Ride With Bob

1	Bob's Breakdown / Tommy Allsup 3:40
2	New San Antonio Rose / T Double 3:03
3	I Ain't Got Nobody / Don Walser 3:32
4	Roly Poly / Dixie Chicks 3:16
5	Heart to Heart Talk / Lee Ann Womack 3:27
6	Cherokee Maiden / Ray Benson 3:24
7	Maiden's Prayer / Squirrel Nut Zippers 2:42
8	You're from Texas / Tracy Byrd 3:16
9	Right or Wrong / Reba McEntire 2:44
10	Faded Love / Shawn Colvin 4:29
11	St. Louis Blues / Merle Haggard 4:35
12	End of the Line / Jason Roberts 2:48
13	Take Me Back to Tulsa / Clay Walker 3:11
14	Milk Cow Blues / Tim McGraw 5:53
15	Stay All Night / Ray Benson 3:00
16	Bob Wills Is Still the King / Clint Black 2:51
17	Going Away Party / Manhattan Transfer 4:39

Barnes & Noble

Six-time Grammy winners Asleep at the Wheel better make room in their trophy case. Their first Bob Wills tribute album, 1993's TRIBUTE TO THE MUSIC OF BOB WILLS, netted three Grammys, and RIDE WITH BOB might well exceed that feat. Wheel founder Ray Benson (who shines vocally, especially on duets with Tracy Byrd on "You're From Texas" and with Clay Walker on "Take Me Back to Tulsa") provides the top-notch guest artists with the impeccable instrumental support expected from these masters of Western Swing. Veteran cowboy singer Dan Walser almost steals the show with his dexterous interpretation of "I Ain't Got Nobody," which comes complete with the brief comedy sketch with which Emmett Miller (but not Bob Wills) opened the original 1927 recording of the song. Shawn Colvin and Lyle Lovett get together for a heartbreaking reading of "Faded Love" that'll have you marveling. Merle Haggard, whose Wills tribute album set the Wheel on its current course back in the early '70s, swaggers and burns his way through a dangerous take of "St. Louis Blues," a horn section moaning and clarinet in high-pitched protest around him. Clint Black, Dwight Yoakam, Reba McEntire, and the Dixie Chicks all do us proud as well. But in the end, the star is Bob Wills. RIDE WITH BOB will send you back to luxuriate in the abundant riches of the King of Western Swing's imposing catalog. Bet that's exactly what Ray Benson had in mind. David McGee

All Music Guide

Asleep at the Wheel devoted its entire career to Western swing, which is commonly known as the music Bob Wills created. They became the standard bearers for the genre, making sure that it was still an integral part of the country music mainstream. Since their entire career feels like a living monument to Wills, it almost seems unnecessary for them to record tributes to the "King of Western Swing" -- that is, until you hear the records. Ride With Bob, their sequel to the award-winning Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills, has more guest appearances than its predecessor, but it's every bit as enjoyable. The fact of the matter is, Asleep at the Wheel played this music better than anybody else at the close of the century, and these are some of the greatest songs in popular music -- "New San Antonio Rose," "Roly Poly," "Cherokee Maiden," "Right or Wrong," "Faded Love," "Take Me Back to Tulsa," and "Stay All Night" always sound fresh, and the band draws out excellent performances from Dwight Yoakam, the Dixie Chicks, Ray Benson, Reba McEntire, Lyle Lovett and Shawn Colvin, Clay Walker, and Mark Chesnutt, respectively, on these songs. It's a testament to both the group and the songs that nobody here -- not the Squirrel Nut Zippers or Manhattan Transfer -- sounds out of place. This is warm, generous, rich music that's endlessly listenable, much like Wills himself. And the Clint Black-sung cover of Waylon Jennings' tribute "Bob Wills Is Still the King" is a nice touch. Stephen Thomas Erlewine