Roger Hawkins Dies: Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section Drummer On ‘Respect’ And ‘Chain Of Fools’ Was 75

Bruce Haring
·2 min read

Roger Hawkins, a drummer who powered the famed Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section on hits by Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, and the Staple Singers, died Thursday following an extended illness. He was 75 and his death was announced by the Muscle Shoals Music Foundation on Facebook.

As part of the Muscle Shoals Music Section – affectionately known as the Swampers – Hawkins was the backbone of scores of pop, soul, R&B, and rock hits.

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The 2013 documentary, Muscle Shoals, spotlighted the talent of the recording team. Hawkins most notable successes included working with Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett, on the massive hits Respect, Think, Chain of Fools, Mustang Sally and Land of 1000 Dances. He also played drums on the Staple Singers’ iconic I’ll Take You There.

Hawkins was born in Indiana and moved to Alabama as a teenager. Hawkins backed local singer Percy Sledge on When a Man Loves a Woman, which quickly achieved massive success and ignited a stream of successes.

At Muscle Shoals’ FAME Studios, Hawkins teamed with Jimmy Johnson, Barry Beckett, and David Hood in the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. They backed Aretha Franklin on Aretha Arrives, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, Lady Soul, and others. They joined Solomon Burke on King Solomon before backing Etta James on 1968’s Tell Mama, which includes her classic I’d Rather Go Blind.

Producer Jerry Wexler moved the Swampers to the new Muscle Shoals Sound in 1969 in nearby Sheffield, Alabama. Cher’s 3614 Jackson Highway was the first album recorded there, and Atlantic Records head Ahmet Ertegun took notice, enlisting the Swampers throughout the ’70s.

The credits read like a list of hits from the era, including Mavis Staples’ Only for the Lonely, Linda Ronstadt’s self-titled record, Ry Cooder’s Boomer’s Story, and Paul Simon’s There Goes Rhymin’ Simon.

In 1973, Steve Winwood recruited Hawkins and his fellow Swampers to be his backing band on Traffic’s Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory and the live album On the Road. They continued their magic touch on recordings by Art Garfunkel, Rod Stewart, Bobby Womack, Millie Jackson, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, among others.

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