Biography
The Hawketts left behind an abbreviated body of work anchored by a solitary 45-rpm single whose A-side, “Mardi Gras Mambo,” achieved substantial regional success and has since become a perennial New Orleans favorite performed annually during the city’s Mardi Gras festivities. Assembled in 1953, the group was a youthful rhythm & blues ensemble hailing from the Crescent City, with Art Neville handling lead vocals and piano, Alfred August on guitar, George Davis on alto saxophone, Morris Bechamin on tenor saxophone, Israel Bell and August Fleuri sharing trumpet duties, Carroll Joseph on trombone, and John Boudreaux behind the drum kit. Long afterward, Boudreaux remarked to a writer, “We didn’t know that a band was supposed to have a bass player,” a circumstance that lent the ensemble its distinctive sonic character. The band quickly cultivated a loyal local audience, and in 1955 New Orleans radio personality Ken Elliott—widely recognized as Jack the Cat—facilitated a recording session for them at the studios of WWEZ. Among the tracks captured was “Mardi Gras Mambo,” which Jody Levens had first cut as a country number in 1953, though Neville’s singing and Boudreaux’s understated yet persistent drumming imparted an unhurried, Latin-tinged feel to the arrangement. Chess Records acquired the master of “Mardi Gras Mambo” backed with “Your Time’s Up” and issued it nationally; the single moved briskly throughout the South and registered as a major success in Louisiana. Nevertheless, the musicians’ inexperience ultimately hampered further progress: Chess made no push for additional material, several members drifted away once “Mardi Gras Mambo” slipped from the charts, and Art Neville pursued a solo path along with a period of military service before any follow-up could be completed. George Davis later built an extended career as a producer, session player, and songwriter, while Art Neville emerged as a towering figure in New Orleans music through his roles with the Meters, the Wild Tchoupitoulas, and the Neville Brothers.