This venerable band, The Nighthawks, the pride of the D.C. area, will reach their 50th year as a band at the end of 2021 with vocalist/harmonicist Mark Wenner as its only remaining original member. Remarkably, they’ve never sounded better. Back in 1983 and 1984, they headlined the Brass Monkey Blues Festival that this writer promoted in their hometown. Some clips of The Nighthawks’ performance are still available on YouTube. At that time guitarist, Jimmy Thackeray was fronting the band with Wenner and they centered on hardcore blues—lots of Muddy Waters tunes. While every Nighthawks album in their storied history nods at least once to Muddy (except this one overtly) we’ve seen the band become widely eclectic. As with their past few albums, Tryin’ To Get to You has them equally comfortable with doo-wop, soul, rockabilly, and, of course rock ‘n’ roll. All four members, two of which are new since the last one, share vocals and the harmonies are quite good. Check out one of their acoustic shows to really appreciate these talents. This album is a great representation too, as it features just the band, no guests. It’s mostly still a throwback sound, hearkening back to the ’50s when R&B and rock ‘n’ roll were converging.
The title track if from Elvis, and as per tradition, Mark Wenner continues to salute Elvis, this time channeling the gospel group The Eagles. They mix covers with originals with new member, clean tone guitarist Dan Hovey contributing two tunes – “Baby, It’s Time” and “The Cheap Stuff.” Ten-year vet drummer Mark Stutso along with his Pittsburgh buddy Norm Nardini co-wrote “I Hate a Nickel” and “Somethin’s Cookin’.” All four members sing, including new bassist Paul Pisciotta.
For the Nighthawk fans and those familiar with the group’s history, we share founder Mark Wenner’s perspective. “The transition from the last version of The Nighthawks to the current lineup went smoothly over the summer of 2018, as Paul Bell and Johnny Castle chose to stay off the road by stay active locally. As often as possible, Dan Hovey and Paul Bell played together that summer. Dan had always been the guest guitarist for the traditional pre-Thanksgiving event in Kensington, MD, and had subbed for Paul several times. By the Fall, Dan was holding down core of the tunes and Paul was free to add the spice. As Johnny brought his focus to his own band, the Thrillbillys, Paul Pisciotta took over holding down the big bottom Paul P. was no stranger to the band, having just missed joining in 1974 after auditioning the same day as Jan Zukowski…He and Mark Stutso, now with a decade under his belt, quickly became a rock-solid and swinging rhythm section virtually overnight. Both his own vocal harmony and Dan’s relaxed yet powerful baritone have taken the three-and four-part harmony to new heights.”
The covers include tunes from Jimmy Reed (“Come Love”), T-Bone Walker (“I Know Your Wig Is Gone”), and James Brown (“Tell Me What I Did Wrong’), the latter also recorded on their 1990 release Trouble, and Los Lobos’ (“Don’t Worry Baby”). Again, the Hawks somehow find these great obscure tunes. Ballads are usually not their forte, but Dan Hovey does a commendable job on Hank Ballard’s “Rain Down Tears.” Wenner takes one he remembers from the early ‘60s, the Manhattans’ “Searchin’ for My Baby” and the band delivers the obscure “Luscious” from Rockabilly Roy Hall. The Motown writers Dozier and Holland penned “Chairman of the Board,” recorded first by a band of the same name from the Carolina beach scene. Stutso has the vocal here and although it’s not a Muddy Waters tune, it’s the closest they get to his style on this album. As pointed out, the band is terrific acoustically and finish the album that way with Hovey’s “The Cheap Stuff.”
When American roots music is mentioned, too often The Nighthawks are dismissed as simply a blues bar band. Few other bands, if any, fuse the styles of rockabilly, early R&B, rock n’ roll and classic blues as well as this hardened unit which shows no signs of slowing down. At almost 50 years young, this is instead a rebirth.
