Asleep at the Wheel 1977 on The Ronnie Prophet Show

[pwea1]

..... the tune is timeless .. Chris is still so great to this day .... I heart Ronnies "Hair Dooooo " and still listen to this classic from the A at the W band to this day .. thx for the post .

[Binder472000]

Chris was great..caught them here in Toronto at that show taped at CFTO. Got all their albums & the ones with her I agree were the best!

[RasMajnouni]

Chris O'Connel 's song at 3:10

[RasMajnouni]

"And now, how would YOU like to buy a 1977 Lemon car...."

Chris O'Connel sang way down from inside.The second song here is hers.1977 but it was recorded a few years earlier I think.

[luk1954]

AATW not the same without Chris. She had one of the best voices ever, dripped soul and feeling all over the place.

[mikem1154]

Love the Wheel---really miss Chris, but they are always great. Gonna see them this week for the 8th or 9th time. Been a fan since the early 70's

[luvmyblues1]

First time I ever saw The Wheel was in 1977 in Topeka - it's great to see this clip from that same year. Chris O'Connell has been my idol ever since. Look how young Ray is!

[bolfa9]

Is this the doctor???? from voyager

[pwea1]

Thanks for the great post ... I saw this formation of the band a few times and they were so great .. It was a very exciting time for all of us to see so many wonderful musicians together at the same time doing the songs so well .. yes .. No one will ever match Chris's vocals ever ....

[dgtxdutch]

Chris was a GREAT Western Swing vocalist! Listen to her vocal on "The Kind Of Love I Can't Forget" She put a Texas scald on it! GREAT Swing musicians in this crew!

[royboy56100]

I saw them live in Wichita years ago.When i shook Ray Bensons hand after the show,he's a foot taller than me!I was on crutches from a broken leg and tried to dance anyway,never saw so many steppin' it up ,even the waitresses!

[Bill437]

Lucky Oceans married a girl from Australia and now lives in Fremantle Western Australia where he has a great involvement in radio and a range of music including country and Zydeco, brilliant performer and of course well respected by his peers in the industry.

[Pjinmon]

LOVE this song, she was the greatest. I was a big fan back in the day. I would say she was pissed pretty often, perhaps for good reason! This was the stuff....

[RasMajnouni]

I've lstened to so much country for 50 years, Chris 'OConnel to me is THE authentic country singer.

[billville111]

What a lineup.

Those early days with Chris and Lucky and Leroy were great.

One night at the Palomino Club in LA - Ray used to always call it the Sal Mineo Club, Chris was P I S S E D about something.

But the pro she is, she always sounded great.

Miss her golden voice.

[RasMajnouni]

Billwille,I was there 2.she told me it was her time of the month is all.Not to sweat.

[billville111]

@RasMajnouni

That makes sense - dealing with ten crazy guys, thousands of miles, not enough sleep, and cramps - that will do it.

The show must go on. God, they were great.

I took my Dad to a show and he loved it. He used to play in the big bands back in the day.

One night in Hawaii, I helped a gal work out the changes to Route 66 backstage minutes before she did a duet with Ray.

What a night. Bill

[shyshutterbug]

@billville111 Chris tended toward pissed back then. She's much better now.

[lesg24]

Can't beat Chris!!!

[eddiefi]

The original Asleep At The Wheel(the 1st 4 albums) are the best. They never get the credit they deserved and with Leroy, Chris and Ray taking turns on vocals they were incredible. Got to see them at Bogarts in Cincinnati around 1975 and no one showed up so they let us stay for both shows and we got to sit around and drink beer and visit with the band. A great night.

[aatwaatwaatw]

Other fiddler is Andy Stein.OK?

[aatwaatwaatw]

Bill Mabry's solo is great.

Ragtime Annie is good tune.

I wonder is good too.

[bobjfs]

Too bad one of the fiddles was out of tune.

[Jules6120]

That's lucky Oceans on Steel. He lives in Perth, Western Australia now. Plays regularly - he is better than ever I reckon.

[rockinredneck57]

Wow, Ray with no beard, so young! Chris O'Connell, such a great voice. I remember hearing her on some early AATW tapes I had. They still sound great, but the sound in 77 was fantastic!

[selatik1]

Is that Paul Anastasio on fiddle (with the beard)?

[MosheNL]

I thought the announcer was going to sell me a used car!Ray didn't have his command of the stage yet.I bought a LP of theirs first in 1974.

[austinga05]

Is that Ray Benson on the right? WOW

[Samuijazz]

Actually that was electric mandolin and TWO guitars soloing.

Got them all in the shot.

And a fine steel solo before it.

[jteeeeeton]

they managed to keep Western Swing alive when it was so out of fashion. Today all their shows are sold out months in advance and they have kept true to this genre of music-fantastic stuff- they have just got better and better over the years.

[NickRatnieks]

"I Wonder" as Ray says "A Big Hit- for somebody else!" I got to speak to Jim (Floyd Domino) one night at The Broken Spoke- great player when I saw AATW-he sat in on a few numbers. Nice to see the camera focusing on the guitar when it was an electric mandolin solo!

[azzaz1]

Expert musicians! Thank You for showing.