I'll Never Lay My Guitar Down (Rounder, 1996)
Sleepy LaBeef
Reviewed by George Hauenstein
Backed by a cracker-jack band including guitar-wiz, Duke Levine, Sleepy burns through uptempo numbers "Treat Me Like a Dog," "Hillbilly Guitar Boogie" (a medly of "I Wouldn't Lay My Guitar Down" and "Hillbilly Boogie"), "Columbus Stockade Blues" and "Sick and Tired" with such a fury that it's near impossible to keep your toes and fingers from tapping. His treatment of slower, more bluesy numbers ("You Know I Love You") is equally enjoyable. His cover of Tony Joe White's "Roosevelt and Ira Lee" is one of the best cuts on the record. The album ends on a very special note, with the gospel-tinged, "The Open Door, "written by Sleepy's 15-year old daughter, Jesse Mai.
This is a very enjoyable album. In a business where artists put out to pasture all to early, it's great to hear that Sleep[y is still making it sound as easy and as fresh as ever.
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