ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL / アスリープ・アット・ザ・ウィール / ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL / CD

その昔テキサスで生まれたヒルビリー+ジャズ=アコースティック・スウィングを強靭なパーティ精神によって現在に甦らせたバンド、アスリープ・アット・ザ・ホイールが1974年にエピックからリリースしたアルバム。ルイ・ジョーダン直系の弾けるスウィング・グルーヴが徹頭徹尾貫かれており、どの曲もダンスフロアに即時対応できるキラーです!!NRBQにも通じる根っからのライヴバンドぶりが伝わってくる演奏に顔が綻びます♪ブライアン・セッツァー・オーケストラ経由でこの手の音楽を知った人にも心からオススメします。

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1. CHOO CHOO CH BOOGIE
2. YOU AND ME INSTEAD
3. JUMPIN AT THE WOODSIDE
4. LAST LETTER
5. DON T ASK ME WHY I M GOING TO TEXAS
6. THE KIND OF LOVE I CAN T FORGET
7. I M GONNA BE A WHEEL SOMEDAY
8. OUR NAMES AREN'T MENTIONED TOGETHER ANYMORE
9. MISS MOLLY
10. BLOOD-SHOT EYES
11. DEAD MAN

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The band was started by Texas singer and guitarist Ray Benson with Lucky Oceans in 1969 and they ve been swinging ever since. This is their first Epic album.

On the surface Asleep At The Wheel are a major mainstream country band. Nine Grammy Awards, plus 11 albums and 17 singles which have made the Top 100 country charts in the States. Yet they started out takingmusical risks, mainstay Ray Benson says ....we were really a rootsy band . They benefited from the fact that these were times when anything was possible, the music business was still in its infancy and musicians were encouraged to take risks, there were no rules, you made it up as you went along.

They released their first album in 1973 on United Artists, having been signed by Andrew Lauder. Although it didn t chart it did enough to convince people that there was something special about the band but a change of personnel at the label led to them being dropped. However this disappointment was offset by EPIC picking them up for this their self titled album. Released in 1974, this was to move them further forward with the success of the Louis Jordan cover Choo Choo Ch Boogie , which charted on the country charts and gave them a wider audience.

Asleep At The Wheel are now an institution but when this album was recorded they were young pioneers, leading the way into a fresh direction that took inspiration from the past, merging it with an approach that was definitely state of the art.

Nine Grammy Awards/11 albums and 17 singles on the Top 100 country charts.

This is their second album and first on Epic with the hit Choo Cho Ch Boogie