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Article: RAY BENSON RETOOLS BOB WILLS' COWBOY CLASSICS.(Ray Benson's Western swing music career continues, with a tribute to Bob Wills)
- Article from:
- Guitar Player
- Article date:
- January 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 New Bay Media. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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It has been close to 30 years since a lanky, twenty-something Ray Benson happened upon Western swing music and its leading light, Bob Wills. For the developing guitarist, it was a slice of stylistic heaven--big-band sophistication tempered by the looser presentation of country music. What's more, Wills' band featured over-the-top, jazz-leaning guitarists who were given almost as much room to wail as their rock and roll counterparts.
Since that epiphany, Benson and his band, Asleep at the Wheel, have become synonymous with Western swing--logging 21 albums, six Grammy awards, and countless worn dance floors (not to mention more than 80 personnel changes). The ...