9 Years Since The Release of Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks – ‘Greatest Licks – I Feel Like Singin’
Today marks 9 years since the release of Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks – Greatest Licks – I Feel Like Singin. The album was released as a tribute to Dan in a celebration of his life and legacy.
The San Francisco Chronicle wrote in a 2017 article:
“The latest in that small but choice body of work is ‘Greatest Licks — I Feel Like Singin,’ a celebratory compilation…on Surfdog Records. It’s co-produced by label owner Dave Kaplan, who flipped for Hicks as a kid when he saw him perform on the Johnny Carson show in the early ’70s.
Years later, Kaplan sought him out to record for his label, which in 2000 released “Beatin’ the Heat,” the first studio record Hicks had made since 1978 and the first of seven on Surfdog. It featured the reconstituted Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks — its leader, who disdained the trappings of celebrity, broke up the band at the height of its success 25 years earlier — with guest-artist friends like Tom Waits, Bette Midler and Elvis Costello (Costello wrote the foreword to Hicks’ memoir).
When it came to Hicks’ albums, Kaplan, whose label has released records by Eric Clapton, Joss Stone and others, spared no expense to achieve Hicks’ vision.”
Dan Hicks was an American Treasure. Since the early 1960’s, Hicks deftly blended elements of Swing, Jazz, Folk and Country music to create a truly unique sound. His lyrics range from the simply sublime to the sublimely ridiculous, all presented with his uniquely skewed and inscrutable touch. Dan’s irresistible sense of rhythm, hip lyrical styling, laid back vocalizing, and infamous on-stage wit lasted well through his final recordings with us at Surfdog Records.
Tracklisting:
THIS SIDE:
Strike It While It’s Hot!
Where’s The Money?
That Ain’t Right
I Scare Myself
I Don’t Want Love
Tangled Tales
THAT SIDE:
How Can I Miss You When You Won’t Go Away?
The Piano Has Been Drinkin’
That’s Where I Am
Hey Bartender
I Feel Like Singin’