Del McCoury has accomplished just about anything you could want a bluegrass hero to do. For years he has taken a polished, professional, and highly entertaining show to just about every sort of audience, and throughout his career, has presented himself, his band, and the beauty of bluegrass music as well as anyone could hope.
Now 84 years old, he continues to record and perform with his Del McCoury Band, and their latest single is just released, a distinctive cover of an Elvis Presley hit from 1974, If You Talk In Your Sleep.
Written by Red West and Johnny Christopher, the slinky cheating song went to #6 for Elvis in ’74, and found a spot on his Promised Land album the following year. Del and the boys speed it up a touch, and change it from a smoldering ballad to a bit of honky tonk grass, with its memorable line, “If you talk in your sleep don’t mention my name.”
It’s classic Del McCoury, supported by a touring band that features his sons Rob McCoury on banjo and Ronnie McCoury on mandolin, with Jason Carter on fiddle and Alan Bartram on bass.
Check it out. It’s a good’n.
Del McCoury’s cut of If You Talk In Your Sleep is available now from popular download and streaming services online.
