Asleep at the Wheel

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ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL

formed: 1970, paw paw, west virginia

members: ray benson, guitar, vocals (born philadelphia, pennsylvania, 16 march 1951); david miller, bass guitar (born torrance, california); jim murphy, steel guitar, sax (born jefferson city, missouri); jason roberts, fiddle, vocals (born richmond, texas); dave sanger, drums (born coronado, california); john michael whitby, piano (born austin, texas). selected former members: chris booher, piano, fiddle; cyndi cashdollar, pedal steel, dobro; floyd domino, piano (born jim haber); michael francis, saxophone; danny levin, piano; lucky oceans, steel guitar (born reuben gosfield, 22 april 1951); christine o'connell, vocals (born williamsport, maryland, 21 march 1953); leroy preston, rhythm guitar, drums.

genre: country

best-selling album since 1990: a tribute to the music of bob wills (1993)

hit songs since 1990: "keepin' me up nights," "roly poly"

Known to fans simply as "The Wheel," Asleep at the Wheel is one of country music's most durable bands, having survived numerous personnel changes since its inception in the early 1970s. Led by vocalist and guitarist Ray Benson, the band is a leader in the contemporary revival of "Western Swing," a style that combines traditional country fiddling with jazz and blues elements. The result is an exuberant, danceable sound that lends Asleep at the Wheel's records a pleasing consistency. Each of the band's albums provides a solid example of its appealing style: uptempo rhythms, accompanied by pounding piano, nimble fiddles, and Benson's unwavering bass-baritone vocals. Having come close to country stardom on major labels at various points during their career, the group by the early 2000s had signed with a small record company, thus freeing themselves from the pop-oriented dictates of modern country.

Although nearly eighty members have passed through the band's ranks since the early 1970s, "the Wheel" has held together through the endurance of Benson, its founder and sole original member. Raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Benson grew up a fan of big-band music, an orchestrated jazz style that peaked in popularity during the 1940s with bandleaders such as Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw. Playing bass in his high school band, Benson discovered the music of the great jazz bandleader Count Basie and further refined his musical education by listening to folk, blues, and country music. As a teenager, Benson met steel guitarist Ruben ("Lucky Oceans") Gosfield, and the pair began performing together. In 1970, after Benson's graduation from high school, they moved to a farm in West Virginia with pianist Danny Levin and drummer LeRoy Preston. The four musicians, forming the core of the original band, began to secure gigs in local clubs. With pianist Jim (Floyd Domino) Haber replacing Levin, the group in 1971 started performing in Washington, D.C., where the rock and country artist Commander Cody introduced them to their first manager.

After moving to the West Coast and adding more members, the band performed with African-American country artist Stoney Edwards before signing with United Artists Records in 1973. In 1974 the group moved to the music-rich city of Austin, Texas, where they have remained. By the end of the 1970s, the band had enjoyed a string of country hits, including "The Letter That Johnny Walker Read" (1975), their only single to reach the top ten.

Asleep at the Wheel experienced a difficult period during the early 1980s, when their members discovered they were more than $200,000 in debt. By the middle of the decade, Benson had turned to producing records for others, working with the country singer Willie Nelson and smooth R&B/pop vocalist Aaron Neville. Well-suited to the tougher, "neotraditionalist" sound emerging in late 1980s country music, the band enjoyed a resurgence in 1987, signing with Epic Records and scoring hits such as "House of Blue Lights" (1987). In 1990 the group moved to Arista Records for Keepin' Me Up Nights, a rousing album that achieved minor hits with "Dance with Who Brung You," "That's the Way Love Is," and the title track. Produced by veteran R&B keyboardist Barry Beckett, Keepin' Me Up Nights pairs the band's celebratory style with a polished, assured sound.

After undergoing another lineup change, the band moved to Liberty Records in 1993 and released one of their most fulfilling projects, A Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. Featuring a roster of high-profile guest artists, including country stars Brooks & Dunn and Dolly Parton, the album celebrates the music of Benson's idol Bob Wills, often considered the founder of western swing. Famed for his onstage clowning and spoken interjections to band members within songs, Wills formed the Texas Playboys in 1933, finding a distinctive lead vocalist in Tommy Duncan. Duncan's smooth, crooning style—heavily influenced by that of legendary pop singer Bing Crosby—was a major influence upon Benson's own vocalizing. The connection is particularly evident on "Dusty Skies," one of Tribute 's most effective tracks. Detailing a western plains family forced from its home by a dust storm, the song is notable for its unflinching social realism. Benson and his fellow western swing revivalists Riders in the Sky sing the poetic lyrics with straightforwardness and restraint: "The blue skies have failed / We're on our last trail / Underneath these dusty skies." Elsewhere on the album, Parton's rendition of "Billy Dale" (recorded by Bob Wills as "Lily Dale") achieves a lilting purity, presaging the bluegrass style she pursued in the late 1990s.

Returning to Epic Records, Asleep at the Wheel released a live album, Back to the Future Now (1997), which reunites the band with past members such as Gosfield and Preston. On the free-spirited "House of Blue Lights," Benson performs with the McGuire Sisters, one of the most popular pop vocal groups of the 1950s. Moving to the Dream Works label, the band released a second Bob Wills tribute, Ride with Bob (1999), which features the talents of country stars such as Reba McEntire, the Dixie Chicks, and Dwight Yoakam. By the late 1990s, however, traditional-sounding bands such as Asleep at the Wheel no longer found acceptance within the pop-oriented world of mainstream country radio. Tellingly, the band's next album, Take Me Back to Tulsa (2003), was recorded for Evangeline, a small, independent label based in the U.K. In 2003 Benson released a solo album, Beyond Time, for another small label, Audium.

Overcoming countless personnel revisions, label changes, and shifts in public taste, Asleep at the Wheel have persevered largely through the efforts of Ray Benson, whose revival of western swing began a full decade before George Strait and other country neotraditionalists popularized the style. Having celebrated their thirtieth anniversary in 2000, "the Wheel" continue to perform their spirited brand of dance music for a loyal cadre of fans.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Comin' Right at Ya (United Artists, 1973); Asleep at the Wheel (Epic, 1974); Texas Gold (Capitol, 1975); 10 (Epic, 1987); Western Standard Time (Epic, 1988); Keepin' Me Up Nights (Arista, 1990); A Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys (Liberty, 1993); Back to the Future Now—Live at Arizona Charlie's (Epic/Sony, 1997); Ride with Bob (Dream Works, 1999); Take Me Back to Tulsa (Evangeline, 2003).