Wheelin' and Dealin' is the fourth album by American country band Asleep at the Wheel. Produced by Tommy Allsup at Woodland Sound Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, it was released in July 1976 as the group's second album on Capitol Records. It is the band's first album to feature a second fiddler, Bill Mabry, as well as saxophonist Link Davis Jr. The album was a commercial success, charting on the US Billboard 200 and reaching the top 20 of the Top Country Albums chart. After achieving commercial success for the first time on 1975's Texas Gold, Asleep at the Wheel worked again with producer Tommy Allsup for Capitol, which marked the first time the group had produced two albums for the same label. The record featured a range of new guest musicians, including former Bob Wills guitarist Eldon Shamblin and mandolinist Tiny Moore, and was the last album by the group for several years to feature recurring guests Johnny Gimble and Bucky Meadows. Wheelin' and Dealin' was a critical and commercial success. It was the second of the band's albums to chart in the US, peaking at number 179 on the Billboard 200 and number 19 on the Top CountryAlbums chart. The collection's lead single – a recording of Bobby Troup's " Route 66" – reached number 48 on the Hot Country Songs chart, while its follow-up "Miles and Miles of Texas" broke into the top 40.
Background
For the recording of their fourth album, Asleep at the Wheel again enlisted Tommy Allsup as producer, with whom they had previously worked on 1973's Comin' Right at Ya and 1975's Texas Gold. Recording took place between March and April 1976, and the album was released in July. The album was the band's last to feature Scott Hennige on drums, who had joined in time for the recording of Texas Gold. He was replaced by Chris York in August 1976.
Reception
Commercial
Upon its release, Wheelin' and Dealin' debuted at number 189 on the US Billboard 200, and at number 38 on the Top Country Albums chart. After several weeks on the charts, the album peaked at number 179 on the main albums chart and number 19 on the country chart. Aside from the Billboard charts, Wheelin' and Dealin' reached number 13 on the Cash Box Top Country Albums chart, and peaked at number 20 on the Record World Country Album Chart.
Critical
Media response to Wheelin' and Dealin was generally positive. Cash Box magazine hailed the album as "a strong indicator that people want to get back to good-time music", praising "Route 66" and "Shout Wa Hey" in particular. Radio & Records also highlighted the two tracks, alongside "Cajun Stripper" and "They Raided the Place", in a short review which recognised the record as featuring "Great country swing music, ballads and boogie woogie". Canadian music magazineRPM wrote that the album's "Repertoire is dynamite" and noted that it included "Lots of surprises", suggesting that the release was the band's "tightest LP to date". In a retrospective review of the album for website AllMusic, James Chrispell awarded the album three and a half out of five stars and stated: "Combining old-fashioned swing, western swing, country ballads, Cajun and good ol' rock & roll, Asleep at the Wheel turns a wonderful performance on Wheelin' and Dealin." Robert Christgau awarded the album a B rating, slightly lower than its predecessor Texas Gold, noting that "this LP singles out no really striking nonoriginals".
