Asleep at the Wheel Totally Explained

Everything about Asleep At The Wheel totally explained

Asleep at the Wheel, is a multiple Grammy Award-winning Country/Western Swing band formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, but based in Austin, Texas. Altogether, they've won nine Grammy Awards since their inception in 1970. The name of the group is derived from the expression “asleep at the wheel” which means that one has fallen asleep while operating a vehicle; it can also describe someone who is blissfully unaware of a dangerous situation.

Band History

Beginnings to Austin

In 1969, Ray Benson co-founded Asleep at the Wheel in Paw Paw, West Virginia, and soon after they found themselves opening for Alice Cooper and Hot Tuna in Washington, DC. A year later, they moved to East Oakland, California at the invitation of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. After being mentioned in Rolling Stone magazine by Van Morrison, they landed a record deal with United Artists. In 1973, their debut album, Comin' Right At Ya was released by United Artists. At the request of Willie Nelson, they left Oakland and moved to Austin in 1974 as well.

1974 - 1979

In 1974, they released their second album, Asleep at the Wheel with a cover of Louis Jordan's "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie", which was their first single to hit the country charts. The following year saw the release of Texas Gold as the group's third album with the top-ten Country hit single The Letter that Johnny Walker Read. In addition, they played on PBS's Austin City Limits, where they've since performed a record-setting ten times. 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. They also went on tour with Emmylou Harris in Europe. The following year, they made a cover of Count Basie's song One O'Clock Jump. Also in 1978, they appeared in the movie Roadie, along with Meatloaf, Blondie and Art Carney. By the end of the decade, the band recorded their first live album Served Live at the Austin Opera House.

1980 - 1989

The 1980s became a turbulent decade for the band. After moving to MCA, co-founder Lucky Oceans left the band, and Chris O'Connell left in September 1986 due to her pregnancy. Asleep at the Wheel gathered a large amount of debt that required them to work on commercials and movie soundtracks. In 1985 the band released a virtually ignored self-titled album. By the late 1980s, Ray Benson had done some producing, allowing the band a second chance with Epic Records. In 1987, the band released 10, which won them their second Grammy for Best Country Instrumental helping to launch their comeback. The album also had contributions from legendary fiddle player and onetime Texas Playboys member Johnny Gimble. The following year, the band released Western Standard Time, which won them another Grammy for Best Country Instrumental. The late 1980s also saw the growth of Jann Browne as a solo vocalist in the group; she'd later embark on a solo career on Curb Records.

1990 - 1999

The band moved to Arista Records and released the album, Keepin' Me Up Nights. Soon after, the band saw turnover as old members left and new members entered. In 1991, Ray Benson directed the music and co-starred in the movie Wild Texas Wind with Dolly Parton. In honor of the 66th anniversary of Route 66, the band launched the Route 66 Tour . In 1993, the band released the instant hit A Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys to much critical acclaim with several guest musicians. Two years later, the band celebrated their 25^th anniversary by releasing The Wheel Keeps on Rollin' . In 1999, the band and Dreamworks released Ride with Bob, as their second tribute album to Bob Wills. This album became an instant hit and garnered the band two Grammy wins, one for Best Country Instrumental, and the other for Best Package Design.
According to Rolling Stone Magazine, Ray Benson "didn't just enlist the obvious Wills fans" in this tribute album to Bob Wills like Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson and Lyle Lovett. He also brought in some of country's young lions the Dixie Chicks, Tim McGraw and Lee Ann Womack, some pop stars", including Shawn Colvin, the Squirrel Nut Zippers and fellow country preservationists such as Dwight Yoakam.

2000 and Onward

In 2000, the Dixie Chicks were nominated for an Award for Vocal Event of the Year for "Roly Poly" with Asleep At The Wheel from the Country Music Association. That same year, the band toured with Bob Dylan and George Strait. On September 11, 2001, the band was scheduled to play at the White House, but the performance was postponed. In 2003, the band released Live at Billy Bob's Texas, and by the latter part of the decade, in 2007, the band released 3 albums. The first was Reinventing the Wheel an entirely new set of songs, including a collaboration with The Blind Boys of Alabama. The band also released a two disc set Kings of Texas Swing. Also in 2007, their second Christmas album was released, Santa Loves to Boogie.
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).

A Ride With Bob

As the 100th anniversary of Bob Wills' birth (March 6, 1905, in Kosse, Texas) approached, friends suggested that Benson and his Asleep at the Wheel band do something to mark the occasion. "Some folks wanted another tribute album," Benson said. "But we'd already done two. I felt like we'd be cashing in on Bob's ghost." Benson was kicking around ideas with writer friend Anne Rapp, a West Texas native who had written scripts for two of director Robert Altman's films. She asked Benson whether he'd ever met Wills. Benson said that he had, but never got to talk to him. "That's it: The conversation you never had," Rapp said. Benson, playing himself, boards a tour bus for a gig in Tulsa. The mysterious driver turns out to be the spirit of Wills (Austin actor Marco Perella). Benson is taken on a tour of Wills' life, told in an uncomplicated "and then this happened" fashion. Members of The Wheel play the musicians, with fiddler Jason Roberts as Wills, and actors play various characters from Wills' life, including his five wives, former Texas Gov. W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel (Steve Uzzell, who also memorably plays a flamboyant Hollywood director) and a black man whose music inspired Wills (the excellent Timothy Curry). There are over 20 actors and musical numbers performed during the 2:40 minute musical. A Ride With Bob premiered in the spring of 2005 in Austin, TX to four sold out shows. The musical has been performed all across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. A Ride With Bob has also been performed in San Francisco as well as in Washington, D.C., at the Kennedy Center. Two unexpected guests were President George W. Bush and his wife Laura.
The play has been called "the most entertaining night in Texas" by Liz Smith from The New York Post

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Label	Chart Positions
Year	Album	Label	US Country	US 200
1973	Comin' Right at Ya	EMI
1974	Asleep at the Wheel	Epic
1975	Fathers & Sons [1Side]	Epic
1975	Texas Gold	Capitol	7	136
1976	Wheelin' & Dealin'	Capitol	19	179
1977	The Wheel	Capitol	31	162
1978	Collision Course	Capitol	47
1979	Served Live	Capitol
1980	Framed	MCA		191
1985	Asleep at the Wheel [1985]	MCA
1987	10	Epic	16
1988	Western Standard Time	Epic	34
1990	Keepin' Me Up Nights	Arista	73
1992	Route 66	Liberty
1993	A Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys	Liberty	35	159
1995	The Wheel Keeps on Rollin'	Capitol
1997	Back to the Future Now - Live at Arizona...	Sony
1997	Merry Texas Christmas, Y'All	High Street	75
1999	Ride with Bob^A	DreamWorks	24
2003	Take Me Back to Tulsa	Evangeline
2003	Wide Awake!: Live in Oklahoma	Delta
2003	Live at Billy Bob's Texas	Smith Music Group
2003	Remembers the Alamo	Shout! Factory
2006	Live from Austin, TX	New West
2007	Reinventing the Wheel	Mega Force
2007	Kings of Texas Swing (CD/DVD)	Cleopatra
2007	Santa Loves to Boogie	Mri

^APeaked at #15 on Top Heatseekers chart.

Singles

Year	Title	US Country	Album
1973	"Before You Stop Loving Me"		Comin' Right At Ya
1973	"Daddy's Advice"		Comin' Right At Ya
1974	"Don't Ask Me Why"		Asleep at the Wheel
1974	"Choo Choo Ch'Boogie"	69	Asleep at the Wheel
1975	"The Letter That Johnny Walker Read"	10	Texas Gold
1975	"Bump, Bounce, Boogie"	31	Texas Gold
1976	"Nothin' Takes the Place of You"	35	Texas Gold
1976	"Route 66"	48	Wheelin' and Dealin'
1976	"Miles and Miles of Texas"	38	Wheelin' and Dealin'
1977	"Trouble With Lovin' Today"		Wheelin' and Dealin'
1977	"Let's Face Up"		The Wheel
1978	"Ghost Dancer"		Collision Course
1978	"Texas Me and You"	75	Collision Course
1979	"Too Many Bad Habits"		Served Live
1980	"Don't Get Caught Out In The Rain"		Framed
1987	"Way Down Texas Way"	39	Ten
1987	"House of Blue Lights"	17	Ten
1987	"Boogie Back to Texas"	53	Ten
1988	"Blowin' Like a Bandit"	59	Ten
1988	"Walk on By"	55	Western Standard Time
1988	"Hot Rod Lincoln"	65	Western Standard Time
1989	"Chattanooga Choo Choo"		Western Standard Time
1990	"Keepin' Me Up Nights"	54	Keepin' Me Up Nights
1990	"That's the Way Love Is"	60	Keepin' Me Up Nights
1991	"Dance With Who Brung You"	71	Keepin' Me Up Nights
1993	"Red Wing"		Tribute To Bob Wills
1994	"Blues For Dixie"		Tribute To Bob Wills
1994	"Corrina Corrina"	73	Tribute To Bob Wills
1995	"Hightower"		Wheel Keeps On Rollin'
2000	"Roly Poly" (with Dixie Chicks)^A	65	Ride With Bob

^ACharted from unsolicited play. Further Information

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