CD Review: The Very Best Of - Asleep At The Wheel
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This album is great to pop in and get yourself motivated to move. It makes you want to put on your dancing shoes. While the songs are fun to listen to, the emphasis is on the instrumentals for the most part. It will have your toes tapping and your fingers drumming along to the beat. "The Letter That Johnny Walker Read" is a song about a man who is coming to the realization that he is throwing away his happiness for a bottle of booze. He is in a bar drinking his life away and keeps reading a letter from his wife. She tells him to come home, that she and his kids need him and love him. Mandy Barnett is a featured vocalist on this song. A few of the songs on this album are just plain fun, and one that comes to mind is "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens." It is a fun ditty about what the chickens have to say about everything they have to do during the day and the farmer best leave them alone so they can sleep at night. It includes some instrumentals that sound like chickens squawking. Another fun and cute song is "Last Meal." It has him on death row with the sheriff asking him what he wants for his last meal. He is told that he can have whatever he wants, and won't go to meet his maker until he gets it. So he orders up a whole host of impossible foods....Dinosaur Eggs, Saber-Tooth Tiger Steaks, a whole Hippopotamus - baked are among the things asked for. And don't come back here until you have them all! This song features Huey Lewis on the harmonica. "Sugarfoot Rag" is a track that is completely instrumental. It features Brad Paisley on the lead guitar. "Dance With Who Brung Ya" is a song with a message. It starts off by telling the young man to stay with whom he brought to the dance. He shouldn't go off dancing with other young ladies if he brought someone with him. It progresses to life in general. Basically, the grass always will look greener elsewhere, and you shouldn't keep moving from place to place to try to save a few steps in the road of life. You keep working towards your goal, pay your dues as you go and you will achieve success. If you skip steps and take the easy route, you are likely to keep seeing your goal just out of reach. "Big Balls In Cowtown" has always been one of my favorite Western Swing tunes. It features such neat instrumentals. Johnny Gimble and his electric Mandolin join AATW on this track. "Texas Me and You" is the ballad/love song of the album. He is singing to his sweetheart and telling her there are only three things in the world - Texas, Me and You. On this track, they feature Eliza Gilkyson and Lloyd Maines on Steel Guitar. For those of you who like the sound of Western Swing, this is a must have for your collection. I've only touched on a few of the great songs on this album. All the tracks are great memories of the Western Swing era and AATW does them all justice. Song List:
Sound clips courtesy of Barnes & Noble.
Buy The Very Best Of.
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