The Blasters: C or D?

I saw the band's original (I think?) lineup in 2002, in LA, and they kicked ass.

I saw the band's current lineup several weeks ago, and they kicked ass

Yes indeed, I've seen them twice in the last couple years, and they deliver the goods.

sorry to disappear, thanks for the guidance, pixel-friends

What everyone else said... go go go!

yeah so in my experience, Phil is exactly like the close-up portrait (could be by the bold urban realist painter George Bellows)on the cover of the Blasters' s/t debut: kind of a rugged moonscape, except heated up, a little flushed, but not too, just a workin' man, with a ripplin' range of big white teeth in the spotlight, eyes closed, into it---live, he's also bobbing around, eyes still closed or tending to be, always seemed, in sound & visual, like something like an orbiting human jukebox of hot songs from several genres, a songster, as they used to say, making his moeny on the road in the great tradition---"Just think of your records as callin' cards, son," the suits started saying way back---so Al Jolson, one of the first if not the first record star, quit recording for a while---reminds me, Will Friedwald, who specializes in writing about American singers, once mentioned in passing,"It was a given in his heyday that Johnnie Ray was a missing link between Jolson and Elvis"---hadn't thought of those two in the same chain, but listened to some Jolson (he came back to recording, got past "Mammy"), and yeah.
Thinking of Dave more in the line with Jimmie Rodgers, who was country as in Asheville-before-Nashville: music halls, incl. minstrel at first---he sang or at least posed in blackface, later recorded with Louis Armstrong, frequently had the jazz-blues-country-Tin-Pan-Alley thing going on, vaudeville-wise, and Phil can seem like rockin' vaudeville, and of course there's Rodgers' "Never No Mo' Blues," on The Blasters, and another version on a comp I can't locate at the moment, but even more made me wonder about what if JR lived on into the 50s, the way he adapted to trends, though the take I'm thinking of wasn't exactly rockabilly in the usual sense (reminding myself now that Elvis did rework "Blue Moon of Kentucky").
Another one of the more obvious examples would be the cover of "Old Man of the Mountain," the Cab Calloway song, with Sun Ra and His Arkestra rolling along in the moonlight, no prob---on Phil's amazing Un "Sung" Stories. But really all the time, yeah go see 'em.

"Thinking of (PHIL) more in the line with Jimmie Rodgers," I meant, thinking of Phil all the way through this, sorry!

In Dave news, forgot to mention this (here---posts are from TS: Lone Justice or Cruzados or Drivin' & Cryin' or Green On Red or Del Fuegos or Jason & The Scorchers or Long Ryders or Bodeans?

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91EFdBbX9lL._SL1400_.jpg

press sheet:DOWNEY TO LUBBOCK was born by immaculate inspiration from live shows Grammy winner Dave Alvin and Grammy nominee Jimmie Dale Gilmore performed together in 2017. Just the two of them were swapping songs and cutting up, each with a guitar and a heart full of soul, musicians who ve been on the road their entire adult lives. The result is an album of blues, rock and folk inspired tunes that both of their fans will enjoy. The album contains 12 songs - 10 covers and two originals - and is destined to be a classic Americana album from two Americana legends. (on Yep Roc)

― dow, Wednesday, February 28, 2018 6:33 PM (one year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

three months pass...
More blues than I expected, more than I've heard from Jimmie Dale for sure, but his voice and feel fit just fine---"I'm old Flatlander from the high plains," he sez in title-track opener, which is redundant--who would listen to this album without knowing the bio basics? Pretty sure most all their fans are old fans--but still it's a good capsule description of his sound and sensibility. Dig the way they find musical payoffs in the steady march through "You don't believe I love you look at the fool I been you don't believe I love you look at the hole I'm in" and keep going "back to my same ol' used to be," and now sounding pretty proud of himself/sassy with the wry--it is a jug band blues after all: "Stealin' Stealin" by Memphis Jug Band's Wiil Shade.
Even more oops factor in the even ever-more-timely "Get Together" (candidly precarious hopefulness of the verses coming through more clearly to me than on the Youngbloods' verses, so chorus more urgent and troubled too), and "Deportee--Plane Wreck At Los Gatos." Best Dave solos prob on "KC Moan," about which he quotes Jimmie Dale,"There is a time for more Blue Cheer and less Blue Cheer, and this is a time for more." Also good outward bound picking on "Walk On." Only a couple of geezer-snoozers, I think.
Whole thing's here:
https://davealvin.bandcamp.com/album/downey-to-lubbock

― dow, Wednesday, June 13, 2018 3:11 PM (nine months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Youngbloods' "version," I meant, not "verses."(The song was written by Chet Powers AKA Dino Valente, later of Quicksilver Messenger Service.)

― dow, Wednesday, June 13, 2018 3:17 PM (nine months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Phil Alvin's Un "Sung Stories" (half of which features Sun Ra's Arkestra as his backing band) is now streaming on Spotify. It was reissued on CD last year, too.

I'm really curious abt that Jimmie Dale/Dave record...I saw Alvin a few weeks back with the Flesh Eaters and man, he can be a completely unhinged soloist in the right setting. And loud as fuck as well.

Yeah, over on the Flesh Eaters thread he was recently tagged as "the Tom Verlaine of honky tonk"---he's talked about getting schooled by having to learn all those Billy Zoom parts---but his Flesh Eaters playing can take it even further. Unperson, thanks for the Phil reissue and Spotify news! The LP, also wit Dirty Dozen Brass Band and some tracks that are pretty much all Phil, was a fave from first release---bet it'll be back on vinyl one of these days. Country Fair 2000, from the mid-90s, was uneven, but I liked it too.
Also from TS: Long Justice or Cruzados etc.:
Oh yeah, and Common Ground: Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin Play and Sing the Songs of Big Bill Broonzy turns out to be surprisingly lively-- not because of Phil's health probs, but mine: I was bored dead by a box of BBB several years ago. Phil's in fine voice, Dave sings okay, and of course plays his ass off, but only to enhance the material, as well he might. Gene Taylor tickles the ivories, and---although guests like LJ's Don Heffington also keep the rhythm section reet---can't help wishing they'd gotten Bazz and Bateman (who have often been live Blasters with Phil) back in there. But making it a full-fledged Blasters album---suggested title: Broonzy--- might bring back a lot of bad blood, which even seemed like it might bubble up in a couple moments of P&D's recent and v. brotherly Fresh Air interview. Common Ground AKA Truce, eh? I'll take it.

― dow, Friday, 22 August 2014

Common Ground: Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin Play and Sing the Songs of Big Bill Broonzy

i've seen phil and dave play this stuff live twice this year. full-band electric set at sxsw was loose and fun if not great. mostly what i remember, from my perch pretty close to the stage, was that phil looked 90 years old but sounded 30 years old. that voice of his is protected by the good lord. in los angeles a couple weeks ago, at one of gary calamar's mimosa music brunches in north hollywood, they played acoustic, just the two of them, and it was fantastic. i'm pretty sure it was the first time i've ever seen dave play an acoustic live (mostly a national steel) -- he's good at it, needless to say -- and certainly the first time i've seen either of them before noon. dave sang more than i expected (and more than i probably would've liked) but the years have been kind to his voice, too. there's more voice there than there used to be. the songs worked great in that setting. also, not surprisingly, the alvins have no idea what mimosas are.

― fact checking cuz, Friday, 22 August 2014
As expected, Phil Alvin & Dave Alvin's Lost Time sports Phil's soulful stylish vocals--also his poppin' blues harp, sounds like his crisp rhythm guitar too---and Dave's dynamic leads, but seems like some of the songs, or at least the lyrics, often spotlit, are not that engaging. Do like the bit where Rosa Parks tells the Montgomery judge to have a seat on the back of the bus, "Sit down baby," and take a load off, gonna be ridin' a while, it seems, goes with Dave's current sly, warm, actually smoothed-out baritone, like he's finally found the right cough syrup. Xgau for one thinks he's also finally found his voice, but I get tired of it here and on Eleven Eleven, despite its good songs (some people, incl. xgau,think it's his best solo album, and maybe I'm in the minority).
Also a bit frustrated by the way an intriguing, uptempo (what I think of as a bluesy bluegrass cadence) variant of "House of The Rising Sun" gradually looses emotional impact via Dave's lead vocal. Still, it's worth checking out (hope somebody else, like Phil, takes a shot at this approach.)
Phil does sing lead on most tracks, and they sing well together' maybe the xpost previous reunion, Common Ground was more consistently involving because they were so excited finally to be getting though another album without killing each other.
― dow, Wednesday, 21 October 2015

Just heard Gene Taylor has passed away

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q-izDANZ5M

RIP

The story on Facebook from LA writer Chris Morris behind Gene Taylor's death is terrible. He was living in Austin & had been without water or power for 5 days. A family member says it may have been a heart attack brought on by hypothermia

Oh man, that's fucking horrible

Sure is. I know a bunch of older people, writers and musicians, who have been going through a lot out there (and these are just the ones who have been in touch---hope the others' silence has only been due to power cuts...)

One good thing, though: 2020 was a year of Dave----as I said on my Nashville Scene ballot:

Dave Alvin in 2020:

From an Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased Recordings (7-3-20, Yep Roc)"

This 13 song collection features studio performances that I've recorded over the years for my own albums or for tribute albums but mainly they're just things I did for the pure kicks of playing music I love with musicians I love and admire.

The songs range from some originals to interpretations of compositions by dear friends like Peter David Case, Chris Smither and the late Bill Morrissey to tunes written by heroes like Willie Dixon, Bob Dylan, Lil Hardin Armstrong, Earl Hooker and Marty Robbins. The music ranges from acoustic blues and ballads to electric barroom blues, folk/rock and even a little country/rock.

There are contributions from dearly departed comrades like Chris Gaffney, Amy Farris and Bobby Lloyd Hicks as well as from old Blasters pals like Gene Taylor along with various members of The Guilty Men/Women/Ones plus help from brilliant accompanists like Greg Leisz, Cindy Cashdollar, Bob Glaub, Don Heffington, Danny Ott, Skip Edwards, Rick Shea, Chris G Miller, Wyman Reese, Dale Spalding and David J. Carpenter.

That suave Dylan-as-baritone thing seems to put too much weight on the first two tracks, "Link of Chain"(good words come through when the voice doesn't pull the links too much), and the arrangement of "Highway 61" seems wasted, but usually, when he's singing more like on early solo LPs, voice serves the songs well enough--faves are the ones where "Had a fight with the mother of my kids, I can get along with anybody what if I did, gonna go back where me and my friends used to hang around, see what's shakin' while the leaves turn brown, I'm on my way downtown." Even got maybe old buddies appearing for harmonies, steel guitar, whole thing makes me think these guys are Dead/New Riders fans--not 'heads, they gotta work, but it's not that far from downwardly mobile, wised-up but still a California love song, so yeah there's sunshine, "Inside" and out.

Also some ace instrumentals, "(Variations on Earl Hooker's Guitar Rhumba," "Perdido Street Blues, " and "Krazy and Ignatz." Even when the Dylany voice comes back, on "Peace," to an extent "Man Walks Among Us," the music has no prob, ditto on the fast shuffle finale, "Beautiful City Across The River."

So, a few I could live without, but overall seems as strong as any of his regular releases.

https://davealvin.bandcamp.com/album/from-an-old-guitar-rare-and-unreleased-recordings

Another recently posted set, an EP, Live In Austin, is Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin captured live in Austin, Texas March 14, 2014 in an intimate performance of songs written by Big Bill Broonzy, accompanied by Lisa Pankratz on drums and Brad Fordham on bass. More off-the-cuff than their Broozy-centric studio full-length, described upthread: this is non-deep but crisp---fave is inspired, though: "How You Want It Done," making me think of Mississippi hill country blues in relation to Appalachia, also a bit like the version of Jimmie Rodgers' "Never No More Blues" on a Blasters comp I hope I've still got.

https://davealvin.bandcamp.com/album/live-from-austin-dave-alvin-phil-alvini

In 2012 Yep Roc Records celebrated its 15th Anniversary with a festival called YR15. Over the course of 4 raucous days and nights 26 Artists performed for Yep Roc fans from around the world at the legendary Cats Cradle and other venues around Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

Dave Alvin performed on Thursday October 11th both solo, with Christy McWilson, John Teer from Chatham County Line and 2 electric favorites with Los Straitjackets

Yeah. Starts with solo "Harlan County Line," suave cigar voice x Dylany phrasing seeming a bit complacent, also the gotta-woman-still-waitin' (he still gets back over the line every now and then). Christy McWilson starts with "Johnny Ace Is Dead" but mainly it's Dave savoring more colorful characters, with a longass chorus then the ever-durable "Dry River," one of his classics, really, then John Teer's fiddle stirs "Whose Been Here" way up, Dave too excited to go back to too-cool now, Christy whooping it up, "Fourth of July" maintains the level---then Teer's gone, Los Straightjackets are here, for "some California folk music," as Dave Alvin proclaims, though would be even better if he went electric at this point, but still there's a real nice quiet agile acoustic (and "five-string" at that, he says) solo on "Marie Marie" (Teer would be great on this oh well). And that's all, folks. Short but semi-sweet, not up to the ones w Phil or Jimmy Dale, still worth a listen:

https://davealvin.bandcamp.com/

And then there's The Third Mind s/t---somebody said there are bonus tracks?! Will check---for now, these are the ones I heard; my take follows:

1.

Journey in Satchidananda 05:57

2.

The Dolphins 05:15

3.

Claudia Cardinale  02:53 video

4.

Morning Dew 09:18

5.

East West 16:28

6.

Reverberation 03:5

Dave Alvin (Flesheaters/Blasters/X/Knitters) Victor Krummenacher (Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven), Michael Jerome (Toadies, Better Than Ezra) and David Immerglück (Counting Crows, Camper Van Beethoven), with Jesse Sykes (of Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter): Cosmic and Kozmik blues, "psychedelic folk rock," like it says on bandcamp (Dave's big ol' Fred Neilian voice, a tad world-weary, gets lifted a bit by Sykes on Neil's "The Dolphins," and she's cool down in the choruses of 13th Floor Elevators' "Reverberation, and she gets to do all the singin' on Tim Rose's "Morning Dew," which could get to be too much of a death slog way back when the Dead etc. used to haul it out on stage, but she keeps everybody awake and igniting at just the right times here. Unperson points out these Dick Dale Middle Eastern chunnelings of Alice Coltrane's "Journey," and Dale might be a gateway for all of this---also well-absorbed Link Wray, Sonny Sharrock, John Cippolina, Bloomfield & Bishop on "East-West," with crystalline outcroppings, moonlight drives, nice.

https://thethirdmind.bandcamp.com/

As a small memorial to the recent passing of my lifelong friend, mentor and fellow Blaster, Gene Taylor, I wanted to share two songs by The Gene Taylor Blues Band. This band was really The Blasters (minus my brother Phil) and we'd occasionally get together to play some shows up and down California just to play the blues we loved as well as showcase Gene's monumental keyboard talent. Sometimes friends like Rick Estrin, Steve Freund or even my brother, would sit in with us. One night we were honored when my best friend, the late Chris Gaffney, joined us and sang his heart out on the Earl King/Johnny Guitar Watson classic, Those Lonely, Lonely Nights. The flipside of this record is Gene singing and pumping the piano on Jimmy Liggins heartfelt ode to inebriation, Drunk. I hope you'll join me in celebrating Gene's prodigious skills as a pianist, vocalist and bluesman par excellence. I miss my comrades Gene and Chris every day but the music keeps them alive and, in it's way, the music keeps all of us alive. - Dave Alvin 3/4/21

More like these please!
https://davealvin.bandcamp.com/album/those-lonely-lonely-nights

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1532969570_10.jpg

"There are two types of folk music: quiet folk music and loud folk music. I play both." - Dave Alvin

Awesome.

Sweet Relief has set up a fundraise for Phil Alvin, who's been burdened with medical costs and needs to get into physical rehab:

https://www.sweetrelief.org/philalvinfund.html

Phil Alvin is best known as the singer of the legendary American Music band, The Blasters. He is also a musician, musicologist, mathematician, and a gift to music lovers everywhere.

Right now Phil is in the hospital and he needs our help. He has had several medical emergencies and hospital stays over the last six years or so. It’s been a very trying time. The goal is to get him well enough to leave the hospital, get into physical rehab and back home.
​
Obviously, The Blasters can’t play any shows and these medical procedures are very costly. So let’s rally around his side and get him the care he deserves. Let’s send him this message: We love you Phil Alvin - and we want to help.

https://www.premierguitar.com/artists/guitarists/dave-alvin-guitar-is-a-magical-thing

Dave Alvin profile

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/v63F5q8gxRuCcBFK/?

Dave says Phil’s physical recovery is slow but he is progressing. Says Phil is still mentally sharp