Sleepy Eyed John CD

Ole Rasmussen
Sleepy Eyed John CD

Ole Rasmussen & his Nebraska Cornhuskers were one of the most popular Western Swing bands of the late 1940s and early '50s.
A California-based group that eschewed the usual ultra-smooth ensembles associated with West Coast bands for an earthier, but still sophisticated sound that owed more to Bob Wills than it did to Spade Cooley or Tex Williams.
The Cornhuskers were an accessible and infectious band that played for the people, not for other musicians.
Rasmussen was no musician himself, but an astute bandleader who built one of the finest bands around.
It featured the mellow vocals of the Tommy Duncan-inspired Teddy Wilds, and later the Ernest Tubb-influenced Virgil Lee, and such excellent musicians as fiddlers Tex Atchison and Rocky Stone, steel guitarist Billy Tonnesen and guitarist Earl Finley.
All 28 sides from the band's remarkably consistent two year stint at Capitol Records from 1950 to 1952 are gathered here, including classics like Sleepy-Eyed John, Rockaway, C Jam Blues and others.