Return to Hicksville: The Best of Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks -- The Blue Thumb Years 197 [Import]

Dan Hicks' recording career has been going on for five decades now. Prior to forming the Hot Licks he played folk guitar in San Francisco before joining the mythic and short lived Charlatans as... drummer. The musicians were proto-hippies whose music was rooted in good-time jug-band blues.

After the Charlatans, Dan Hicks recorded demos produced by Nick Reynolds (a former Kingston Trio member) during 1967/1968. These recordings prove that Hicks's sound was already well developed.

Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks landed a contract with Epic records. "Original Recordings", produced by Bob Johnston, was released by Epic in 1969. After that a second LP, produced by Pete Welding, was abandoned, Dan Hicks quit Epic.

In 1971, the band consisted of Hicks, Leopold, Sid Page (violin), Maryann Price (backup vocals and percussions) and Naomi Ruth Eisenberg (backup vocals, percussions and second violin). They signed with Blue Thumb and began recording under Tommy LiPuma, Blue Thumb's house producer, guidance.

Dan Hicks can decidedly be described as a true original. The acoustic style of music he came up with mixes countless influences (a hint of Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band, light jazz, folk, vintage popular music, a touch of Western Swing here and a zest of jug band music there. The result was, however, unique and very distinctive. The music of these young musicians sounded old, but in a good way. Aside from the impeccable band musicianship, the focal points of the group were the quality vocals and Hicks' zany, humorous and supremely melodic compositions.

The first album, "Where's the Money?" (1971) was recorded live at the Troubadour. Tracks 1-6 originate from there. The second LP, titled "Striking It Rich" (1972), included tracks 7-13. It was originally housed in a fancy fold-out cover and was released as Island ILPS 9204 in the UK. This LP saw the appearance of the excellent John Girton (lead guitar) and included arrangements by Nick DeCaro. The third LP, titled "Last Train to Hicksville (Home of the Happy Feet)" was released in 1973 and included tracks 14-16. It was their only LP to feature a drummer (Bob Scott) who used brushes to play his kit.

The compilation features thirteen Hicks originals. The three covers are Johnny Mercer's "I'm an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)" [a big hit for Bing Crosby in 1936] which is expertly sung by Maryann Price], Naomi Ruth Eisenberg's own "Presently in the Past" [which she also sings] and Ken Burlan's "Sweetheart (Waitress in a Donut Shop) which is sung by Maryann Price. The lap-steel solo by Girton on the former is exquisite. Dan Hicks took part in the track selection and the tracks are sequenced in chronological order.

It is hard indeed to single out individual favorites but special mention should go to "I Feel Like Singing" [on which Hicks mutters to the audience that the song is "expressive of our feelings"], "Canned Music" [an original Hicks demo which also appeared on the Epic album], "Moody Richard (The Innocent Bystander)" [another early demo], the dreamy, "My Old Timey Baby", "You Gotta Believe" [an optimistic and delicate song with a "summer" vibe, featuring splendid work by Leopold, Girton and Page], the remake of the Charlatans highly rhythmic "Long Comma Viper" [with its fantastic interplay between Hicks and the lady singers whilst Sid Page's delivers a splendid, hot violin part] as well as "I Scare Myself" [with its immortal melody, its delightful vocals and its delicate arrangement featuring an ethereal violin solo]. And is it really a coincidence that Maria Muldaur (Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band's former vocalist) did cover "Walkin' One and Only" on her eponymous Top 3 LP from 1974?

Neither of the first two Blue Thumb albums made the US LP Top 100. By the time of "Last Train to Hicksville", the band was receiving more attention and was playing bigger venues? the LP reached number 67 on the Billboard charts.

This first sign of success was followed by... nothing at all!

Unexpectedly, a tired Dan Hicks, who had somewhat lost his leadership, disbanded the group. He would later acknowledge this to have been a very big mistake.

Hicks kept performing mainly solo and released a few recordings ["It Happened One Bite" (1978) and the live "Shootin' Straight" (1984].

Dan Hicks enjoyed a genuine career rebirth with he came up with his impressive "Beatin' the Heat" CD (2000). For this album, he reformed the Hot Licks with original violinist Sid Page and a new band that kept alive the original instrumental format. The record was a star-studded affair with the appearance of wall-known but quite disparate artists such as Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Bette Middler, Brian Setzer, and Rickie Lee Jones. This would bring the release of three other studio LP's, the last of which being "Tangled Tales" from 2009.

The digital re-mastering of the compilation under review, finalized by veteran engineer Doug Schwartz, presents the tracks in the best digital sound ever.

The 8-page informative booklet includes track listing and details about the musicians, the studios, the engineers, etc.

The CD is only 52:14 long (most standard Hip-O compilations are never that long) and quite a few other excellent tracks had to be left out.

Anyway, at the price, this CD constitutes an excellent introduction to a band at the peak of its form and whose songs have, almost thirty years later, retained all of their original appeal.