hawkins says. "It was hard because my wife was so worried, but everything happens for the best. Life goes on, tomorrow’s another day, we shall survive – you know all that stuff means something. I said to people, if I go, you’ve got to carry on, but I wasn’t planning on going!"
When Hawkins was told he only had a short time to live, he carried on like a guy on top of the world. "It’s a wonder I didn’t kill myself partying, "The Hawk quips. ‘That would have killed a normal person, let alone a guy who was sick. We partied everyday when I was told I was supposed to be dead in three months, and I would have been if I had kept partying."
Ronnie Hawkins: Still Alive and Kickin’ was directed by accomplished documentary filmmaker Anne Pick, and features appearances by many of The Hawk’s famous friends, including Robbie Robertson, Kris Kristofferson, David Foster and former American president Bill Clinton.
Anne Pick describes the Alive and Kickin’ shoot as "One of the most difficult films I have ever made." Of the Hawkins family, she explains, "We were there during one of the most turbulent periods in their lives."
While spending a lot of time with the Hawk, Pick stumbled upon a realization. "I thought I was pretty hip, but I suddenly felt so straight listening to all of Ronnie’s stories from over the years. He is a living legend and a treasure."
Ronnie Hawkins is also a great lover of his adopted nation. Having lived in Canada for more than 40 years now, Hawkins feels our national medical system is a big reason that he is, indeed, still alive and kicking.
However, no one in the Canadian medical community is rushing forward with an explanation of what exactly happened to the pancreatic tumour that was supposed to claim his life. Whether it was Hawkins’ positive vibes, the wild assortment of treatments he tried or the efforts of a mysterious psychic healer named Adam, nobody really knows, but the fact is the tumour is gone.
What we do know is, at the age of 69, Hawkins is still living up to his moniker of Mr. Dynamo, and doesn’t plan on giving up performing live anytime soon. He recently put together a Peterborough, Ontario flood relief concert that featured Gordon Lightfoot among other performers.
Smoking, rocking and laughing his way through any and all adversity life throws at him, who is to say The Hawk won’t fly his way through another handful of decades? |
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