Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 50

I ll 'i HJJU JJ. Asleep at the Wheels releases album tribute to Bob Wills er. It was kinda spooky. I never got to sit down and talk with him, and I regret that." Later, Asleep At The Wheel found itself playing at Wills' old Dallas club, originally called the Ranch House and later reincarnated as the present Longhorn Ballroom, on May have recorded for months." Benson's own scant personal experiences with Wills border on the mystic. "Well, I'll tell you two stories about that," Benson said.

"One, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame back in the late '60s or early '70s, and I waited outside his hotel room 'Ef a 19-yccr-oId kid In tho '60s liko myself (could fall for swing), then kids today will. It's a real testament to tho music. RAY BENSON OF ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL Wills scholar," Benson said. "Of my generation, I'm probably one of the top five. There's Dr.

Charles Townsend at Canyon, he's probably the top one." It took Benson about seven months to record the project, from December through June and July. "It wasn't the logistics with the entertainers at all, it was the lawyers and the record company," he said. "The paperwork was the hard part." Benson said he got great support from Liberty, however, and label head Jimmy Bowen. "It started out as one record, then Bowen said do a double album. So it's the size of a double album, priced as a single album." Reaction tq the project has been excellent, Benson laid, though no single cut has come to the forefront as an instant favorite.

"I don't know," he said. "The dance clubs like one thing; radio, others. Brooks Dunn's cut of 'Corine, Corina' has gotten a lot of notice. Ronnie Dunn's a huge Wills fan, growing up around it in Oklahoma and Texas." as Wills used to do. Benson said he's found Wills fans all over, in every stratum of life and entertainment.

"For instance, I'm working on a TV special," he said. "I haven't gotten it sold yet, but all these Hollywood stars want to be on it to do narration, because they're such big fans: John Goodman, Barry Corbin, Linda Ellerbee." Benson said his own life is a good example of the wide appeal of western swing. "I'm about to be 43 years old," he said. "I didn't grow up with western swing music." He was in his late teens when he first heard "San Antonio Rose." "My ears sort of perked up," he said. "If a 19-year-old kid in the '60s like myself (could fall for swing), then kids today will.

It's a real testament to the music. He was like Elvis to me, or the Beatles. Bob Wills is that important to American music." Benson said that he'd taken both a scholarly and a commercial approach to "Tribute." "I do consider myself a Bob it," Benson said. "But I would never put somebody on this record just to be doing it." Artists among the album credits include Marty Stuart and Eldon Shamblin, Leon Rausch and Vince Gill, Lyle Lovett and Garth Brooks. Even Huey Lewis, who has some strong Wills ties.

Benson, who has known Lewis 22 years, said his first memory of Lewis is of him singing the Cindy Walker tune "Hubbin It," which appears on this album. Lewis was with a band called Clover at the time. "Huey's always been a major, major Bob Wills fan," Benson said. Benson also wanted to bring lesser-known Wills works to the fore, and match Wills material to the individual vocalists. Hence, Dolly Parton sings a gender-corrected "Billy Dale" (Billy Jack Wills' "Lilly And Lovett interprets "Blues for Dixie." "I could have done a four-record set," Benson said.

"You know who all's not on the album, but wanted to be? Reba Mclntire, Leon Redbone, Lee Roy Parnell, Pam Tillis, Tracy Lawrence, Joe Diffie. Just logistically, I could By SHIRLEY JINKINS Fort Worth Star-Telegram Twenty years ago, a dying Bob "Wills recorded a bittersweet work, "For The Last Time," with his legendary Texas Playboys. It marked the passing of a torch to a new generation that wouldn't really begin to explore his artistry until George Strait began recording in earnest in the early '80s. But it's been Ray Benson and his band, Asleep At The Wheel, who have done the most to faithfully interpret all that Wills' music was and what it meant to baby boomers and beyond. Benson's masterwork Wills tribute album, new in record stores, is one of the must-haves for any serious music collector.

Benson discussed the project last week during an interview from his Austin office. Benson said that most of all, he sought dimension in his Wills tribute. "On this album I wanted to represent certain aspects of Bob's music, not just 'San Antonio "I've always wanted to bring Bob's music to the masses, and I wanted to get some of today's top country stars to draw people into 13, 1975, the day Bob Wills died. The Longhorn, now one of only two remaining Wills clubs, is the site Wednesday night of a premiere party for the album. The other Wills club, the Cain Ballroom in Tulsa, was the setting of the first premiere on Saturday with a dance that night and a noon broadcast over K.VOO radio, just just to catch a glimpse of him coming or going.

I never did. "Then, in '73, he was recording 'For the Last Time' in Dallas. We were walking in, and Bob had been recording. He was in a wheelchair by that time, and he had tired, so they were taking him back to rest. I got to meet him and say hello.

He kind of mumbled me off, and they went on. "That night, he had a massive stroke and never regained consciousness. He died two years lat- Changes coming to TQ Casper 7i -y (Wvi Your Gift to United Way Helps So More changes are in store for TCI Cablevision of Casper subscribers, although manager Jeff Frankenberger says they won't be rate hikes. On Nov. 19, TNT will move from channel 19 to channel 29.

Prime Sports will make the opposite move to channel 19. The work will be added to the expanded basic cable tier in March. And in April, the Sega channel will be offered at an additional cost. The channel will be interactive, allowing people to play a variety of Sega video-style games, including new games as they are created, Frankenberger said. switch is in response to complaints from people who live near the hospital, according to TCI.

Some hospital radio transmissions interfere with the signal on channel 19. In January, Stars, a new movie service owned by TCI and Encore, will be available. FX, a second Fox-owned net- Fund Distribution Children's Services Child Care Shelter Services to the Disabled Seniors' Services Emergency Food Shelter Fund Raising Administration Community Services Recreation Star Trek TV log On KGWC-Casper: The Next Generation reruns: Monday through Friday, 6 p.m. The Next Generation, new shows: Saturday, 5 p.m. Deep Space Nine: Sunday, 6 p.m.

On KWGN-Oenver (all shows are blacked out): The Next Generation reruns: Monday through Friday, 10 p.m.; Saturday, 5 p.m. Deep Space Nine reruns: Saturday, 6 p.m. The Next Generation, new shows: Sunday, 7 p.m. Deep Space Nine, new shows: Sunday, 8 p.m. Star Trek, the original shows: Sunday, 10 p.m.

Counseling Crisis Intervention A single gift to United Way goes a long way in helping people in need. In fact, no other organization does so much to help so many. Your contribution stays right here in Natrona County to help thousands of local people served by 23 local human-service agencies. Thanks to the efforts of hundreds of volunteers, administrative costs are exceptionally low only 9 percent of the total fund-raising goal. This means that 91 of every dollar raised goes to help local people in need.

The amount you give is your personal decision but please remember that a single gift does make a difference and helps people help themselves. Cable wars Continued from El with the old system of using high basic service costs to subsidize cheap expanded basic costs. Now basic and expanded basic cost about the same per channel about 65 cents. Why this took two separate rate and channel adjustments is unclear. Frankenberger said the changes were an effort to figure out what the government was really looking for, and to create a more inexpensive basic package.

"A $10 basic package. That's we thought Congress was really after," Frankenberger said. The changes also meets one apparent intent of the new cable act to insure that customers get what they pay for, no more, no less. According to the most conservative interpretation of the rules, and apparently TCI billing policies, that goal does away with the idea of subsidies or promotional discounts. So some equipment that once was free or very inexpensive like remote controls is now provided at cost.

According to The Wall Street Journal, equipment increases are an example of loopholes in the law that have allowed some cable companies to raise rates rather than lower them. Techniques cable companies across the country used to raise rates include: adding channels to the basic cable package, because charges are based on the number of channels involved. increasing the cost of premium services, such as HBO, and pay-per-view services, which are unregulated by the new cable act. removing some channels from the expanded basic tier and setting up a second expanded level for an additional charge. What can people do about it? A lot of the blame for the cable confusion can be placed squarely on the shoulders of you, the viewer.

There have been ample opportunities for comment on proposed rules governing cable television. A meeting on cable television in Casper a year ago attracted three members of the public. A meeting last month attracted 10. In a city where virtually everyone subscribes to cable, a turn out of 10 is not terribly impressive. Real viewers need take real action to let cable companies and Congress know what services they want, and what they're willing to pay for them.

In the years leading up to cable regulation, a lack of viewer input allowed prices to soar in many markets. Star-Tribune letter writers have been crying "boycott" for sometime now. Some say boycott KFNB and KGWC. Others add those stations' advertisers to the list of boycott targets. One writer said he called a station to ask what he could do about the station eliminations and was told viewers are powerless.

Viewers are powerless, the station told him, because it is advertising, not viewers that keep television stations on the air. This is warped thinking. AdVertisers buy viewers. And when customers are angry especially when they are angry at advertisers then the whole point of buying air time backfires. It's hard to believe advertisers wouldn't notice.

Writing Congress and the FCC is another option. Washington D.C. is far away, but the book is not closed on the Cable Act of 1992 revisions to the rules, at least, are still going on. Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass) is leading the charge to find out where the cable act went wrong.

If you think you know, tell him. Buying a satellite dish, while pricey, would let you access a wide range of shows and cut you free from your cable company. Similarly, supporting services that would compete with the cable company would alleviate much of the need for competition. The ultimate tactic, cancelling cable, would certainly do the trick. But talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

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