Comin' Right at Ya

How a Jewish Yankee Hippie Went Country, or, the Often Outrageous History of Asleep at the Wheel

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Music, Music Styles, Country
Cover of the book Comin' Right at Ya by Ray Benson, David Menconi, University of Texas Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Ray Benson, David Menconi ISBN: 9781477307748
Publisher: University of Texas Press Publication: October 1, 2015
Imprint: University of Texas Press Language: English
Author: Ray Benson, David Menconi
ISBN: 9781477307748
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Publication: October 1, 2015
Imprint: University of Texas Press
Language: English
A six-foot-seven-inch Jewish hippie from Philadelphia starts a Western swing band in 1970, when country fans hate hippies and Western swing. It sounds like a joke but—more than forty years, twenty-five albums, and nine Grammy Awards later—Asleep at the Wheel is still drawing crowds around the world. The roster of musicians who’ve shared a stage with the Wheel is a who’s who of American popular music—Van Morrison, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, George Strait, Vince Gill, Lyle Lovett, and so many more. And the bandleader who’s brought them all together is the hippie that claimed Bob Wills’s boots: Ray Benson.In this hugely entertaining memoir, Benson looks back over his life and wild ride with Asleep at the Wheel from the band’s beginning in Paw Paw, West Virginia, through its many years as a Texas institution. He vividly recalls spending decades in a touring band, with all the inevitable ups and downs and changes in personnel, and describes the making of classic albums such as Willie and the Wheel and Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. The ultimate music industry insider, Benson explains better than anyone else how the Wheel got rock hipsters and die-hard country fans to love groovy new-old Western swing. Decades later, they still do.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
A six-foot-seven-inch Jewish hippie from Philadelphia starts a Western swing band in 1970, when country fans hate hippies and Western swing. It sounds like a joke but—more than forty years, twenty-five albums, and nine Grammy Awards later—Asleep at the Wheel is still drawing crowds around the world. The roster of musicians who’ve shared a stage with the Wheel is a who’s who of American popular music—Van Morrison, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, George Strait, Vince Gill, Lyle Lovett, and so many more. And the bandleader who’s brought them all together is the hippie that claimed Bob Wills’s boots: Ray Benson.In this hugely entertaining memoir, Benson looks back over his life and wild ride with Asleep at the Wheel from the band’s beginning in Paw Paw, West Virginia, through its many years as a Texas institution. He vividly recalls spending decades in a touring band, with all the inevitable ups and downs and changes in personnel, and describes the making of classic albums such as Willie and the Wheel and Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. The ultimate music industry insider, Benson explains better than anyone else how the Wheel got rock hipsters and die-hard country fans to love groovy new-old Western swing. Decades later, they still do.

More books from University of Texas Press

Cover of the book Why the Beach Boys Matter by Ray Benson, David Menconi
Cover of the book Manufacturing the News by Ray Benson, David Menconi
Cover of the book Texas Tornado by Ray Benson, David Menconi
Cover of the book Guns, Drugs, and Development in Colombia by Ray Benson, David Menconi
Cover of the book Texas Furniture, Volume One by Ray Benson, David Menconi
Cover of the book Reconstruction in Texas by Ray Benson, David Menconi
Cover of the book The Road to Spindletop by Ray Benson, David Menconi
Cover of the book Private Property and the Endangered Species Act by Ray Benson, David Menconi
Cover of the book The Sacred Landscape of the Inca by Ray Benson, David Menconi
Cover of the book Cineaste on Film Criticism, Programming, and Preservation in the New Millennium by Ray Benson, David Menconi
Cover of the book Vergil, Philodemus, and the Augustans by Ray Benson, David Menconi
Cover of the book The Red-cockaded Woodpecker by Ray Benson, David Menconi
Cover of the book Classics from Papyrus to the Internet by Ray Benson, David Menconi
Cover of the book Islam and Popular Culture by Ray Benson, David Menconi
Cover of the book No Hope for Heaven, No Fear of Hell by Ray Benson, David Menconi
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy