Legendary rock band has roots in Springs
“It was amazing to be there with the band and the audience as one,” said Hutchinson.
In 1970, on an isolated farm in Johannesburg North came the stirrings of a strange and new sound that would forever leave an indelible mark on the history of South African rock music.
It was in this humble setting that six young and ambitious musicians blended the sounds of British and American progressive rock with African rhythmic beats and percussion. They called themselves Hawk.
Hawk, with Dave Ornellas (vocals), Mark Kahn (guitar), Braam Malherbe (drums), Richard Johnson (bass) and Keith Hutchinson (sax, flute, piano and organ), took the sounds of British and American processive rock giants like Cream, Jethro Tull, Yes, Uriah Heep and King Crimson and enriched it with the beats of the African continent.
Hutchinson and Malherbe were born in Springs, and Hawk would regularly perform in pubs and clubs around the town.
Hutchinson referred to his group as ‘the original Afro-rock band from Johannesburg’.
The group exploded onto the South African rock scene in the 1970s, travelling in a colourful VW Kombi brimming with sophisticated and expensive equipment and instruments that made the sound of Hawk possible.
“We moved at speeds too scary to even mention. Foolhardy were we, just wanting to play music, play in a band and tour the country,” said Hutchinson.
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Hawk famously tossed cans filled with pebbles into the audience, which they would pick up and shake in time with the band, encompassing the crowd in a cacophony of percussion and noise in concert with the band.
“It was amazing to be there with the band and the audience as one,” said Hutchinson.
After touring, they would return to the farm in Johannesburg, where they could continue to rehearse and record music.
It was there that they wrote and conceived their debut album African Day.
African Day was an ambitious concept album that told the story of a rogue elephant that terrorised the people of the Kraal of Taka.
The album was a critical and financial success allowed the band to tour extensively.
They were the opening act for the British band The Troggs at the Springs Old Town Hall in 1972.
Hutchinson vividly recalls writing and recording African Day:
“It started like this. The friction drum droned to the touch of my hands and out of the darkness came forth the amazing unique voice of Dave.
“It’s dark and still in the chief’s village, protected by the mountains of the great southern regions of Africa.
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“Drums echo through the valley as the first fingers of light paint the sky with the fresh colours of the morning – and so the sound begins.”
The album was well-received and thousands would gather to listen to the story it told with excellent musicianship.
“This is how it was in the days of Hawk,” remembered Hutchinson.
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