Ronnie Hawkins – "Mary Lou" (1959)

She took my diamond ring

She took my watch and chain

She took the keys to my Cadillac car

My daughter recently invited me to come along when she took my five-year-old granddaughter to the Build-A-Bear Workshop at a local mall.

If you’ve never been to a Build-A-Bear store, let me tell you how it works.  First, the child picks from a wide variety of “stuffies” – unstuffed teddy bears or other animals.  Next, she goes to the “Build-A-Bear Workshop Stuffing Station,” where a store employee helps her blow the animal full of polyester fiber.  

You’re not going to hear me criticize the Build-A-Bear’s business model, which relies on upselling a myriad of optional accessory items in addition to the basic stuffed animal.  (We’re talking scents, a personalized “voice,” a printed birth certificate, various clothing items – dresses, pants, jackets, shoes, hats, even eyeglasses – even a beating plastic heart.)

My granddaughter with her new best friend

That’s because my angelic little granddaughter had the time of her life there.  She was thrilled with the final product, and hasn’t let her new best friend – who she named Katarina – out of her sight since she brought her home.

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Rock-and-roll pioneer Ronnie Hawkins once said, “I spent ninety percent of my money on wine, women and song and just wasted the other ten percent. “  

I’m not sure if Ronnie had a granddaughter.  But if he had, I’m sure he would have amended that statement to make it clear that any expenditure he made on her behalf – like his expenditures on wine, women, and song – was money well spent.

Hawkins’ backing band – known as the Hawks – left him to play with Bob Dylan, and eventually achieved fame in their own right as the Band.  

Most of the Band’s members were Canadians who joined the Hawks after Hawkins moved from his home state of Arkansas to Toronto – and after Hawkins had recorded his biggest hit, “Mary Lou,” which peaked at #26 on the Billboard “Hot 100” in 1959.  

Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks in 1964

Levon Helm – a fellow Arkansawyer who had started playing drums for Hawkins well before Ronnie’s move to Canada – did play on “Mary Lou.”  

Here’s a fun fact: Ronnie Hawkins was the cousin of Dale Hawkins, who wrote and recorded “Suzie Q” in 1957.  Ronnie covered “Suzie Q” a few years after that, but his version didn’t achieve anything near the success of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s 1968 cover of Dale’s song. 

Click here to listen to “Mary Lou.”

Click here to buy “Mary Lou” from Amazon.