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Bob Whiting has been playing musical instruments since he was 9 when he played trumpet in his school band. Although he was brought up listening to Country music he didn’t start singing professionally until the early 1990s he formed a duo with an old friend singing 60s and R&R in social clubs and holiday camps in East Anglia. 
In recent years, he has returned to his country roots and has played and sung with many well known country singers and was, at one time, a member of the  spectacular ‘Nashville Nights And Dixie Days’ country show which toured the UK for many years. He formed two duos, Red Rock Country with Jim Edmunds and, in 2010, Country Mile with Cheryl Halliwell.  Cheryl has always loved to sing, occasionally singing with her uncle Brian Mann’s country band since she was just 4 years old. Country Mile were booked at Ray & Dave’s CMC for 4th July but it transpired that Cheryl was unable to make the gig so instead Bob came along as a solo. I have seen Country Mile a couple of times and enjoy their great harmonies so I was disappointed not to see Cheryl but Bob gave us an outstanding evening of Country music and I know nobody went home disappointed.
Bob opened the evening with the first of three George Strait songs, All My Ex’s Live in Texas followed by Ernest Tubb’s 1965 country anthem Waltz Across Texas. This was followed by Alan Jackson’s Livin’ On Love then The Bellamy Brothers’ Let Your Love Flow. Everyone loves a barn dance and Bob gave us two in a row, first it was a medley of three old favourites, Little Old Wine Drinker Me, Welcome Home and Walk Right Back. These were followed by Garth Brooks’ Two Of A Kind followed by The Eagles’ Peaceful Easy Feeling
Next we heard another medley of 50s favourites, Don Gibson’s Oh Lonesome Me, Heartaches By The Number and Sea Of Heartbreak.  Then we heard Faron Young’s It’s Four In The Morning which is a nice waltz, the second of the set. We don’t seem to get so many waltzes in clubs these days. Bob finished the set with, in my view, one of the best country ballads which has always been a great smoocher, Keith Whitley’s Don’t Close Your Eyes.  Released in March 1988 the song solidified Keith Whitley’s status as a vocal powerhouse before his tragic passing in 1989 when he was just 33.
Set 2 opened with a duet that would have suited Country Mile but Bob sung Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers’ Islands In the Stream on his own and it sounded fine. Bob has a warm personality and quickly made friends with the audience.  He particularly likes Eagles songs, as do I, so next we had another one Lyin’ Eyes with a third to come later.  Asleep at the Wheel’s Lay Down Sally was followed by Emmylou Harris’ interpretation of Chuck Berry’s (You Never Can Tell) C’est La Vie followed by Mel McDaniel’s Louisiana Saturday Night. The song was originally recorded by Don Williams but it was Mel McDaniels that turned it into a high-energy country music anthem in 1981. When I first discovered British country music ten years later it was still a song that everyone was singing.
I have always been a big fan of Asleep At The Wheel, a band that has spent over 50 years keeping the vibrant sound of Western Swing alive and kickin’ fronted by Ray Benson and Lucky Oceans. Miles And Miles Of Texas is very typical of their style, a great western swinger and it was good to hear a second one from them in this set. A few more from the second set included Don Gibson’s Woman Sensuous Woman, Charley Pride’s I Don’t Know Why I Love You But I Do, John Denver’s Take Me Home, Country Roads and one of my all time favourite country singers, Buck Owens. Truck Driving Man dates back to 1954.  Buck Owens played guitar and provided harmony vocals for Terry Fell who originally recorded it. It has been recorded by many people over the years  including Willie Nelson and Glen Campbell but Buck Owens recorded his own definitive version in 1965, turning it into a cornerstone of the Bakersfield sound.
After Charlie Rich’s The Most Beautiful Girl In The World we heard my favourite George Strait song Amarillo By Morning with Alan Jackson’s Mercury Blues bringing the set to a close. The song was first recorded as a blues song, Mercury Boogie in 1948 but Alan Jackson’s high energy revival in 1993 took the song to #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
Throughout the evening Bob gave us a good balance between fast and slower songs opening the third set with Willie Nelson’s iconic Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain, a song that became Willie Nelson’s first number-one hit as a singer. This was followed by the third song of the evening from The Eagles with Take It Easy.  After another from George Strait with I Just Want to Dance with You it was time for a little rock ‘n’ roll with Bill Haley And The Comets’ See You Later Alligator.
Green Door is probably best remembered by Shaky in 1981, or even Frankie Vaughan but Bob told us it started life as a country song recorded by Jim Lowe in 1956 with a more relaxed vocal delivery. Next we heard Lucky Lips which remains popular in line dance clubs. I know Cliff Richard recorded it in 1963 but in 2019 it achieved widespread popularity in the global line dancing community with a cover by Irish showband The Conquerors. The song has historical roots however stretching back to 1956 when it was first recorded by blues singer Ruth Brown.
After Don Williams’ (Turn Out the Light And) Love Me Tonight, it was time to go way back in time with Hey, Good Lookin’, a landmark 1951 country and honky-tonk song written and recorded by legendary singer-songwriter Hank Williams and his touring bands The Drifting Cowboys. Next a song I really like The Traveling Wilburys’s End Of The Line; the song features a celebrated vocal trade-off between George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison, delivering an uplifting message about living life on your own terms. A song we here in clubs far too infrequently
As we drew towards the end of the evening Bob sung Guy Mitchell’s Singing The Blues, Rodney Crowell’s Walk The Line Revisited, Steve Earle’s The Galway Girl and then Stop the World (and Let Me Off) which was originally recorded by Carl Belew in 1957, I don’t know his version but it was quickly covered by Patsy Cline.
I know everyone had a good evening with all classic country which brought warm and well deserved applause and shouts of “more”, Bob duly obliged with one of George Jones’ best songs He Stopped Loving Her Today, a great smoocher that had the dance floor packed and brought a good end to a very enjoyable evening. Most of the clubs I go to are line dance clubs and I do like modern country music but I love the old stuff too and probably more so it was nice to visit a club where everything was ‘real’ country from start to finish.
Click below to see my phone video.