More Songs of Route 66

More Songs of Route 66

(Lazy SOB)

Old Route 66 isn't what it used to be. Back in the pre-Interstate days, in the time of self-serve gas stations, that California trip was a rollicking drive across Americana. As such, More Songs of Route 66 is a great little reflection of the journey. Marcia Ball kicks things off with a swampy version of Bobby Troup's "Route 66," then San Antonio bluesman Randy Garibay growls out a properly urban-sounding "Sweet Home Chicago." Along the way, Maryann Price does "Hoppin' in Joplin" (an original), her voice smoky and demure, and later on down the road, the LeRoi Brothers hang 10 on the Sixties AM-radio classic "California Sun." Jimmy LaFave's version of old Western swing chestnut "Oklahoma Hills" is downright spooky, and Asleep at the Wheel's Cindy Cashdollar hooks up with steel great Herb Remington for an ethereal "Midnight in Amarillo." Dale Watson's two numbers, "Tucumcari Here I Come" and "Gallop to Gallup," are up to the lanky dude's usual high standards, and according to the liner notes, are reminders that no one is better at pulling great songs out of thin air than this Austin country maverick. Go West, young man; put More Songs of Route 66 in your stereo and haul ass with the sun in your eyes and the wind in your hair.