Asleep At The Wheel

Released on 21/06/10. 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 taking musical 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.