Speaking about the partnership, Benson outlined that "I'm not giving any label ownership of this record ... Our last experience with DreamWorks [Ride with Bob: A Tribute to Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys] was a disaster. I provided them with a lasting, genuine work of art ... and all they did was botch the promotion and drop us, even though we sold a quarter-million records and won three Grammys." Dave Roy, head of Relentless Nashville, commented that "There was a real comfort level" when he met Benson, noting that he signed the band because "[Although] they get little radio play, [they] continue to tour and win Grammys year after year, and they're fan favorites." Upon its announcement, the title The Very Best of Asleep at the Wheel initially caused confusion with audiences and commentators, who believed it to be merely a compilation of previously released recordings. Benson admitted that he "didn't realize when [announcing the album] that it would cause confusion", but added that "This is my attempt ... to set the record straight. This is my chance to say, 'This is really how I like to do the songs.'" The frontman suggested that it was easy to choose which songs to record, stating that "that's what this album is, the evolution of all these arrangements over the years ... They were easy to identify as the songs we needed to do." Reception Media response to The Very Best of Asleep at the Wheel was generally positive. In a four-star review for AllMusic, Charlotte Dillon called the album "an excellent offering that brings together many old fan favorites," adding that "The end result was worth the redoing, not that anything was wrong with the originals." Craig Havighurst of The Tennessean praised the album as "a classic collection of songs, well recorded, from one of America's best party bands," highlighting the recordings of "Get Your Kicks on Route 66", "House of Blue Lights" and "Miles and Miles of Texas" in particular. Country Standard Time writer Henry Koretzky claimed that the release "shows that Benson and company are still the very best at bringing the Texas Playboys sound to the world of contemporary country music." Koretzky also called the album "as good an opportunity as any to appreciate how effortlessly the band has always shifted from pure honky tonk country ... to the uptown swing of Louis Jordan". Accolades The Very