Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks
(Surfdog)
With a voice as cool as an ocean breeze streaming through the Golden Gate and a deadpan sense of humor to match, Dan Hicks is back in the saddle with a dozen new tunes bound to delight longtime fans.
Hicks has been fronting the Hot Licks since 1968 when he left the Charlatans, the Edwardian-garbed combo that launched San Francisco's psychedelic revolution at Virginia City, Nevada's Red Dog Saloon in 1965. An enchanting stir-fry of the vocal harmonies of Brasil '66 and the western swing of Bob Wills, Hicks and the Hot Licks make instant whoopee with "Who Are You?," the pick-up line of a skydiver with a broken leg. "The Diplomat" pokes fun at the storied short-fuse of Hicks, a man who rarely suffers fools. "Tangled Tales" has a meaty rack of bebop-style scat vocals worthy of the masters of the genre: Eddie Jefferson, King Pleasure and Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. The covers aren't bad either, especially Hicks and sidekicks bringing it all back home with a campfire-coffeepot reading of "Subterranean Homesick Blues."
Standout Tracks: "Who Are You?," "Tangled Tales" JUD COST
