Here is a two-for-one day! Asleep at the Wheel is one of those bands I always knew of, but never really took the time to explore. I’m glad I finally did. They were led by Ray Benson; the group became one of the biggest champions of Western Swing at a time when country music was moving in different directions. Instead of the normal Nashville sound, they looked back to the music of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys and proved there was still plenty of life left in those songs and that style. Benson once said that Ray Charles’ Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music “opened more musical windows for more people than any other record before or since.” That appreciation for musical freedom runs through Asleep at the Wheel’s career.
I like discovering where musical roads meet. Bob Wills inspired Ray Benson. Ray Benson helped keep Western Swing alive for another generation. Along the way, you can hear connections to artists like Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, and voices like Maryann Price helped shape the band’s sound. If you’ve never explored Asleep at the Wheel beyond hearing the name, these two songs are a great place to begin. They don’t just celebrate Texas music. They celebrate a style that still swings as naturally today as it did more than seventy years ago.
They were formed in 1970 in West Virginia before finding their true home in Austin, Texas. Austin was becoming a gathering place for musicians who didn’t worry much about labels. Country, rock, jazz, blues, and swing all mixed together there. Along the way, Asleep at the Wheel crossed paths with artists like Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, who blended swing, jazz, and humor into their own unique sound. Both acts drew from many of the same musical roots while creating something that felt fresh. Another important voice was Maryann Price, whose vocals became one of the band’s trademarks during some of its best-known years and helped bring even more authenticity to their Western Swing revival.
“Miles and Miles of Texas” may be the band’s signature song. Released in 1976 on Wheelin’ and Dealin’, it captures everything that makes Asleep at the Wheel so enjoyable. The fiddle, steel guitar and swinging rhythm feel like they belong in another era, yet the recording never sounds dated. It’s upbeat, fun and impossible not to smile through. More than anything, it helped introduce a new generation of listeners to Western Swing and reminded people why Bob Wills’ influence still mattered decades later. It peaked at #38 in the Billboard Country Charts in 1976.
“Way Down Texas Way” reaches even further back. Originally recorded by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in the 1940s, the song is pure Western Swing with its danceable rhythm and country-jazz feel. Asleep at the Wheel doesn’t simply copy the original. They play it with genuine respect while making it sound like it belongs right alongside their own material. That’s one of the band’s greatest strengths. They kept it alive by playing it with energy and heart. This song peaked at #39 on the Billboard Country Charts in 1987.
Way Down Texas Way
Adios, goodbye amigos I am leaving you today
Ain’t nobody round this town that’s gonna miss me anyway
This old money making’s taking all the time I have to play
Mama, hush your mouth, I’m headed south, way down Texas way
Way down Texas way they play good music every night
And the dance hall rings with laughter ’til the early morning light
When them cowboys get through picking
There’s not much that’s left to say
But you can really have a good time honey, way down Texas way
Aw, Texas fiddle
The road of life is paved with good intentions I am told
So I best be on my way now or I may not ever go
Ain’t no need to be a-begging me to stay just one more day
This old wild goose is cutting loose way down Texas way
Way down Texas way they play fiddle music every night
And the dance hall rings with laughter ’til the early morning light
When them cowboys get through picking
There’s not much that’s left to say
But you can really have a good time sugar, way down Texas way
Way down Texas way
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I didn’t realize Maryann Price was part of Asleep at the Wheel. I knew her from Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks. I was in Berkeley for a conference in 1983 and the organizers brought in Maryann Price & The Millionaires for a show. It was poorly attended. I guess everyone was tired from the conference. If I remember correctly, the band took down their stuff and moved to where the attendees were staying in order to try to find an audience for the second set. It was the nearest I’ve come to having a private concert.
Wow…that was special to be in that limited of an audience. I first found out about her through the Kinks…she was on a Kinks record and then I found out about Hicks…and now this.
I wonder if Maryann is related to Ray?
Amazing group, I didn’t realize they had formed so far back. Miles and Miles is a song they totally own. They sure kept Texas Swing alive. Really enjoyed revisiting Asleep at the Wheel and your swinging two’fer!
Thank you Randy…I appreciate it…it’s fun to mix it up.
Wow, I’ve heard their name but thought they were more rock. Interesting stuff, it really sounds like 1930s or ’40s Country & Western.
Yea…I was thinking more soft country like Poco…or someone…they really kept this swing type of music alive.
the little I knew about them I thought they were vaguely like , maybe Lone Justice, kind of ‘cow punk’. I guess I was off by a ‘country’ mile!
Yea…but Poco isn’t close either! Plus they go back a ways…more than I thought.
I’ve awakened up to the sound of Sleeping at the Wheel
There is a pun in there somewhere!
(You spoke?🙄)
LOL…
‘Woken up’ would have been better than awakened up
Asleep at the wheel oftentimes is how I feel when I read posts by fellow bloggers like you! 🤣
On a more serious note, only 10 years ago, I would have dismissed Asleep at The Wheel as “hillbilly music.” Now that I’m in my sixth decade of life, I no longer care much about music genres. These days, in my music world, there are only two genres that matter: music I dig, and music that’s not so much my cup of tea.
With all that said, based on the two songs your highlighted here, I like how Asleep at The Wheel sound!
I was in your boat for a while as well….and I live in a place where it’s king… but yea…the musicianship is great on this and the other Bob Wills song I have today.
loved them……ain’t nobody here but us chickens is always on my personal playlist…always think of them in the same way as Little Feet….great musicians that can just play
What a great name for a song! I’m listening to it now…Yes I agree with your Little Feat comment…musicians that love playing.
Ive loved Asleep at the Wheel since their first recording. Great stuff.
I thought of you when I wrote this… I had a feeling you would have liked them.
You have put me in a fantastic mood with your two takes today. I feel like I’m a Texas guy now and Im up in Canada swingin’. Ray benson and the folks he gets together have been playing this stuff to adoring audiences for years. Me included.
Awesome man! I am as well after listening to it this week. I knew I had to post these on the same day… The comments have been great as well. No matter the curve I throw… they hit it out of the park.
This music influenced so many artists…
Both those live cuts show the band in their element. “Live is where the live”
Thats a great way to put it!
Easy-going and easy on the ears. They aren’t in any races and don’t need to be. I like his jacket in the first video. Looks like Austin City Limits stage?
Yes…I think it is Lisa…good eye. They lived there and were on the show a lot.
I thought they were sorta Country influenced but not so much carrying the old 40s Country flame. Live and learn.
Me as well…I told Dave I was thinking Poco or a tame Eagles… not this…it was a pleasant surprise.
The one that came to mind was New Riders Of The Purple Sage, dunno why.
Yea I can see that. They were influenced by this kind of music as well. I know Garcia was…
Oh yeah, well Gerry, he was less straight Country Swing, more Country Stoned Swing.
One of the greatest bands in Texas, although not all of them came from here, but got to Austin as soon as they could. They have kept Western Swing music alive and are still out there playing. I saw Ray on Bobs Country Diner not long ago, he’s older of course, but he put together a smaller version for the show. I grew up, cut my first tooth on that kind of music which was part of the walls of our house. Gone full circle and started playing it again in the 70s cowboy hippie era and am still playing it. Great write up, Max. I’m sure Cindy Walker is pleased as she looks down on her songs still being played.
Maybe you can extend those boundaries outside of Texas Phil. It would have been nice to join you at that recent show. I’d get off the couch for that.
Thanks, CB, I don’t know how much Ray is touring these days, he’s getting creaky, like Willie. He seems to have sought out some of the best young country musicians in Texas to keep The Wheel going.
Thank you Phil so much! I never knew much about them…but now yes I’ll be listening to them and Wills…
Ray Benson is about 7 ft. tall and wears cowboy boots. His hands are the size of honey baked hams, I don’t see how he can even play a guitar.
honey baked hams, lol… guys with long fingers can wrap around that neck. I have short stubby fingers.
Willie Nelson, of course who else would do this, just introduced a THC infused nonalcoholic drink that is flying off the shelves. Poor old dude, he has to be on oxygen full time now and can barely sing and play. That’s what 70 years of pot smoking will get ya. My good friend, rockabilly Ronnie Dawson died from lung cancer, smoked pot every day for 40 years. But he was always high and happy. Me and Momo stick to our whiskey and wine. Those hippie days are way behind us.
The Gummies are the only thing I do. I never could smoke anything…I can’t inhale smoke.
Me and Momo bought some of those “Willie Nelson’s Best Gummies” in Ruidoso, NM, to help with her back pain and sleep. It took us a month to get right. I think they may have affected my DNA.
I’ve never tried his before…my back is the reason I take them so I can sleep through the night. If you keep taking them you start feeling woozy the next morning…so I only take a half or so when I start feeling like that.
Momo and I ate a whole one each and wound up on the road again for three days and didn’t remember any of it. I kept seeing the ghost of ole Hank waving me to come on over and jam a while. Be careful, we only partake in whiskey now.
Oh yea…I only do it at home before I go to sleep. I would NOT do one out somewhere. I have accidently done one at work…I stayed in my office laughing all day…I didn’t do that again.
I think Johnny Gimbel’s granddaughter on keys, and Cindy Cashdollar on pedal steel, plays with them now. Ray keeps his band pretty Texas.
Oh yeah!! Great stuff. Ray Benson surrounds himself with fantastic musicians like himself. No matter what line up of Asleep at the Wheel you see, it’s always primo. Fantastic post, Max!
Thank you Pam! I thought you would like this one… I didn’t know much about them until lately.
That wasn’t what I was expecting from the band photo, sounds cool though.
I was expecting Poco…not this…but I do like it.
Agreed