Ronnie Hawkins – Who Do You Love? (1963)
Robbie Robertson’s early career is distinguished by his tenure in the Hawks, the group of musicians that would later evolve into the Band. In the early 1960s, the Hawks backed the Arkansas-born frontman Ronnie Hawkins, touring the US and Canada and cutting a few studio singles. One of these records, a cover of Bo Diddley’s Who Do You Love?, reveals Robertson to be a lithe blues guitarist with a smouldering tone and a knack for shaping his livewire riffs around Hawkins’ wildfire vocals and the rest of the band. The Last Waltz version of this song, featuring an exuberant reunion of Hawkins with the now-veteran players, is just as good.
