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A special programme featuring Asleep At The Wheel

Bob is joined by legendary Western Swing band Asleep At The Wheel for an hour long session! Led by Ray Benson for over 50 years, they'll be playing live in the studio at Maida Vale.

Bob is joined by legendary Western Swing band Asleep At The Wheel for an hour long session! Led by Ray Benson for over 50 years, they'll be playing live in the studio at Maida Vale, and Ray will be talking Bob through the highs and lows of their career.

It all started when Ray Benson, Floyd Domino, and Lucky Oceans, along with a Vermont farm boy named Leroy Preston; Virginian Chris O'Connell; and Gene Dobkin, a bass player and fellow classmate of Benson's from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, joined forces. They began with a simple goal: to play and help revive American roots music.

Aeep at the Wheel landed a gig opening for Alice Cooper and Hot Tuna in Washington, DC in 1970. At the height of Vietnam, many Americans were using their choice of music to express their stance on the conflict in southeast Asia. "We wanted to break that mould," said Benson. "We were concerned more with this amazing roots music, which we felt was being lost amid the politics. We were too country for the rock folks and we were too long-haired for the country folks. But everybody got over it once the music started playing."

A year later, they were coaxed into moving to California by Commander Cody, leader of Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen. But, the band鈥檚 big break came when Van Morrison mentioned them in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. The record offers started coming in and The Wheel got rolling.

And they've been rolling ever since! Although the pandemic has forced them to postpone their UK tour until 2021 - and Ray himself caught COVID-19 but has now recovered - tonight you'll hear just what a great band they are...

57 minutes

Music Played

  • Paolo Nutini

    Pencil Full Of Lead

    • New Routes.
    • Bismeaux Records.
    • 2.
  • Asleep at the Wheel

    Route 66 - Country Show Session

  • Asleep at the Wheel

    Miles and Miles of Texas - Country Show Session

  • Asleep at the Wheel

    Willie Got There First (feat. The Avett Brothers)

    • New Routes.
    • Bismeaux Records/Thirty Tigers.
    • 11.
  • Asleep at the Wheel

    I Hear Ya Talkin' - Country Show Session

  • Asleep at the Wheel

    San Antonio Rose

    • Western Standard Time.
    • Epic.
    • 7.
  • Asleep at the Wheel

    Call It A Day Tonight - Country Show Session

  • Asleep at the Wheel

    Dublin Blues - Country Show Session

  • Asleep at the Wheel

    Tiger Rag - Country Show Session

Broadcast

  • Thu 3 Sep 2020 21:00