Chris Sprague’s Hammer Down celebrates one of country music’s most special genres, trucking music, and pays tribute to the everyday concerns of hard-working people, their heartbreaks, their joys, while always traveling down the long, lonesome highway.
Hammer Down is an eclectic, spirited fourteen song mix, winding through favorite trucking hits such as Dave Dudley’s, “There Ain’t No Easy Runs,” and Johnny Paycheck’s, “The Lovin’ Machine,” lesser known classics like Bobby Braddock’s “Gear Bustin’ Sort of a Feller,” and “Nitro Express,” by Red Simpson, even a nifty Bakersfield-style cover of Johnny Horton’s rockabilly classic, “I’m Coming Home, and a self-penned honky tonk ballad, “It’s Been a Lonely Stretch of Road.”
Sprague opens the album with a sly rewrite of Chuck Berry’s “Almost Grown,” reinvented as the trucking anthem, “Almost Home.” Listen to the spooky, “Diesel Smoke, Dangerous Curves,” popularized by Red Simpson, and you feel as if you’re on the road with a weary trucker, praying you’ll stay awake and survive.
Among Hammer Down’s finest songs are two of Chris Sprague’s own. “Diesel Smoke ‘n’ Cigarettes” features the album’s sweetest melody, perfectly twangy guitar fills and some lovely steel guitar. Sprague’s vocals stand out as particularly heartfelt. “Peterbilt My Home” is also impossibly catchy, with entertaining, memorable lyrics and hard-driving lead guitar.
Just before we leave the road, Sprague broadcasts a message on his CB, via the funny, good-natured “The White Knight.”
Although best known for his fabulous drumming and singing, Chris Sprague is a talented multi-instrumentalist, playing drums, bass and guitar on Hammer Down, as well as skillfully manning the boards for the album’s superb production. A few other musicians fill out the tracks, including exceptional lead guitarist, Dave Biller, great pedal steel guitar throughout the LP by Chas Smith, and special guest Deke Dickerson, who plays lead guitar on “I’m Coming Home.” Throughout Hammer Down, the musicianship is authentic and accomplished.
Chris Sprague has been a working musician for many years, as one half of the always popular Sprague Brothers, as drummer for Deke Dickerson and the Ecco-Fonics, and with his own band, the 18 Wheelers. Along with brother, Frank Lee Sprague, Chris has appeared on CBS nationwide television and National Public Radio, and has performed live around the world, including several successful tours of Japan.
So put the hammer down and enjoy this landmark LP by Chris Sprague! That’s a big 10-4 good buddy.
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