The Truckin' Sessions

Dale Watson

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 18, 1998)
• Original Release Date: August 18, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Koch Records
• ASIN: B000009Q2F
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #109,357 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Dale Watson wears his roots on his sleeve, and his music seems better off because of it. His Texas-via-Bakersfield honky-tonk shuffles, swaggers, and steams down the highway on this surging collection of 14 original driving songs. Once you get past the obvious comparisons to Buck Owens and especially Merle Haggard (in both timbre and phrasing), you realize that Watson's resonant, fat baritone and his fluid Telecaster twang stand on their own considerable merits. Sure, "Big Wheels Keep Rollin'" may owe a debt to Hag's "White Line Fever" and "Exit 109" may remind one of Johnny Bond's "Hot Rod Lincoln," but these are compliments of a high order, not dismissive remarks. Songs such as the ode to coffee "Help Me Joe," the slow-churning "Drag Along & Tag Along," and the breakneck "I'm Fixin' to Have Me a Breakdown" show a deep absorption of the hardcore Bakersfield honky-tonk style. Much of the credit goes to pedal steel man Ricky Davis and the rock-solid but subtly sophisticated rhythm section of Preston Rumbaugh and Brian Ferriby. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless Truckin' Music for the Millineum, October 6, 1999

By	MIke Patrick([e-mail]) (Winder, GA) - See all my reviews

To say that this is the absolute BEST Truckin' album of all time, would be both misleading to the general public as well as unfair to Texan Dale Watson. Make no mistake--this IS a Truckin' CD of the highest order. Songs like, "Good Luck 'N' Good Truckin' Tonite", "Makin' Up Time", and "Flat Tire", as well as the remainder of this superb fourth effort by Watson should definitely excite and inspire trucker as well as country music fans. But, labels can mislead the uninitiated casual fan, and those who would never, ever, consider giving a listen to "Truck Drivin' Music" would be missing out on what may possibly be the best pure country music album of 1998 (and 1999, now that I think about it). Folks, Dale Watson is the absolute best Country/Americana/Honky Tonkin' and, yes, Truckin' artist currently recording in America! Although his musical influences might not necessarily register with most fans today, one need only listen to this CD to hear echoes of Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Dave Dudley, Commander Cody, and many other hard drivin', hard drinking, masters of country-soul. These are songs I guarantee that you will very soon sing along with, whether knocking back the miles delivering a load of Ford-150's to Tuscon, or just traveling down the interstate to visit sweetie. Although every song is a true gem, the personal favorite for this ole' boy is, "Have You Got It On....". What man hasn't eyed a lovely young thing driving down the interstate and wondered what it would be like to initiate conversation that might lead to...? In this case, she's got the CB..she just doesn't appear to have it on--"Come on, come on, come back babe, have you got it on". Winsome, yet touching, it hit a bullseye with this non-trucking romantic. Keep up the good music, Dale...your day in the spotlight will come soon. Until then, you'll be the best country performer nobody's heard of.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Keep On Truckin', August 9, 2001

By	Meathook Williams "stepfather of the blues" (Warwick, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

The Truckin' Sessions - Dale Watson

Put the pedal to the metal ! After three almost perfect discs on the classy and farsighted Hightone Records, Dale Watson is back with a gear-jammin', double clutchin' collection of real country with a truck driving theme aptly called "The Truckin' Sessions. This guy is almost like a trip back in time, his voice sounding a bit like Ernest Tubb's rich baritone, but he's absolutely on the cutting edge of today's country with a distinct sound miles fom the homogenised ... on the satellite-fed "country stations" of today. Whether it's a tear-jerking ballad or something more rockin', Watson delivers the goods. In the last few years, country music has enjoyed a huge renaissance. Country music today is big,bigger than rock has ever been. Early next year is is expected that Garth Brooks will surpass the Beatles as the biggest selling recording artist of all time (Billy Joel is number three..go figure). Most of these "hat acts" are basically top 40 with fiddles. Some are downright embarrassing ! And line dancing ? Yikes ! But amidst it all are artists like Dale, Joy Lynn White, and Junior Brown ( who also has a killer new album out). The Lone Stars are a svelte four members including Dale, and let me tell you they lack for nothing at all. Tremendous truckin' songs (fourteen of 'em) are laid out in a nonstop menu of white line fever.From the starter "Good Luck And Good Truckin' Tonight" listeners are treated to an authentic blast of tear jerkin' pedal steel, gallopin' guitars and Dale's full vocals. The arrangements are perfection, as is the sound quality. Those of you lucky enough to have caught Dale Watson's show at the Iron Horse recently, Know that at least some of the acts in country music have iron clad integrity. High points include "Big Wheels Keep Rollin'", "Help Me Joe", "Drag Along And Tag Along, and "Exit 109". My personal favorite is "I'm Fixin' To Have Me A Breakdown". But, hell, they're ALL good ! Not just a " best kept secret" anymore, ... Can this mean a change in direction for country music ? Bet on it !

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect country album?, June 14, 2001

By	Raye Morris (Hanover, Pa) - See all my reviews

Hate country music? Judging by this album, Dale Watson is not too crazy about what passes for country music nowadays either. If you're lookin' for over produced, watered down pop songs, MTV style "country divas" and hair sprayed pretty boys whose last sweat-breaking activity was havin' to tune their own guitar (those that actually play) before the CMA awards...Look elsewhere... Dale Watson is the real deal... This is country music like I remember my dad playin' for us in the 70's. Dirt under your fingernails, keys hangin' from your belt loop. A beer on top of your Fender Twin Reverb... Dave Dudley, Red Sovine, Johnny Cash country music. No flame shirts, no headset microphones, no 110 piece bands, no mechanical bull, John Travolta is not here. What is here, is the voice of America's workin' man. A voice that hasn't been heard for a long time. So long in fact, that hardly anyone, it seems, remembers what that voice is supposed to sound like. Dale Watson remembers. "Good Luck N Good Truckin' Tonight" starts a tear that doesn't end 'til the last note of "I Gotta Get Home To My Baby". The only problem with this album is that it's not a double. I can't do justice to Dale Watson by writing a review. If you want to hear what country music is supposed to sound like, order this album. 14 original songs, that are instantly familiar, and a voice that will not let you go. Albums like this are few and far between. Why you can't turn on a country radio station and hear this guy is beyond me. It's a shame that one of the purest voices in country music, real country music, is kept in the background, so that "performers" with air-brushed promo pictures and with more in common with the Spice Girls than with Lorretta Lynn can be granted a pass to "stardom". Legendary radio host Bill Mack says that he considers Dale Watson to be the "New Giant"... I say, do yourself a favor. Take a trip to the valley of this "giant" now. It's a trip that's long overdue.