ROOTS of Country Music

Asleep at the Wheel

Western swing (WS) is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late late-1920s in Southwestern USA, among the region's western string bands. WS is dance music with an up-tempo beat. During its heyday (1930s ~ 1940s) WS attracted huge crowds to dance halls and clubs in the Mid-west, Southwest and California. The music is a mixture of rural, cowboy, polka, folk, Dixieland jazz and blues blended with swing. WS was often augmented with drums, saxophones, pianos and, notably, the steel guitar. The electrically-amplified stringed instruments, especially the steel guitar, give the music a distinctive sound.

 Western swing differs in several ways from the music played by the nationally-popular horn-driven big swing bands of the same era. In western bands, even the fully orchestrated bands, vocals and other instruments followed the fiddle's lead. Additionally, although popular horn bands tended to arrange and score their music, most western bands improvised freely, either by soloists or collectively. Well-known groups during the peak of western swing included The Light Crust Doughboys, Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys, Milton Brown and His Musical Brownies, Tex Williams and His Western Caravan and Hank Thompson and His Brazos valley Boys.

 Asleep at the Wheel is a contemporary country and WS band formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia (1970), but was based in Austin, Texas. The band only scored one top-10 country hit, but has collected nine Grammy Awards since their inception. In 1969, Ray Benson and Lucky Oceans co-founded Asleep at the Wheel. Their plan was to form a real live WS band, influenced by the likes of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys.

 The initial lineup included, Ray Benson (vocals, guitar), Lucky Oceans (steel guitar), Danny Levin (fiddle, mandolin) and Chris O'Connell (vocals, guitar). The band spent a brief time in Washington, D.C., before moving to Oakland, California (1973), where they were joined by Floyd Domino (keyboard). After being mentioned in Rolling Stone magazine by Van Morrison, they landed a record deal with United Artists (1973) and recorded their debut album, Comin' Right At Ya. The band left Oakland for Texas (1974) and landed in heart of Bob Wills'country, Austin. That same year, the band released their second album, Asleep at the Wheel with a cover of Louis Jordan's Choo Choo Ch'Boogie, which was their debut Billboard chart single on Epic Records.

 The Letter That Johnny Walker Read (No. 10, 1975) was their only top-ten song. The band didn't have much of an impact on the country charts. WS music was popular dance hall music, but it wasn't common chart-topping music. Most prominent WS bands, including Asleep at the Wheel were all affected by the phenomenon. After Johnny Walker charted, their singles sporadically appeared in the top-forty, including, Bump, Bounce, Boogie (No. 31, 1975), Nothin' Takes the Place of You (No. 35, 1976), Miles and Miles of Texas (No. 38, 1976). In 1977, the band was voted Best Country Western Band by Rolling Stone Magazine and was awarded the Touring Band of the Year by the Academy of Country Music.

 The 1980s was a turbulent decade for the band. Co-founder Lucky Oceans left the band and Chris O'Connell left in 1986. The ensemble got a second chance with Epic Records (1987) with the release of the album, 10, which won them their second Grammy for Best Country Instrumental. The album launched their comeback and generated the song, House of Blue Lights (No. 17, 1987), which was their final top-40 chart single.

 The following year, the band released Western Standard Time, which won them another Grammy for Best Country Instrumental. In the mid-80s, Jann Browne joined the group as a vocalist. In 1987, the band included Benson  (vocals, guitar), Larry Franklin (fiddle), Michael Francis (sax), John Ely (steel guitar), Tim Alexander (keyboard), Dave Dawson (bass) and David Sanger (drums) . In 1993, the band released, A Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills and WS to much critical acclaim with several guest musicians. Benson brought together some of the best talent in country music of the time to record the album, including Dwight Yoakam, Vince Gill, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. Two years later, the band celebrated their twenty-fifth anniversary by releasing The Wheel Keeps on Rollin'. In 1995, Benson (the only remaining founding member) released his first solo album beyond the Time, which earned two Grammy Nominations.

Asleep at the Wheel received 6 Austin Music Awards for their efforts in 2007 including Band of the Year, Songwriter of the Year (Benson), Country Band of the Year, Record Producer of the Year (Benson), Male Vocals of the Year (Benson) and Acoustic Guitar Player of the Year (McQueen). Benson was inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame in 2002.

Written by: Richard Bell, Country Music Historian - Nashville, Tennessee, USA. February18, 2011

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