Dan Hicks (singer) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dan Hicks
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Hicks at the Santa Fe Brewing Co., June 28, 2009
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Daniel Ivan Hicks |
| Born | December 9, 1941 Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Died | February 6, 2016 (aged 74) Mill Valley, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar, drums |
| Years active | 1965–2016 |
| Associated acts | Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, The Charlatans, The Acoustic Warriors |
Daniel Ivan Hicks (December 9, 1941 – February 6, 2016) was an American singer and songwriter. He was known for his unique music style. It mixed different types of music like folk, jazz, country, swing, bluegrass, and pop.
Dan Hicks led a band called "Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks." He was famous for songs such as "I Scare Myself" and "Canned Music." His songs often had a lot of humor. For example, one of his song titles was "How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away?" His album Live at Davies (2013) was a highlight of his more than forty-year music career.
A music critic named David Smay once said that Dan Hicks played music that was like the "swing" sound from the 1920s to the 1940s. This sound was part of many popular music styles back then. Artists like Django Reinhardt and the Mills Brothers also played music with this "swing" feeling.
Contents
Early Life and Music Beginnings
Dan Hicks was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on December 9, 1941. His father was in the United States Air Force. When Dan was five, his family moved to California. They lived in a few different towns before settling in Santa Rosa.
In Santa Rosa, Dan started playing the drums in grade school. He was even in his school's marching band. By the time he was 14, he was performing with local dance bands. In high school, he had a regular spot on a local radio show called Time Out for Teens.
Dan started playing the guitar in 1959. He became part of the American folk music revival while he was in college. He often took breaks from his studies to perform across the United States. He was very inspired by the Jim Kweskin Jug Band. He even became friends with some of its members, like Maria Muldaur.
In 1965, Dan joined a San Francisco psychedelic rock band called The Charlatans. He played the drums for them. He performed with them at the famous Red Dog Saloon in 1965. Later, he switched to playing rhythm guitar and sang his own songs with the band before leaving in 1968.
Leading His Own Bands
In 1967, Dan Hicks started his own band, Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks. He wanted to play new songs that showed his love for acoustic, older styles of popular music. At first, the band opened for The Charlatans. Other band members were surprised to see Dan performing with a different group.
Over time, the band's members changed. Key members included violinists David LaFlamme and "Symphony" Sid Page, vocalists Sherry Snow and Christine Gancher, guitarist Jon Weber, and bassist Jaime Leopold. This early group did not have a drummer. They released their first album, Original Recordings, in 1969.
Later, the band reformed with Sid Page and Jaime Leopold, plus new vocalists Naomi Ruth Eisenberg and Maryann Price. Guitarist John Girton and drummer Bob Scott also joined. This group recorded three albums. Their 1973 album, Last Train to Hicksville, became very popular. It reached #67 on the Billboard album chart. During this time, the band played at Carnegie Hall and appeared on TV shows like The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
Even with this success, Dan Hicks decided to break up the band at the end of 1973. He later said it was "getting old" and the band members were "less compatible as friends."
For the next ten years, Dan didn't record much new music. He lived in Mill Valley, California. In 1978, he released his first solo album, It Happened One Bite.
In 1991, the classic Hot Licks lineup reunited for a show on Austin City Limits. This show also featured Dan's new group, The Acoustic Warriors. This group played a mix of folk, swing, jazz, and country music. They released one CD called Shootin' Straight in 1996.
Starting in 2000, Dan Hicks began releasing new albums with a new version of the Hot Licks. These albums, like Beatin’ the Heat, featured famous guest artists such as Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, and Bette Midler. These albums brought Dan Hicks and The Hot Licks back into the spotlight. They released several more albums, including Selected Shorts (2004) with Jimmy Buffett and Willie Nelson, and Live at Davies (2013).
Dan Hicks also appeared in some films. He was seen performing in Class Action (1991). He also appeared in documentaries like Revolution (1968).
Musical Style
Billboard magazine described Dan Hicks as a unique artist. His music combined elements of country, folk, jazz, and comedy. Dan Hicks himself called his music "folk swing."
Personal Life
Dan Hicks married Clare "CT" Wasserman in February 1997. He was diagnosed with throat and liver cancer in 2014. Dan Hicks passed away from cancer at his home in Mill Valley on February 6, 2016, at the age of 74.
His book about his life, called I Scare Myself, was published after he passed away in 2017.
Discography
- Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks (aka Original Recordings) (1969)
- Where's The Money? (1971)
- Striking It Rich (1972)
- Last Train to Hicksville (1973)
- It Happened One Bite (1978)
- Shootin' Straight (1994)
- The Amazing Charlatans (1996)
- Return to Hicksville (1997)
- Early Muses (1998)
- Beatin' The Heat (2000)
- The Most of Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks (2001)
- Alive and Lickin' (2001)
- Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks – With an All-Star Cast of Friends (2003)
- Selected Shorts (2004)
- Tangled Tales (2009)
- Crazy for Christmas (2010)
- Live at Davies (2013)
- Greatest Licks - I Feel Like Singin' (2017)
