Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 63

Headiineps Asleep ire-ireceirdls $ns' feivoiritfes What: Asleep at the Wheel When: 8 p.m. July 20-21 Where: John Ascuaga's Nugget, Celebrity Showroom Cost: $20 Details: 3563300 and (800) 648-1 1 77 Web: www.janugget.com Asleep at the Wheel BY NEIL BARON Ray Benson is so eager to talk about Asleep at the Wheel's new album, he's willing to conduct interviews from a golf course in Portland, Ore. That's because the title, "The Very Best of Asleep at the Wheel," is a little misleading. Most people, Benson said, assume the record is simply a compilation of the band's best-loved songs. But it's not.

Instead, the album features 14 re-recorded tracks, mostly of the band's most-requested songs. "I didn't realize when we were doing it that it would cause confusion," Benson said by cell phone as he walked to the 14th hole. "Most people think it's just a collection of old songs. So if I don't get to talk to people, especially the press and TV people, they think, 'What's the big deal?" The problem is double-edged because re-recorded songs have an image problem, he said. "To be honest with you, when most artists re-record songs, people are not impressed.

But in our case I knew that, this is an evolving organization and always has been, I wasn't happy with how a lot of the original tunes were recorded and, I didn't sing on a lot of them and I've been singing for 25 years. "This is my attempt, no pun intended, to set the record straight. This is my chance to say, 'This is really how I like to do the If Benson were a newcomer to the band, that would sound egotistical. But make no mistake: Asleep at the Wheel is Ray Benson's band. He started the Western-swing band in 1970 in Paw Paw, and has been the driving force ever since.

He's the only remaining member and with his influence, Asleep at the Wheel has won nine Grammy Awards, including Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Cherokee Maiden" in 2000. The band's first Grammy Award came in 1978 for its instrumental "One O'clock Jump." Asleep at the Wheel is one of the few bands to win a Grammy in four different decades. The story behind Asleep at the Wheel is as interesting as Benson himself, a 6-foot-7, 50-year-old man who wears size 16 boots. The band's first big show came in 1970 in Washington, D.C., when it opened for Alice Cooper and Hot Tuna. It moved to California the next year at the invitation of Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen.

Its first record deal came after Van Morrison mentioned the band in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. Benson said longtime Reno residents may remember the band often visiting a club called the Shy Clown, which is now occupied by Baldini's Sports Casino. But the most interesting fact about Asleep at the Wheel is that its one constant quality has been its constantly changing members. Since Benson started the band, he's had more than 80 members playing beside him. The current lineup features Michael Francis on saxophone, David Miller on bass, Jason Roberts on fiddle and mandolin, David Sanger on drums and John Michael Whitby on piano.

Benson is all about. He's a down-to-earth kind of guy who enjoys his life. "I'm playing 18 holes, I didn't sleep last night and I feel great. What keeps me going, to be honest, is my progress as a singer, and I think you hear that on the record. Also the ability to do different things and to challenge myself.

That's what it's all about. That's what keeps me going." Benson said the band, which appeared recently on "Late Night with David Letterman," could go on forever. "If Jason keeps going after I croak, yeah, it could go on. Seriously. And my kids (Sam, 17, and Aaron, 14), they sing and play sometimes.

So whoever wants to take up this goofy banner but I say that with great pride. It's a funny thing. I really feel honored to have been able to do this for as long as I have." Neil Baron is a free-lance writer. The constant rotation is what's kept the band successful, he said. "New people help keep the band fresh.

This isn't Keith Richards and Mick Jagger trying to come up with the 100th great tune. Jason is 25 years old. He wasn't even born when the band was born." Although Benson is well-known and respected among his peers and by fans of Western swing, the band has never sold a lot of albums compared to many artists with lesser careers. If the awards aren't proof of Benson's talents, perhaps the fact that Asleep at the Wheel toured last year with Bob Dylan attests to it. Or that Benson has performed with some of music's greatest artists, including Willie Nelson, Garth Brooks, Bonnie Raitt, Merle Haggard, Vince Gill and Lyle Lovett.

But receiving accolades isn't what Gary Puckett sings romantic ballads Who: Gary Puckett When: 8 p.m. July 19-20 Where: Atlantis Casino Resort Grand Ballroom Cosh 1 7.50 in advance, $22.50 day of show Details: 8244467 or (888) 551-7007 Gary Puckett will bring his distinctive voice to Reno July 19-20 at the Atlantis Casino Resort. Puckett is best known for a late 1960s string of hits, "Woman, Woman," "Young Girl," "Over You," "Lady Willpower" and "This Girl is a Woman Now." Puckett and his band, The Union Gap, formed in the San Diego area in 1967, naming the band after a town in Washington. The band had six gold records. The Union Gap disbanded in the 1970s.

In 1974, "Young Girl" was reissued in England, where it received a silver record award for attaining a top-five position on the pop charts. To date, Puckett's record sales exceed 20 million. His "Greatest Hits" and "Looking Glass" albums are two of Sony's all-time best-selling Collector Series albums. Puckett also has recorded as a solo artist, getting on the charts with a cover of Paul Simon's "Keep the Customer Satisfied." He continued to tour through the years, playing at sold-out festivals, theaters and arenas around the world. He was one of the acts in the 1984 version of the Happy Together tour, which featured the Turtles, the Mamas Papas and Spanky Our Gang.

Puckett has performed on more than 30 network television shows and primetime specials, even adding a command performance for a president and Prince Charles at the White House. Romance is the key to his success. "People come up to me today and tell me how they fell in love listening to my songs," Puckett said. Gary Puckett 5 VeslSstS July 19-25, 2001.