Cab Driver: A Salute to the Mills Brothers

AMG Review of Cab Driver: A Salute to the Mills Brothers

Greg Adams
All Music Guide

Hank Thompson's 1972 tribute to the Mills Brothers is an interesting idea: 10 country and western swing versions of songs associated with the popular black vocal group. Thompson's own compositions were often melodically sophisticated, so he has no trouble negotiating these songs that have become, in many cases, pop and jazz standards. The repertoire suggests that Thompson followed the Mills closely since "Cab Driver" was a late, minor hit for the group in 1968. Thompson charted higher with that song than the Mills did, and also enjoyed modest success with his version of "Glow Worm." The Mills Brothers, in a fitting turnaround, recorded country music in the '70s, so Thompson's unusual enterprise makes an odd sort of sense in retrospect.