Six-time Grammy winners
Asleep at the Wheel better make room in their trophy case. Their first
Bob Wills tribute album, 1993's
TRIBUTE TO THE MUSIC OF BOB WILLS, netted three Grammys, and RIDE WITH BOB might well exceed that feat. Wheel founder Ray Benson (who shines vocally, especially on duets with Tracy Byrd on "You're From Texas" and with Clay Walker on "Take Me Back to Tulsa") provides the top-notch guest artists with the impeccable instrumental support expected from these masters of Western Swing. Veteran cowboy singer Dan Walser almost steals the show with his dexterous interpretation of "I Ain't Got Nobody," which comes complete with the brief comedy sketch with which Emmett Miller (but not Bob Wills) opened the original 1927 recording of the song. Shawn Colvin and Lyle Lovett get together for a heartbreaking reading of "Faded Love" that'll have you marveling. Merle Haggard, whose Wills tribute album set the Wheel on its current course back in the early '70s, swaggers and burns his way through a dangerous take of "St. Louis Blues," a horn section moaning and clarinet in high-pitched protest around him. Clint Black, Dwight Yoakam, Reba McEntire, and the Dixie Chicks all do us proud as well. But in the end, the star is Bob Wills. RIDE WITH BOB will send you back to luxuriate in the abundant riches of the King of Western Swing's imposing catalog. Bet that's exactly what Ray Benson had in mind.
