The rather wonderfully monikered Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks were an American band who largely operated between the late 60s and 1970s. They brewed up an idiosyncratic/ at times playful blend of cowboy folk, jazz, country, swing, bluegrass, pop, and gypsy music. Here from BGO Music is a two-CD set bringing together three of the band's albums from the early 70’s- taking Where’s The Money?, Stinking Rich, The Last Train To Hicksville…The Home Of Happy Feet.

The two CDs are presented with labels of house-style packaging- a clear jewel case inside a card slip. It comes presented with a twenty-four-page booklet- which features a new seven-page write-up about the band & the albums featured.  As well as original liner notes, album credits, and a selection of black-and-white photos of the slightly wackily dressed band- which for these releases were either a five or six-piece.

Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks were led up by/ centred around Little Rock, Arkansas-born Daniel Ivan Hicks- who handled guitars, lead vocals, and was the band's lead songwriter.  He formed the project in 1967 with violinist David LaFlamme as a celebration of acoustic-based forms of pre-rock popular music. In their heyday the project put out four albums-  Original Recordings (1969), Where's The Money? (1971), Striking It Rich! (1972), and Last Train To Hicksville...The Home Of Happy Feet (1973).  They had a comeback in the early 90’s- releasing bits & bobs until the mid-2000s.  Hicks passed in 2016.

Where’s The Money? takes up the whole of CD one- it was originally released in 1971 on Blue Thumb Records. It’s a twelve-track affair and seems to be a live recording. Things kick off with “I Feel Like Singing” taking in a rapidly jiving beat, quickly strummed acoustic guitars, violin swoon ‘n’ dart, and a blend of male lead and female backing vocals, which shift from basic formal lyrics and buoyant scat- singing. We have the title track with its skittering acoustic strum, sliding/ brushing percussion busyness, warbling ‘n’ wailing male lead vocals, &  seesawing female back vocals. Moving into the second half of the album we have “Rellin Down” with its gentle bobbing acoustic bass, plucking ‘n’ thrumming guitar/ maudlin layers, more country blues-tinged male lead vocals, and sing-song female backing vocals. The album plays out the ragged ‘n’ rousing gallop of “Dig A Little Deeper” with rapid/sparse strum, more sassy/ urgent male vocals, and female backing singing which moves between wavering ‘n’ scat-bound.

Shifting onto the second disc, and first up we have the fourteen tracks from 1972’s Striking It Rich!.  This moves from the dizzying swing ‘n’ swoon of “Walkin’ One And Only” with its ramshackle guitar thrum, jaunting violin, male & female vocal blend and mellowly scatting jazz guitar breakdown. Onto Spanish guitar-like shimmer meets gipsy violin swoon of “ I Scare My Self”. In the album's second half, we move from the gentle fumbled bass, steadily strummed ‘n’ darted guitar, and hazed/ wonderingly layered male ‘n’ female vocals of “Canned Music”. With the album resolving short jigging ‘n’ jaunting instrumental “Fujiyama!”.

The second CD is finished off with the thirteen tracks of 1973’s The Last Train To Hicksville…The Home Of Happy Feet. We kick off with “Cowboy’s Boy Dream No 19” featuring clip-clopping percussion, violin swoon & wail,  sassy harmonica touches, and even a bit of yodelling towards the end of the track. Moving on we have “Cheaters Don’t Win” with its bobbing ‘n’ bonding bass, tight shaking beats, skittering almost-acoustic funk guitar, and urgent female back vocals. In its second we have the steady bluegrass shamble meets ye-ha country twang of “The Euphonious Whale” with its shifting male/ female vocals with lyrics regarding the various sounds a selection of animals make. The album plays out with steady shambling beats, dating strum & swooning guitar/ violin,  waving & warbling male/ female vocals of “It’s Not My Time To Go”.

Throughout the three albums featured here, you can hear the band defining, focusing, and lightly tweaking their distinctive blend of genres. I’d say you certainly need to enjoy more quirky flavoured and acoustic set music to fully enjoy what Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks offer- but there is no doubt they had a highly distinctive/ one-off sound.