According to his website Wayne "the Train" Hancock is the undesputed king of Juke Joint Swing -that alchemists dream of honky-tonk,western swing,blues, Texas rockabilly and big band
That's What Daddy Wants on the Ark label is his second album which was released in 1997.
Recorded live as it's easier to sing with a band that's in the groove rather than one that's recorded already, live material captures the emotion and high energy of the music and it's quicker and cheaper.
From the mix of genres and sub genres described above this one ticks the honky-tonk and rockabilly boxes. Highay 54 couldn't be anything other than a country song and a great one at that. Heartache, betrayal and death - three great country staples; they are all there. Johnny Law has more of a rockabilly vibe about it.
I don't have any of his other records although I have a number of his later songs on compilations when he signed on at Bloodshot. They are certainly more Juke Joint Swing than his earlier stuff
I once saw him play in the former Virgin Megastore on Glasgow's Buchanan Street in the middle of the afternoon playing a couple of songs to largely uninterested passers by (and me!)
I bought his "Thunderstorms And Neon Signs" album and forgot about him til those Bloodshot albums and a "Best Of" album. Some of his songs I really enjoy while others are so-so.
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