Chris O’Connell joins Benson for a duet of John Hiatt’s “This Is The Way We Make A Broken Heart,” a tune Rosanne Cash would take to #1 a few years later. A… Reuter’s pegged The Wheel as "one of the best live acts in the business." 1982. We just put them in a room, tuned up and let the song breathe. She is no longer with Asleep at the Wheel, but most likely still has their logo tattooed on her right arm, and was arguably their best vocalist ever; 4. While she performed around the Austin scene after leaving Asleep at the Wheel, O’Connell is still in the process of reinventing herself as a solo act. For the next fifteen years we hammered it out on the road the hard, hard way. A shy young woman with a big bold voice, she joined Asleep at the Wheel in 1970 when the incipient western swing juggernaut was still shacked up in West Virginia, woodshedding a repertoire of Grand Ole Opry standards. Plus, the group was heavily in debt, forcing the bandmembers to work on … Asleep at the Wheel, they play great country music." “Be Right Back!” is my return as a rider on the Melody Train. The record offers started coming in and The Wheel got rolling. The Basie sound left an enduring imprint on O’Connell, particularly via the purring engine of Count’s All American Rhythm Section, rhythm guitar master Freddie Green. After singing commercial jingles in her native Baltimore and jazz in Las Vegas showrooms Price moved to San Francisco in 1969. These are all master players and each is a stand-alone star. I got goosebumps while recording some of the tracks for her new CD; she's truly one of a kind.- Cindy Cashdollar. He formed Asleep at the Wheel in Paw Paw, West Virginia in 1970, along with longtime friend Lucky Oceans (born Reuben Gosfield; steel guitar) and Leroy Preston (rhythm guitar). Asleep at the Wheel is bringing you a very special 90-minute holiday livestream on December 19th at 7 pm CST! She mom filled the house with Ella Fitzgerald and Keely Smith and her father loved traditional New Orleans jazz. It has the stunning vocals of Chris O'Connell on several tracks. He was the other black country and western singer on Capitol.”. Han sacado más de 20 álbumes de estudio y tenido veinte singles en los Billboard de country . Chris O’Connell was only 18 when she signed up for the ride of her life. Asleep at the Wheel es un grupo estadounidense de música country formado en Paw Paw (Virginia Occidental), [1] aunque con base actual en Austin (Texas).. Juntos han ganado nueve premios Grammy desde su formación en 1970. Asleep at the Wheel moved to MCA for 1980's Framed, but all was not well: founding member Lucky Oceans left the group that year, and Chris O'Connell took a leave of absence to start a family not long after. I don’t want to bruise anybody; I just want an idea or a mood or a feeling to hit hard enough to rearrange your safe thinking for a minute. They called themselves Asleep at the Wheel. “It was a dollar to get in, which included one free beer,” O’Connell recalls. She released her first solo album in 2012, Be Right Back! View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1975 Indianapolis Pressing Vinyl release of Texas Gold on Discogs. It’s a good thing she has a vast array of material and musical connections to work with. Finally! They had the groove and it seemed old and new. The musicianship of Asleep at the Wheel has become the stuff of legends. -Elvis Costello. Asleep at the Wheel OAKLAND, CA - JULY 9: (L-R) Leroy Preston, Ray Benson driver, Gene Dobkin, Lucky Oceans, Chris O'Connell and Floyd Domino of the music group Asleep at the Wheel pose for a portrait as they sit in a pick-up truck on July 9, 1972 in Oakland, California. I came to know that no matter what the style or beat or tempo, it’s always about the song; the story it has to tell, the connection it wants to make. Floyd Domino was playing piano with the Wheel and he got everyone hooked on Count Basie,” which led to the band’s first Grammy Award for “One O’clock Jump.”. The instrumental solos are as enjoyable as the vocals. Plus, the group was heavily in debt, forcing the bandmembers to work on commercials and movie soundtracks. Don’t forget, if you spend $50 bucks on our store from now until the 31st will automatically be entered to win a meet and greet with Ray Benson! 30 June 1975 [no 13758] Nashville, TN - Asleep At The Wheel (Chris O' Connell [banjo], Johnny Gimble [el mandolin], Billy Briggs [tenor sax], Bobby Womack [trumpet], Mike O' Dowd [clarinet]. Plus, the group was heavily in debt, forcing the bandmembers to work on … Since moving back to the East Bay in 2010 O’Connell has gradually started establishing a career under her own name, and she plays her first Berkeley gig in some three decades 8 p.m. Saturday at the Back Room with her band the SmartAlecks and a special guest, pedal steel great Bobby Black. Jazz vocalist Maryann Price leads her own jazz trio and is one half of the eclectic duo Ethyl’n Methyl, along with Asleep At The Wheel alumnus Chris O'Connell. I measure songs by their ricochet power. Asleep at the Wheel moved to MCA for 1980's Framed, but all was not well: founding member Lucky Oceans left the group that year, and Chris O'Connell took a leave of absence to start a family not long after. Nonprofit newsFree for all, funded by readers, COVID-19: Vaccine updates ● The numbers ● Latest news ● Pitch in for local workers | Berkeleyside is hiring | PLUS: The Oaklandside. They soon added a female singer in Chris O'Connell, who was fresh out of high school. The band features her partner Don Margraf on electric guitar, double bassist Brandon Essex, drummer Alex Aspinall and pianist Lee Bloom. But that band always grew in ways that let me push all my limits and skills. Photo of ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL UNITED STATES - JANUARY 01: Photo of ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL; L-R (back): Ray Benson; (middle): Leroy Preston, Danny Levin, Chris O'Connell, Scott Hennige, Floyd Domino, Tony Garnier; (front): Lucky Oceans, Bill Mabry, Link Davis Jr posed, (Photo by Charlie Gillett Collection/Redferns) "…like a combination of Connie Smith, Sarah Vaughan and Sugar Pie DeSanto all rolled up into one…." . Considering that she made her recording debut in 1973 with Asleep at the Wheel’s maiden voyage, it’s amazing that it’s taken nearly 40 years for Chris O’Connell to release her first solo album. It was also the first of a pair of eponymous albums; another album titled Asleep at the Wheel would be released about a decade later by MCA.. Ray Benson chatting with Asleep at the Wheel founding members and Alice Coopers manger, Shep Gordon about The Wheel's first ever show opening for Alice Cooper on August 25, 1970! Asleep at the Wheel. ... Asleep at the Wheel is an outstanding album from start to finish: the material is impeccable, and the musicians are excellent. “He played with the Wheel for a time in the ’80s, but we met in Oakland in ’71. I still have the recordings, including one Tex Ritter song called ‘I Can’t Get My Foot Off the Rail.’”. Find Chris O'Connell credit information on AllMusic. It was because of Green that she switched from a flat top guitar to an arch top. I stood five feet away from him for a couple of hours, and it was so inspiring.”. He also reports for the San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, and KQED’s California Report. Find out more. 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