Dan Hicks has hardly changed a thing in the four decades since the first
Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks record and, in this case, that's a good thing. Why mess with perfection? In the late '60s, after exiting San Francisco's infamous psychedelic folk-rock pioneers the Charlatans,
Hicks took bits from Western swing and the regular kind, jug band music, traditional folk, bluegrass, cowboy tunes, Gypsy jazz, and even a bit of bossa nova, added female call-and-response vocals and a healthy dose of droll sarcasm and hipster humor, put it all together in impeccably written tunes and virtuosic playing, and somehow sold this unlikely package to audiences that otherwise preferred rock & roll. He's dropped
the Hot Licks at times to perform solo and in other configurations, then after the turn of the century decided to return to that formula with an all new
Hot Licks. The latest result is Tangled Tales, an album that could easily have been released alongside those early gems like
Where's the Money? and Original Recordings instead of in 2009.
Hicks' distinctly original vocal style is absolutely unchanged from back in the day, and the arrangements of the chosen tunes are in line with what he's always done. Five of these songs appeared in different versions on his 1994 album Shootin' Straight with his short-lived group the Acoustic Warriors, but here they are recast as classic
Hot Licks numbers. In addition to the original
Hicks compositions, the album offers a handful of intriguing covers, including a spirited take on
Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and
Hicks' interpretation of
Horace Silver's "Song for My Father," with lyrics added to the instrumental melody by singer
Leon Thomas in the '70s. For the occasion,
Hicks invited several diverse guest artists to augment the current band, among them mandolinist
David Grisman, harmonica ace
Charlie Musselwhite, violinist
Richard Greene, and blues guitarist
Roy Rogers. That they all blend seamlessly into the
Hicks template is a tribute to
Hicks' impact in a genre that is truly his and his alone. ~ Jeff Tamarkin