Original Recordings, Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks, 1969, :41
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
This record is also known by the eponymous title of the band. Hicks plays a sort of unclassifiable genre that may be (possibly unhelpfully) called neo-swing, heavily influenced by music of the '40s such as the Andrews Sisters but also old-timey finger-pickin' piano-plinkin' general Americana. His voice is often a fluttering falsetto like Alan Wilson of Canned Heat, but it can also be a sort of laid-back drawl. His songwriting is marked by a casual insouciance peppered with some wit (like "How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away?"). The "background" women singers are easily as important to his sound as Hicks himself is, often sharing equal time in vocal duties, trading lines, or responding to his lines. Favorite tracks: "Canned Music," "Evenin' Breeze," "Milk Shakin' Mama," "It's Bad Grammar, Baby."
