Sold Date: October 26, 2014
Start Date: April 22, 2014
Final Price: $19.99 $13.00 (USD)
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Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks 3 lp lot S/T, Striking It Rich, Where's The Money   Covers - Vg+   LPs - Ex
Early life[]

Hicks' father, Ivan L. Hicks (married to the former Evelyn Kehl), was a career military man. At age five, an only child, Hicks moved with his family to , eventually settling north of San Francisco in , where he was a drummer in grade school and played the snare drum in his school marching band.

At 14, he was performing with area dance bands. While in high school, he had a rotating spot on Time Out for Teens, a daily 15-minute local radio program, and he went on to study broadcasting at San Francisco State College during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Taking up the guitar in 1959, he became part of the San Francisco folk music scene, performing at local coffeehouses. Hicks joined the  band  in 1965 as .

In 1968, Hicks formed Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks with violinist . LaFlamme was quickly replaced by jazz violinist "Symphony" . Vocalists Sherry Snow and Christine Gancher, guitarist Jon Weber, and bassist Jaime Leopold filled out the band, unusual in having no drummer. This line-up was signed to  and in 1969 issued the album Original Recordings, produced by Bob Johnston. The first Hot Licks line-up lasted until 1971 and then disintegrated.

When Hicks reformed the band, Page and Leopold remained, and vocalists Naomi Ruth Eisenberg and Maryann Price joined, followed later by guitarist John Girton. This group recorded three albums, culminating in 1973's Last Train to Hicksville (on which the group first added a drummer). After existing as a critical success only, this last album gained the group wider acclaim, as evidenced by Hicks' appearance on the cover of . Thus, it was a great surprise to many when he chose that moment to disband the Hot Licks. Asked why in 1974, he said:

"I didn't want to be a  anymore. It was a load and a load I didn't want. I'm basically a loner... I like singing and stuff, but I didn't necessarily want to be a bandleader. The thing had turned into a collective sort of thing -- democracy, vote on this, do that. I conceived the thing. They wouldn't be there if it wasn't for me. My role as leader started diminishing, but it was my fault because I let it happen; I cared less as the thing went on."

As time passed, this particular Hot Licks band became Hicks' "classic" band, in part due to Page's passionate fiddling, combining swing and classical training, as well as Price's sultry jazz vocals in the style of , reflecting her pre-Hicks performing experience.This particular group reunited for a 1991 taping of an hour-long  television broadcast in the 1992 season.

The 1992 reunion program also featured Hicks' new group, , a combination of folk, swing, jazz and country styles. The Acoustic Warriors band consisted of Dan Hicks, Brian Godchaux on violin and mandolin, Paul "Pazzo" Mehling (founder of the Hot Club of San Francisco) on guitar and Richard Saunders on bass.

In 1993 the Acoustic Warriors continued to perform locally around San Francisco and on the road, but this edition placed Paul Robinson on , Nils Molin or Alex Baum on , Stevie Blacke on  and Josh Riskin on .

Hicks recorded one CD with the Acoustic Warriors. "Shootin' Straight" was released by  in 1996. Recorded live at McCabe's in Santa Monica, it featured  on accordion/piano, Stevie Blacke on mandolin/violin, Paul Robinson on guitar, Alex Baum on bass and Bob Scott on drums.