ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL Asleep At The Wheel (2010 issue UK 11-track CD album - On the surface, Asleep At The Wheel are a major mainstream country band. They benefited from the fact that these were times when anything was possible, the music business was still in its infancy and musicians were encouraged to take risks, there were no rules, you made it up as you went along. They released their first album in 1973 on United Artists, and whilst it didn't chart, it did enough to convince people that there was something special about the band, until a change of personnel at the label led to them being dropped. However this disappointment was offset by Epic picking them up. Released in 1974, their 2nd album was to move them further forward with the success of the Louis Jordan cover 'Choo Choo Ch'Boogie'. Asleep At The Wheel are now an institution but when this album was recorded they were young pioneers, leading the way into a fresh direction that took inspiration from the past, merging it with an approach that was definitely state of the art).