Asleep at the Wheel
Formed:
1970 in Paw Paw, West Virginia
- Genre: Country
- Active: '70s - 2000s
- Major Members: Ray Benson, Chris O'Connell, Floyd Domino, Lucky Oceans, Johnny Gimble, Danny Levin
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Formed:
1970 in Paw Paw, West Virginia
Also,
asleep at the wheel. Inattentive, not doing one's job, as in At the critical moment the watchman was asleep at the switch and only called the fire department when it was too late. This term came from 19th-century American railroading, when it was the trainman's duty to switch cars from one track to another by means of manually operated levers. Should he fail to do so, trains could collide. It was later transferred to any lack of alertness. The wheel in the variant is a steering wheel; similarly disastrous results are implied.
If the yard goose or switch monkey (railroad jargon for a switchman) happened to doze off for a minute during a slack period of traffic, he was said to be asleep at the switch. That literal description became a phrase fit for a dictionary when it jumped the track to be used in situations having nothing to do with railroads. The earliest evidence for the figurative application is found in a 1908 quotation from McGaffry's Show Girl, where a character asks an inattentive waiter in a restaurant, "Waiter, are you asleep at the switch?"
Other examples of the phrase having this generalized meaning, "unobservant, preoccupied, or neglectful," followed in short order. We have, for example, from 1915, "The net player was asleep at the switch and never saw the return." More recently, from 1975, we have "The rest of the class, asleep at the switch, is impressed by Caz's work." Even with automated switches in everything from railroad yards to computers, there is still plenty of opportunity to be asleep at the switch.
Asleep at the Wheel is an Austin, Texas based Western swing band, winner of nine Grammy Awards. The name is derived from the expression "asleep at the wheel" which means one has fallen asleep while driving a vehicle, or "behind the wheel". It can also describe someone who is blissfully unaware of a dangerous situation.
More than 80 performers have been a part of the band over the course of their career, but the core band members are Ray Benson (lead guitar and vocals), Jason Roberts (fiddle), David Sanger (drums), David Earl Miller (bass), John Whitby (piano), Elizabeth McQueen (acoustic guitar and vocals), and Eddie Rivers (steel guitar and sax).
Asleep at the Wheel was created in Paw Paw, West Virginia in 1970. They moved to California to get a record deal, then relocated to Austin in 1973, at the suggestion of Willie Nelson.
Hit singles soon followed, including "Choo Choo Ch’Boogie", "The Letter That Johnny Walker Read", "One O'Clock Jump" and more. In 1977, they were named "Best Country & Western Band" by Rolling Stone magazine, as well as "Touring Band of the Year" by the Academy of Country Music.
The band made an appearance in the 1978 film Roadie, which also featured Meat Loaf, Blondie and Art Carney. They wrote and recorded the soundtrack for the film "Liar's Moon" (1984).
The band continued to record and tour to great success within the genre, racking up nine Grammy wins.
A 1993 tribute album featuring performances by Garth Brooks, George Strait and Vince Gill (Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills, Liberty Records) went high on the charts, introducing many new fans to the band's music. The album earned two more Grammys.
In October 2004 "The Letter That Johnny Walker Read" featured on fictional country music station K-ROSE in popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
The Spring of 2005 brought a new adventure into the legendary act: theater.
A Ride With Bob is the first-ever play about the life and music of Bob Wills. Written by Ray Benson and Anne Rapp, and performed by twenty-five actors and musicians, with several dozen costume changes on a colorful theatrical set, A Ride With Bob includes the live performance of 15 of Wills’ most well-known songs in a plot that interweaves Ray Benson’s present day with various stages in Wills’ storied career. The play has been selling out theaters across the states and even had President Bush and the First Lady attend a performance at the Kennedy Center in 2006.
In the Spring of 2007, Asleep at the Wheel toured with Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Ray Price as part of the Last of the Breed Tour. The Wheel was the backing band for all three performers. The tour sold out shows all across the states. A CD and DVD of the tour were released in the Fall of 2007.
Asleep at the Wheel continue to rack up the awards, winning 6 Austin Music Awards for 2006. The awards included: Band of the Year, Best Country Band, Best Acoustic Guitar, Best Producer, Best Songwriter and Best Male Vocals.
Ray Benson donates some of his extra time to the Sims Foundation, HAMM, and The Grammy Foundation. Ray has also opened up Bismeaux Studio which serves Austin, Texas, as a world-class studio recording such artists as Willie Nelson, Aaron Watson, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and Asleep at the Wheel.
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![]() | Idioms. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | Word Origin. America in So Many Words, by David K.Barnhart and Allan A. Metcalf. Copyright © 1997 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more | |
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