Dan and the crew ride the mellow train to yesterday
06/16/1998
(4 out of 5 stars)
"" A voice keeps calling to me, so loud and so clear....I'll just pretend I'm not here" Classic Dan Hicks lyrics with toe tapping post-hippie mountian swing. The group was able to steer clear of pre-disco rumblings, mainstream "western" twangy, and lost rock taint. It's a musical picture of Hogie Carmicheal with a roachclip. Hey, Skylark."
You know it's good, it's good to be back.
10/05/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I (just to be really self-indulgent about this) first heard this group on the old Tonight Show when George Carlin was "filling in for Johnny." Not long afterward they appeared on The Flip Wilson Show. I was hooked. I bought this album on LP way back when, listened to it a lot for a while, then for some reason put it away. I'll crank it up these days, and you know what happens next - the rush of memories is almost overwhelming.Dan's voice was never all that great, but the Lickettes make up for that. His songwriting can't be faulted, though. There's a little more variety here than on their previous albums. I'm not a big fan of country music (let's face it, I can't stand it), but "Payday Blues," a real crying-in-your-beer number, is tolerable: I hear it as a parody. Everything else is even better -- an eclectic mix of jazz, swing, nostalgia, even a little bluegrass. "Sure Beats Me" is straightahead jazz, reminiscent of QHCF. Sid and John are superb instrumental soloists.Each of the Lickettes gets her own well-deserved solo spot. Naomi sings and plays some violin. Maryann has, for me, a more appealing voice. Compare her version of "Sweetheart" with Maria Muldaur's.The missing star is for the skimpy information in the CD packaging - you get a list of the songs and the personnel, and that's it. With the original LP you also got composer credits (they're not all by Dan), photos of each of the band members, and, on the inner sleeve, all the lyrics! The latter might come in handy with something like "`Long Come A Viper." This band could do so much, and probably should have been even more popular than they were. "In dreams I can make you my own." Ahh...the memories..."
Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys meet Manhattan Transfer
Vacation Boy | Princeton, NJ USA | 10/12/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Or Spike Jones meets Asleep at the Wheel? Cowboy music for city slickers? Dan's band was a revolving door with many permutations and pretty tough to classify. The one thing you can tell is that they sure did have fun making this music. 'Last Train to Hicksville' has always been my personal favorite. It's their tightest (all things being relative--these were pretty loose folks) sounding effort with an eclectic mix of songs for all ages and the best corp of Lickettes."
Not the Last VW to Hicksville
Super Heroine | The O.C., baby | 06/06/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I was soooo stoked when my ex-boyfriend Joe popped this tape in my car one day. It never, ever, never ever EVER came out of there again....until we broke up (it WAS his, I'm not cruel!) And besides, I found it on Vinyl up in Portland 2 years later! Delicious, Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, how can you NOT like everything this guy does? Even my grampa likes this record, and BTW I'm 24, he's 84. :)"
A Classic!
burby5 | richlands, virginia United States | 12/14/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"First heard this music as a freshmen in college (1974) and loved it for it's quirkiness then. Then sometime in the late 80's, i found a copy of the CD in a bargin bin somewhere and bought it on the spot. Though my wife of the time couldn't stand it, my young son requested it often (he particularly liked "Euphonius Whale"). And though i've bought and sold many CD's in later years, this one will always be a keeper. "Payday Blues" is the corniest of honky tonk country, like telling a joke with a straight face, and a classic of the genre. My personal fave has always been "Sure Beats Me" which reminds me of Bob Wills with Django Rheinhart. In fact, this music has so many facets it's hard not to find something to make you smile. I read somewhere that Ricky Lee Jones guested on a later Dan Hicks album...how appropriate. Highly recommended!"