The Wheel Deal

“Tell the Big Orange to come on down,”
raves Benson, who grew up in Philadelphia, playing tuba in his school’s
marching band and bass in its orchestra. “The CD is out on Bismeaux
Records. I can’t wait to get there. Believe me, it ain’t gonna be
snowing. It can’t do this all winter.” 

Snowing or not, it’s always a hot time
when the Texas-based cowboy jazz band polishes its boots and steps on
stage. “We have a very special band,” Benson marvels, “and we’ve
augmented it with Ruby Jane Smith, this very young, 14-year-old fiddler
who’s just phenomenal. She tears it off with Jason {Roberts}, our
regular fiddler. Their duets are just great.”  

Benson recently spoke to The New Times
about his music, his band, his friend Willie and the special project
that brings them north. Tickets run $27 to $103. For more information,
call 472-0700. 

Meet the ‘sleepers: From left, Elizabeth McQueen,
Eddie Rivers, Jason Roberts and Ray Benson all help steer the Wheel
(members not pictured: David Earl Miller and David Sanger). MICHAEL DAVIS PHOTOS

Asleep at the Wheel last played
Central New York on a warm day in August at the New York State Fair.
Now you return to our wintry neighborhood in February to promote your
latest project, Willie and the Wheel, a CD recorded with Willie Nelson. Can your bus driver handle snowy roads?

You know, by then it’s gonna be clear and sunny. We’re bringing Texas weather to upstate New York.

This CD was the last produced by
legendary rhythm’n’blues producer Jerry Wexler, based on a concept he
had developed many years ago. How did it all come together?

It was actually conceived by Jerry and
produced by me. He sent me these albums five years before we did this
and they had “WN” written by the songs that he had picked {for Nelson
to record}.

Jerry was very sick. He was in Florida,
almost bed-ridden. We would go over things on the phone and I would
send him the stuff on CD. He would listen and say, “Yeah, that’s good,”
or “No, let’s try something this way.”

There’s actually a Web site, Willieandthewheel.com, where you can listen to three of the songs.

Yeah, that’s what we want. We want
people to listen because it’s a really special album. It’s western
swing music that spans such a wide variety. Most people don’t know
about the jazzy part of western swing. And to have Willie as the lead
singer is just icing on the cake.

How are the concerts set up? Do you and Willie play both individually and together?

We’re gonna open the show and then Willie appears with us, doing some of the songs from Willie and The Wheel, some of the songs from Stardust
{Nelson’s 1978 album of standards on the Sony label}, and songs from
many different albums. It’ll be very different, although we’ll do all
of the Willie hits, you know, and stuff that Willie just wants to sing.

Since very early in the Wheel’s history, Willie Nelson has been a great friend and strong supporter. Describe that relationship. 

A lot of people don’t know that when
Willie Nelson’s first album came out, the liner notes were written by
{western swing pioneer} Bob Wills. That was in 1960 or so. So, by 1972,
we had recorded our first record and we were playing in Texas and he
came to see this bunch of longhaired yankees playing Bob Wills hits. We
wound up moving down to Austin 35 years ago. He convinced me that we
could work down here. He put us on shows. He puts us on his picnics,
the famous July 4th picnics. We’ve played 20 of them or so. He’s just
been a great friend. I’ve recorded with him numerous times on our
albums or I’ve produced a cut on his albums.  

Recording with another artist is
certainly nothing new for Asleep at the Wheel: You’ve had dozens of
guests on your albums over the course of your career. What is the
process in the studio when you do a session with another artist?

It depends. If they’re just there to
get the Asleep at the Wheel sound, it’s what it is. We just do what we
always do. We collaborate, but we know the arrangements. Sometimes we
throw ideas back and forth. 

If we’re trying to complement somebody
else on something that’s theirs, that we don’t generally do, then,
well, we’re extremely versatile. A couple of years ago Van Morrison
called me up to borrow Jason and {former Wheel steel guitar player}
Cindy Cashdollar. Guys in Asleep at the Wheel are quite versatile.

Next year will mark 40 years since the Wheel got started. Do you have anything special planned to mark the anniversary? 

I know we’re going to put together some
sort of documentary on the thing and then at the end of the 40th year
try to put together a concert. We were discussing it yesterday. I know
we’re filming this as a documentary and there’s a lot of footage over
the years of stuff that we’ve found. Maybe we’ll do that. I’ve gotta
find the footage of us on The Dinah Shore Show with Bill Cosby. 

Local country stations don’t play the Wheel: It’s all
Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts. It must be frustrating to you that
people don’t get a chance to hear your stuff. 

Yeah, radio’s pretty sorry. I looked today and, good
God, Taylor Swift is the No. 1 artist on the pop charts for eight
weeks. All that means is that teeny-boppers, or whatever you would call
them, have gravitated to country music. It’s not really country. It’s
pop music. It is a little frustrating. But what’s good about it is that
the people who really want it seek us out. I never really wanted to
play 12,000-seat auditoriums. We have. We opened the George Strait tour
for four years. After 3,000 seats, our music doesn’t translate very
well. We’re very content to play under 3,000 seats. That’s what we do.