Asleep At The Wheel

   
Artist: Asleep At The Wheel

   Genre(s): 
Other
   Country
   

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Discography:


   
 Live At Billy Bob's Texas

   Year: 2003   
Tracks: 15


   
 Asleep at the Wheel - Live and Kickin: Greatest Hits

   Year: 2002   
Tracks: 10


   
 Ride With Bob

   Year: 1999   
Tracks: 17


   
 Tribute To The Music Of Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys (Dance Version)

   Year: 1994   
Tracks: 18


   
 Western Standard Time

   Year: 1990   
Tracks: 10


   
 Keepin' Me Up Nights

   Year: 1990   
Tracks: 12

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Since the early '70s, Asleep at the Wheel has been the most important force in keeping the sound of Western swing live. In restorative the freewheeling, eclecticist aesthesia of Western swing godfather Bob Wills, the Wheel earned enthusiastic critical praise throughout their drawn-out career; they not only preserved classical sounds that had all simply disappeared from area music, merely were besides able to update the medicine, holding it a living, ventilation art form. Typically featuring 8-11 musicians, the group has gone through myriad personnel office changes (at last count, over 80 members had passed through and through their ranks), only 6'7" frontman Ray Benson has held it unitedly for over three decades, keeping Asleep at the Wheel a executable transcription and touring vexation and maintaining their devotion to classic-style Western swing.Singer/guitarist Benson was born Ray Benson Seifert and grew up listening to a variety of music in Philadelphia, especially jazz. He formed Asleep at the Wheel in Paw Paw, WV, in 1970, along with longtime admirer Lucky Oceans (born Reuben Gosfield; steel guitar) and Leroy Preston (rhythm method guitar). They presently added a distaff vocaliser in Chris O'Connell, world Health Organization was unused out of high school. Initially, the group played straight-ahead rural area in local venues, only quickly switched to Western swing when they discovered the music through Merle Haggard (specifically his Bob Wills protection record album) and eclecticist country-rockers Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen. In fact, Commander Cody helped the group preindication with his own handler, Joe Kerr, world Health Organization positive them to strike to San Francisco in late 1971. They subsequently added keyboardist Floyd Domino, and secured a residency at Berkeley's Longbranch Saloon. Praise from Van Morrison in a Rolling Stone article helped them land a record deal with United Artists, which released their debut record album, Comin' Right at Ya, in 1973.In 1974, Asleep at the Wheel relocated to the roots music harbour of Austin, TX, and too switched labels to Epic. Their self-titled label debut appeared that same year, and their wrap up of Louis Jordan's "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" became their first base single to hit the res publica charts. Afterwards, they added violinist Lisa Silver and herald Bobby Womack, and hopped labels again to Capitol. 1975's Texas Gold was their discovery record album, climbing into the res publica Top Ten and producing their only Top Ten hit on the nation singles charts, "The Letter That Johnny Walker Read." That year they performed on the starting time non-pilot sequence of Austin City Limits, and although they continued to receive personnel department shifts, they off out a chain of excellent albums all over the remain of the decennary: Wheelin' and Dealin' (1976), The Wheel (1977), and Collision Course (1978), the latter of which featured their first base Grammy winner in the instrumental cover of Count Basie's "One O'Clock Jump."Asleep at the Wheel moved to MCA for 1980's Framed, just all was not intimately: innovation member Lucky Oceans left the mathematical group that class, and Chris O'Connell took a leave of absence to begin a sept non long after. Plus, the group was heavily in debt, forcing them to knead on commercials and motion picture soundtracks. The fiscal problems conspired to keep them off record for the adjacent few years, and when they returned on Dot/MCA with a self-titled album in 1985, they were virtually neglected. Following the small-label spill Grazing land Prime subsequently that year, Benson did some moonlighting as a producer, and soon managed to receive a arcsecond shot with Epic. By forthwith, O'Connell had returned, and the new batting order featured violinist Larry Franklin, steel guitar player John Ely, pianist/accordionist Tim Alexander, saxophonist Mike Francis, bassist Jon Mitchell, and drummer David Sanger. This unit recorded the major comeback effort, Asleep at the Wheel 10, in 1987, which brought them back to the Top 20 of the country record album and singles charts (the latter via "Firm of Blue Lights") for the first base time in over a ten. Additionally, the album's "Bowed stringed instrument of Pars" north Korean won them their second Grammy for Best Country Instrumental, and featured contributions from fiddle caption and quondam Texas Playboy Johnny Gimble. The 1988 followup, Western Standard Time, continued their momentum, fetching some other Best Country Instrumental Grammy for "Sugarfoot Rag."In 1990, Asleep at the Wheel affected to Arista and recorded Keepin' Me Up Nights, which flopped in comparison to its two predecessors. Major personnel dollar volume ensued, with O'Connell going a second gear time, and Benson regrouped with Francis, Sanger, fiddler Ricky Turpin, bassist David Miller, and blade guitarist/dobroist Cyndi Cashdollar. They issued 2 albums on Liberty/Capitol, the acclaimed, guest-laden A Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys (1993; featuring the Grammy-winning instrumental "Bolshie Wing") and The Wheel Keeps on Rollin' (1995). Their next major studio apartment project, Ride With Bob, was released by DreamWorks in 1999 and featured violinist Jason Roberts (a pres Young relative of Johnny Gimble) and pianist/second fiddler Chris Booher. It was the group's second explicit tribute to Bob Wills, and it attracted regular more positive attention than the number one, taking multiple Grammys and drawing off non-country collaborators like the Manhattan Transfer and Squirrel Nut Zippers.