SURFDOG RECORDS PAYS TRIBUTE TO DAN HICKS
GREATEST LICKS – I FEEL LIKE SINGIN'
SET FOR RELEASE ON FEBRUARY 24, 2017
"Dan Hicks is fly, sly, wily and dry!" – TOM WAITS
(Encinitas, CA – January 19, 2017) "Dan Hicks is an American Treasure," so says Elvis Costello and perhaps half of the music world who worshiped Dan and his timeless tunes. Dan Hicks created a pioneering blend of hipster jazz, gypsy swing and country that still resonates as strongly today as it did when Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks came roaring onto the scene with their unique, genre-bending sound in the late '60s -- when rock was getting louder, Dan threw it back to a simpler time.
As we mark the first anniversary of his passing (February 6th) Surfdog Records is paying tribute to the legend of Dan Hicks with a compilation album in celebration of his life and legacy. Greatest Licks – I Feel Like Singin' is set for vinyl & CD release, as well as digital, on February 24, 2017 with pre-orders available now.
Since the beginning, Hicks deftly blended elements of multiple American musical art forms to create a sound that the New York Times calls "defiantly unfashionable, proudly eccentric & foot-tappingly catchy." His lyrics range from the simply sublime to the sublimely ridiculous, all presented with his uniquely skewed and inscrutable touch. Songs like "How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away?," as described again by the Times, "display his dry and often absurd wit, as did his gently self-mocking stage presence." But Hicks had his serious side as well; "I Scare Myself", described as "a longtime staple of his repertoire, was a brooding, hypnotic ballad about being afraid to love." Hicks' irresistible sense of rhythm, hip lyrical styling, laid back vocalizing, and infamous on-stage wit lasted well through his final recordings on Surfdog.
Dan was revered by his musical peers, never following the status quo. As friend & famed producer Tommy LiPuma put it, "Dan was short on bullshit, and long on talent." Featuring 11 classic Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks songs (the CD & digital versions contain a 12th bonus track), this amazing anthology from one of music's true originals, showcases Hicks' musical genius and encapsulates his unparalleled career.
"On my dying day I will explain to the world how lucky they have been to be alive the same time as me." – Dan Hicks, 2013
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