Music of the Day #32 - Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks: Woe The Luck

Recently I went on a brief musical tour through Minnesota, North Dakota and St. Louis (here's a photo). Driving through St. Louis, I found a great local radio station that was airing a good mix of blues and (old) R'n'B. One evening, just as I was crossing the Mississippi river and driving into Illinois, the station aired a song that surprised me in a wonderful way. The song, obviously an older recording, struck a good balance between being catchy and folky while at the same time containing a good portion of out-of-genre elements (the vocal harmonies, abrupt change of key, etc.) to keep you slightly dazzled and astonished. I found the song truly refreshing and fortunately I was able to catch the artist's name: Dan Hicks. I read a little bit about him. Here are a few descriptive line from allmusic.com: Throughout his decades-long career, Dan Hicks stood as one of contemporary music's true eccentrics. While steeped in folk, his acoustic sound knew few musical boundaries, drawing on country, call-and-response vocals, jazz phrasing, and no small amount of humor to create a distinctive, albeit sporadic, body of work that earned him a devoted cult following.

The song is called Woe, The Luck and it was released on the 1972 album Striking It Rich by Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks. You can listen to the song below. I hope you enjoy it.