An impressive list of country music legends will appear on Half a Hundred Years, a new album commemorating Asleep at the Wheel's 50th anniversary as a traveling band.
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The title's inspired by a conversation band co-founder Ray Benson had in Austin, Texas with Jamey Johnson.
"I told him 'Ya know it's Asleep at the Wheel's 50th anniversary!'," Benson said in a press release. "He looked at me and said, 'That's half a hundred years!'"
Johnson's personal Nashville numbers system inspired not just a title track about life on the road but also a career retrospective of an album. The tracklist features everything from a rerecording of the first Bob Wills song the band ever covered, "Take Me Back to Tulsa," performed with fellow western swing devotees Willie Nelson and George Strait, to a rendition of '70s classic "The Letter That Johnny Walker Read" featuring Lee Ann Womack.
"Take Me Back to Tulsa" hit streaming services since the album's announcement. Benson, a Texas music giant in every sense of the phrase, continued his half-century legacy of keeping western swing at the forefront with the help of two fellow Lone Star state legends.
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Beyond those special guests, original Asleep at the Wheel members Chris O'Connell, Leroy Preston and Lucky Oceans return after 40 years to lend their talents to multiple songs.
Read on for the entire tracklist, which includes guest appearances by Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris and legendary fiddler Johnny Gimble.
The 10-time Grammy award-winning band's first new album since 2018's New Routes arrives on Oct. 1.
Half A Hundred Years Tracklist
1. "Half A Hundred Years"
2. "It's The Same Old South" feat. Chris O'ConnellI
3. "Do What I Must" feat. Leroy Preston
4. "There You Go Again" feat. Lyle Lovett
5. "My Little Baby" feat. Chris O'Connell
6. "Paycheck To Paycheck" feat. Leroy Preston
7. "Word To The Wise" feat. Bill Kirchen
8. "That's How I Remember It" feat. Chris O'Connell
9. "The Photo" feat. Leroy Preston
10. "I Love You Most Of All (When You're Not Here)" feat. Lucky Oceans
11. "The Wheel Boogie"
12. "Take Me Back To Tulsa" feat. George Strait and Willie Nelson
13. "The Letter That Johnny Walker Read" feat. Lee Ann Womack
14. "Bump Bounce Boogie" feat. Chris O'Connell, Elizabeth McQueen & Katie Shore
15. "Miles And Miles Of Texas"
16. "Get Your Kicks On Route 66" feat. Leroy Preston, Johnny Nicholas & Ray Benson
17. "Marie" feat. Willie Nelson
18. "Spanish Two Step" feat. Johnny Gimble And Jesse Ashlock
19. "The Road Will Hold Me Tonight" feat. Emmylou Harris And Willie Nelson
