Product Description

'A Hot Piece Of Grass' is a covers album with a difference from country-bluegrass act Hayseed Dixie. By taking some of rock's classic songs and re-imagining them as country-style hoe-downs, Hayseed Dixie have made a novelty album that is sure to win them many fans. Includes covers of 'War Pigs', 'Whole Lotta Love' and 'Duelling Banjos'.

Track Listing

1. Black Dog
2. War Pigs
3. Holiday
4. Rockin’ In The Free World
5. Whole Lotta Love
6. Runnin’ With The Devil
7. This Fire
8. Roses
9. Blind Beggar Breakdown
10. Kirby Hill
11. Uncle Virgil
12. Mountain Men
13. Marijuana
14. Moonshiners Daughter
15. Wish I Was You
16. Duelling Banjos

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49403 in Music
• Released on: 2005-06-27
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Hayseed Dixie have carved themselves a unique niche in music, playing bluegrass covers of classic rock tunes. Having branched out from the music of AC/DC, from whom they took their initial inspiration (as well as their name), A Hot Piece of Grass finds the hillbilly quartet "reinterpreting" songs by Black Sabbath ("War Pigs"), Led Zeppelin ("Black Dog" and "Whole Lotta Love") and Van Halen ("Runnin’ With the Devil"). Then, to show that they have at least a basic awareness of contemporary music, even in the Tennesse backwoods, they also cover songs by Green Day ("Holiday"), Franz Ferdinand ("This Fire") and even Outkast ("Roses"). But then, as if to prove that they’re not just the twisted redneck cousins of Weird Al, they even manage to fit in a few original songs, mostly played for laughs. The one noteworthy exception is the excellent "Kirby Hill", a darkly playful country anthem that is itself worthy of being covered by other musicians. Irony aside, A Hot Piece of Grass is a showcase for some fine bluegrass music (and album closer "Dueling Banjos" more than proves their abilities). Hayseed Dixie may be about drinking and having fun, but these boys can really play. --Robert Burrow

Customer Reviews

Pretty good
I saw these guys live, not really knowing what I was letting myself in for, as i was dragged along by some mates. I wouldnt say country was my thing at all, but this gig was something special. WE got right to the front, and the covers, esp War Pigs, blew me away. Kirby hill saw me shouting along with it. Listening to the cd again, i was somewhat disapointed, as hearing it live first was such a good experience, but i came around to it. Worth a look

Bluegrass at its best
I absolutely love this album by the brilliant Hayseed Dixie. I think that it is one of the best albums and one of the most different albums I have purchased.

'Black Dog' is an excellent opener, of course played originally by Led Zeppelin. 'War Pigs' by Black Sabbath is another brilliant song, and they are both played at a very high tempo, especially the latter, which makes for incredible musical talent.

Third on this album is Green Day's 'Holiday', which is brilliant, and has a traditional Celtic folk feel about it more than country, really, with the heavy use of violin. However, this does not affect the music one iota and it makes for a brilliant cover.
'Rockin' In The Free World' is another cover, by Neil Young. Not one of my favourites, I admit, but still an impressive cover.
Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love' is track five and I was very impressed when I heard this version. The detail is excellent and the music is very precise.
Van Halen's 'Running With The Devil' is probably my second least enjoyed song on the album- it doesn't have the originality of the other covers in my opinion.
Franz Ferdinand's 'This Fire' is a good cover, and I really enjoy listening to this song. The musical talent is again very impressive.
My highlight though has to be Outkast's 'Roses', not just because it has the most humorous lyrics, but because Hayseed Dixie have the talent to even cover Rap and Hip-Hop songs. That shows absolute briliance.
'Blind Beggar Breakdown' is absolutely fantastic. The most up-tempo track on this album, and the banjo and guitar are both played at breackneck speeds here. Absolutely amazing musical talent.
'Kirby Hill' has interesting lyrics, and has a catchy tune to it. One of my favourites.
'Uncle Virgil' has great lyrics but the tune doesn't quite match. But it still makes for a great song.
'Marijuana' is another brilliant track. Has a slightly laid-back feel to it (pun intended) and the music is fantastic.
'Moonshiner's Daughter' has excellent lyrics and a catchy chorus, and is another highlight on this album.
'Wish I Was You' is the most useless song on this album. The music isn't too bad but the lyrics are dire.
'Dueling Banjos' though, makes up for that in style, with an excellent rendition of the old classic. Brilliant.

Overall this album deserves five stars because of originality, the depth, the songwriting (on the originals), and the sheer boldness of the whole thing. Hayseed Dixie rock!

Much more than novelty value now
Hot on the heels of last year's album "Let There Be Rockgrass" the Hayseed Dixie boys here give us another dose of bluegrass covers and originals to whet our appetite for things slightly off the mainstream.

They continue their love affair with old things British by giving the old yee-haw-hoe-down treatment to two of Led Zep's finest, not to mention one of Black Sabbath's, while at the same time name-dropping a couple of quality English ales as favourites in their beer cooler. "Black Dog" is definitely better than "Whole Lotta Love" - whereas on past albums they have tended to do straight bluegrass versions, on WLL they have attempted to copy the strangulated bluesy instrumental bridge in the song and it sounds distinctly off.

Of the other covers Green Day's "Holiday" is superb, but Van Halen's "Runnin' With The Devil" is messy, again I think because they've tried to copy the original too closely.

If you own the previous albums you will notice, particularly with the cover versions, that the sound has much more body. Although the instrumentation is still strictly acoustic and without percussion, and the sleevenotes insist that no limiters or equalisers have been used in the production, the guitar and bass are more upfront in the mix to give the tracks a beefier sound.

The original songs cover the usual bluegrass backwoods bases (women, drink, old rogues and drugs) and are not bad, without being world-shattering. "Blind Beggar Breakdown" is a traditional-type bluegrass instrumental, "Mountain Man" sounds not a million miles from Heart's "Magic Man" and "Wish I Was You" is a waspish love-hate song with a wee swearie in it.

The album closes with "Dueling Banjos", actually just one banjo against a guitar. You feel they had to do it, but I'm not sure they did it justice.

Whether you like this type of music, and the treatment of old rock standards in this way, is very much a matter of personal taste - I suspect you either love it or hate it. The group plays very well, vocalist Barley Scotch sings very well, and, as I have said, the sound has more polish and dynamism than their previous albums. Running times of the songs has been kept down to three to four minutes, so that the boredom threshold that was a factor before no longer applies. Overall, while it's not perfect, this is a very good album that takes the band beyond the tag of "novelty value only".