Dirt Track Date

• Artist: Southern Culture on the Skids
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1996
• Genre: Rock

Review

After spending the first half of the 1990s as one of America's hardest-working independent bands, Southern Culture on the Skids took the bait and signed with a major label in 1995, releasing its fifth album, Dirt Track Date, on Geffen/DGC that year. Dirt Track Date proved to be something of a disappointment for the group's hardcore fans; nearly half the album's songs had appeared on previous SCOTS releases ("Eight Piece Box" hit plastic for the third time on this set), and while producer Mark Williams was sympathetic to the band's approach, the slightly grittier, more homemade sound of For Lovers Only and Ditch Diggin' better suited the band's Dixie-fried guitar textures than Williams' tidier approach. But while Williams cleaned up the band's sound a bit, he didn't rob Rick Miller's hot-rodded guitar of its power to shake the house, and if the set list is familiar to old fans, it makes for an excellent "Greatest Hits" set, with the chicken-scratch R&B of "Soul City," the faux-exotica of "Galley Slave," and the slow-turning dance groove of "Camel Walk" offering rockin' proof that there was a lot more to this band than hillbilly jokes. For Lovers Only is probably Southern Culture on the Skids' best album, but Dirt Track Date may well be the best place for first-time listeners to investigate the band's enchantingly warped take on American roots rock. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Voodoo Cadillac		Southern Culture on the Skids	(4:39)
Soul City		Southern Culture on the Skids	(2:35)
Greenback Fly		Southern Culture on the Skids	(3:47)
Skullbucket		Southern Culture on the Skids	(2:40)
Camel Walk	Rick Miller	Southern Culture on the Skids	(2:36)
White Trash	R. Miller	Southern Culture on the Skids	(2:03)
Firefly		Southern Culture on the Skids	(3:23)
Make Mayan a Hawaiian		Southern Culture on the Skids	(2:24)
Fried Chicken and Gasoline		Southern Culture on the Skids	(4:17)
Nitty Gritty		Southern Culture on the Skids	(2:30)
Eight Piece Box	Rick Miller	Southern Culture on the Skids	(4:02)
Galley Slave		Southern Culture on the Skids	(3:00)
Whole Lotta Things	Rick Miller	Southern Culture on the Skids	(2:29)
Dirt Track Date		Southern Culture on the Skids	(8:38)

Credits

Mary Huff (Handclapping), David Hartman (?), Mary Huff (Bass), Michael Lipton (Guitar (Steel)), Rick Miller (Composer), Mary Huff (Vocals), Southern Culture on the Skids (Producer), Mary Huff (Organ), Soul City Singers (Vocals (Background)), Rick Miller (Vocals), Rick Miller (Guitar), David Hartman (Vocals), Mark Williams (Producer), Rick Miller (Tambourine), David Hartman (Drums), David Hartman (Maracas)

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