Take It Away the Leon Way!

& His Cimmaron Boys.Contains 27 tracks.Personnel: Leon McAuliffe (vocals); Jim Hall (vocals).Liner Note Author: Paul Pelletier.Arranger: Leon McAuliffe.This compilation contains McAuliffe's finest records of the 1950s. His solo work lacked originality, true, but the Cimarron Boys were an excellent band who played tight and sparkly, with excellent engineering at the sessions. McAuliffe played down-home hillbilly stompers like "Boil 'Em Cabbage Down," but his other specialty was smooth big band jazz, and it can be argued that McAuliffe came closer to that realm of popular music than any other Western swing band. This disc has some of both, and plenty in between. It also happens to be the only available collection of McAuliffe's solo work on compact disc. ~ Jim Smith