Search - :: The Truckin' Sessions [Audio CD] Watson, Dale

Keep On Truckin'

Meathook Williams | Warwick, Massachusetts | 08/10/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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 !"

The perfect country album?

Raye Morris | Hanover, Pa | 06/14/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Dale delivers

Maria Mercado | Austin, TX USA | 05/29/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is not only cleverly written (you'd think Dale was a truck driver himself!); it is also an upbeat, FUN one to listen to. While ALL songs are good in this one, it picks up the pace even more on the second half of the fourteen songs. For those of us who live here in Austin and are lucky to watch, listen and dance to Dale's live show regularly, The Truckin' Sessions is a good "fix" to keep us going until the next show. Even if you don't relate to the trucking experience or are "not from Texas" (like me), you'll enjoy this CD!"