Ray Benson is a national treasure, whose outfit, Asleep at the Wheel, has been spreading the Texas swing gospel for a long damn time. The album from which this recording derives was my gateway drug into a giddy universe of intoxicating joy.  It came out in 1993, and before that time the name of Bob Wills had reverberated around the corridors of my memory, but with this collection of loving renditions of some of his classic hits performed by a line up of Country music’s finest practitioners (Marty Stuart, Vince Gill, Lyle Lovett, George Strait, Garth Brooks, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton…the list goes on, including a surprise appearance by Huey Lewis) the barn had been burned down for good.

I could have chosen any of the cuts, but “Big Ball’s in Cowtown” is my choice because it makes me smile every time I hear it, starting with the title. I’m not a cowboy (not even an Urban one) and I don’t dance, but what the hell. I can picture the whole town gettin’ dressed up, coming down to the dance hall ready to celebrate life to the outer reaches, and I want to be right there with ‘em.

Bob Wills formulated the recipe for a magic potion, mixing country with Jazz, and the world owes him a debt of thanks. Ray Benson has dedicated his life to it, and I’m grateful.