Alan (7 July 1933–19 September 1988) and his older brother, Russell John Hawking (1 July 1931–2 November 1976), were both born in
Mooroopna in northern Victoria. After their mother, Ethel May Hawking (c. 1912–1935), died they were raised separately: Alan in
Clifton Hill, Victoria by their maternal grandparents; Russell in Mooroopna by their paternal grandparents. The Hawking Brothers performed as a "hillbilly duo" and competed for an
Amateur Hour prize of
£1000 in October 1952 and finished third. The brothers also joined the Trailblazers, a country music troupe, which performed on radio and toured Victoria in the 1950s. Ainslie Baker of ''
The Australian Women's Weekly felt it was, "catchy, and shows plenty of promise for the future." The duo backed the country music singer Kevin Shegog and were recorded on the albums, Country Concert
(split album, 1961) and Kevin Shegog'' (solo album, 1962), both on
W&G Records. In April 1962 the Hawking Brothers released another single, "Two Timin' Baby". The line-up was Alan on guitar, banjo,
autoharp and vocals; and Russ on rhythm guitar, dobro, and vocals as the Hawking Brothers; while the Wildwoods were Joe Attard on drums; Gary Newton on acoustic and electric bass guitars; and George Xanthos on
pedal steel guitar. The line-up was Alan on vocal, spanish guitar, tenor guitar, banjo, and auto harp; Russ on vocal, rhythm guitar and Dobro guitar; Newton on bass guitar; Xanthos on pedal steel guitar; and Peter Cohen on drums. Due to "personal reasons" Alan retired from the group in 1981 and undertook a solo career. ==Discography==