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Ride with Bob: A Tribute to Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys

Ride with Bob: A Tribute to Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys is the 15th studio album and second tribute album by American country band Asleep at the Wheel. Recorded between June 1998 and March 1999 at studios in Austin, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee, it was produced by the band's frontman Ray Benson and released on August 10, 1999, as the band's only album on DreamWorks Records. The album is another tribute to the music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys.

Ride with Bob: A Tribute to Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys

August 10, 1999 (1999-08-10)

June 1998 – March 1999

  • Bismeaux (Austin, Texas)
  • Hum Depot (Nashville)s
  • Loud Recording (Nashville)
  • Westwood (Nashville)

60:18

Following the critical and commercial success of 1993's Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, Benson and Asleep at the Wheel decided to produce a second album composed of recordings made famous by Wills. As with the first album, Ride with Bob features a wide range of guest performers, including featured vocalists such as Don Walser, Reba McEntire and Willie Nelson. The album was Asleep at the Wheel's last to feature pianist and fiddler Chris Booher.


Ride with Bob was a commercial and critical success. The album reached number 24 on the US Billboard Top Country Albums chart – the band's highest position since 1987's 10 – as well as giving the group its debut on the Top Heatseekers chart at number 15. It received mostly positive critical reviews and was nominated for seven Grammy Awards, three of which it won (for Best Recording Package, Best Country Instrumental Performance and Best Country Duo/Group Performance).

Background[edit]

Asleep at the Wheel decided to record a second Bob Wills tribute album for a number of reasons, including the induction of Wills and the Texas Playboys into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.[1] According to the band's frontman Ray Benson, though, the album "is as much about giving the young guys a chance to record these songs as it is about keeping Bob Wills's music out there," referring to the featured artists who took part in the album's recording.[1] Explaining that the original plan in 1993 was to release a four-album set, he noted that "The passage of six years' time has been really a blessing because we've got a wider variety of people, a whole other generation of country musicians, and a broader sampling of what Western swing was."[2] Speaking about the featured artists, he added that "My idea on [Ride with Bob] was to draw attention to Asleep at the Wheel and Bob Wills's music by bringing in very non-Western swing artists like Tim McGraw and the Dixie Chicks. And it worked."[3]


Recording for Ride with Bob took place between March 1998 and June 1999 at Bismeaux Studio in Austin, Texas, and Hum Depot, Loud Recording and Westwood Sound Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.[4] The album's title was chosen to represent the collection as "a celebration" of Wills's music and influence, which Benson claimed "has not gotten the mainstream due ... [it] deserves".[5] In reference to the selection of songs to record for Ride with Bob, Benson added that "This one has more of the styles of western swing that are so varied. We covered a lot on the last one, but this album has three big band numbers, then there's the Dixieland styles, and then there's the classic string band stuff."[2]


Ride with Bob was released on August 10, 1999, by DreamWorks Records.[6] All of the album's recording sessions were filmed for a making-of video to be aired as a television special around the same time as the album's release.[5] The video, produced by Benson and Dan Karlok, was also aired at the Austin Film Festival on October 14, 1999.[7]

Reception[edit]

Commercial[edit]

Ride with Bob: A Tribute to Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys debuted on the US Billboard Top Country Albums chart at its peak position of number 24.[8] It was also the band's first release to register on the US Heatseekers Albums chart, on which it debuted at its number 15 peak.[9] The album reportedly sold 6,000 copies in the US in its first week.[10] Aside from the Billboard charts, Ride with Bob also reached number 1 on the Gavin Report Americana Albums chart, with Ray Benson commenting that, "Not only is it so cool after all these years to finally have a number one record, but to be on a chart with so many great artists is amazing. You look at the other people on this chart, and it makes you feel like your music is in good company."[11] According to Benson, the album sold around 250,000 copies.[12]

at Discogs (list of releases)

Ride with Bob: A Tribute to Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys