In Memoriam: Dan Hicks

Above: I Scare Myself
PS: Stick with it until the violin solo
purchase [ Striking It Rich ]

As Andy La Ray Gun said, the stage is (sadly for us down here/ happy for them up there) getting pretty crowded, but I guess they would find a place on that stage for Dan Hicks (d. Feb 6, 2016).

Hicks hit the music scene as far back as the late 50s, worked his way though the 60s and around the 70s gained some recognition.

Striking It Rich is my favorite of his albums (probably because I listened to it the most). It includes a number of tunes that epitomize the man's style and ought to get you to at least tap your foot to the beat. Several of the songs have stuck with me over the 30 or more years:
<I Scare Myself>, <Canned Music> - all essentially of the same Dan Hicks style - a little country,a little jazz, a little folk and ... a little quirky, with an element of humour - of sorts. As in <O'Reilly At the Bar>:

Wasn't that beer there one of mine
Stealin' my beer is a sin
Stealin' my drink has caused me to think
Think about the rat that you are
Whoever you are, you pushed me too far
Now I'm gonna smash your face

Tom Waits Covers: The Piano Has Been Drinking

Dan Hicks and The Hot Licks: The Piano Has Been Drinking

[purchase]

Dan Hicks' delightfully weary "cowboy jazz" take on this old Tom Waits tune lurches around like its unreliable narrator's attention span: it's a different bar, of a different type, than the woozy original - better populated, too - but it still spins like a wobbling top in its own way. It's also the cover which finally turned me on to the Tom Waits songbook in its entirety in the first place, way back at the turn of the century, despite a few others which had already come my way with their own power and potency, so I'm getting this one out of the way today, as our week begins.

Those unfamiliar with Dan Hicks should know he's a musician's musician, a critical success who never sold much in the way of albums even though he appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone way back in - gulp - the year I was born. Beat The Heat, his 2000 comeback album as bandleader of the Hot Licks, features this and numerous other gleefully sly, silly tunes, and special guest spots from Bette Midler, Elvis Costello, Rickie Lee Jones, Tom Waits himself, and other well-known luminaries who came out of the woodwork for Hicks when he called, proving his continued relevance after a few decades piddling around off the charts entirely as an ensemble member and solo artist.