Customer Reviews

Remembers the Alamo

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Great concept album-a tribute to The Alamo, one of history's biggest battles and not a direct tie-in to the recent movie flop. Just reading the liner notes by Ray Benson brings back memories of learning all about The Alamo in school all those years ago. I will confess, though, that the music starts out kind of slow and things don't really pick up swing-wise until the 6th cut. Despite the first 5 songs being slow, they are still worth a listen because of the historic value. I guess I am spoiled, as I own most of AATW's albums and consider them to be great party albums(especially their Christmas album in particular). This album took a few listens to get used to but I still would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Texas history as well as the music of Ray Benson and AATW.

In a word, this album IS Texas. The concept here is to unabashedly defend the heroic legend of the battle of the Alamo. It's interesting to see a concept album like this, you don't see them that often anymore. What better reason to release one than to further ingrain an epic American tale. Highly recommended.

Ray Benson and his pals pay loving homage to the dismal defeat that made Texas legend, the 1836 battle that pitted the thousands-strong Mexican army under Santa Ana against nearly two hundred proto-Texan provocateurs, including legendary figures such as Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett... The two-week siege became the stuff of legend, and helped pave the political path for the United States to lay claim to the Spanish-held territories and annex the Lone Star State. AATW approach the subject with smirking affection, covering songs from old Hollywood films, Bob Wills classics such as "San Antone Rose," and TV themes like "The Ballad Of Davy Crockett," each with its own connection to the Alamo. The album's highlights include two more modern songs, Monty Warden's "Stout And High," played as a plaintive ballad, and "Don't Go There," a guffaw-worthy novelty song about the time rocker Ozzy Osbourne got arrested for peeing drunk on the side of the Alamo itself(!) (Miraculously, Ozzy was not lynched then and there, but he was banned from San Antonio for the next ten years... Funny song; wish I could play it on the radio...)

Exactly what I've come to expect after being a fan of Asleep at the Wheel for many years...only this time the record has a theme.

Great CD. This one should have received more air play when it was released. It really is one to listen to if you have any idea behind the meaning of the songs.

This item gave me what I was looking for!
Well worth the buy.

Love just about everything about the Alamo...Learning about the struggles and amazement that so few men could hold off so many for such a long time....This music definitely pays homage to that fateful time....

"Asleep at the Wheel Remembers the Alamo" is a good album with two problems. For starters, this is the watershed that marked the end of the band's 10-15 year climax. Some of this may be due to expectations. This isn't a Western Swing album -it's an eclectic collection of Americana that runs the gamut with traditional folk, country, spoken word, western swing and orchestral music. Regardless of the musical anthropology, the songs just aren't as strong as the band's usual setlist. The second issue is that beyond remembering the Alamo, this is a celebration of the old mission. Anybody with a balanced sense of history appreciates that the events surrounding the Alamo constitute a shameful legacy of manifest destiny. Davy Crockett and the Texans were rebellious guests in an independent country. There's little romance to be found in the fact that these jingoes facilitated their own destiny. If the goal is to let bygones be bygones and move forward, is it appropriate to resurrect and glorify the events that led to the imperial annexation of a neighboring country? What's next, a celebratory tribute to the Trail of Tears or Jim Crow? "Asleep at the Wheel Remembers the Alamo" is a good album with issues -I would like to have awarded 3 1/2 stars, but bumped it up to 4 because it is Ray Benson and the boys after all! With so many better recordings, this Asleep at the Wheel release should be reserved for completists and Alamo history enthusiasts.