It's clear the Alvins love this music and know how to mess with it in just the right way, and they don't treat Broonzy's tales of all manner of wild living like museum pieces, but as vital, living bits of American music, and that's how they sound on this album.Rather than focusing on the “next big thing” in the music industry, Hillsborough-based Yep Roc Records scouts talent it believes in. Put them together, and in this context you don't get the Blasters, but you do get something that recalls a bit of the wild fun that band knew how to conjure. Dave is the hot-shot (but musically savvy) guitarist whose fiery leads and switchblade solos give the melodies a spark they wouldn't have with Phil calling all the shots, and Phil has the outsized, passionate vocal style that brings Big Bill's tales to life in a way Dave's more modest instrument can't quite match (though Dave sings as well, and doesn't embarrass himself when he steps up to the mike). Common Ground: Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin Play & Sing the Songs of Big Bill Broonzy features the Alvin Brothers performing a dozen songs from the Broonzy songbook, and while listening to this is a potent reminder of how good Broonzy's songs still sound in the 21st century, it also demonstrates the complementary talents of Dave and Phil Alvin. Dave and Phil will tour extensively behind Lost Time with Dave’s band The Guilty Ones.īlasters founders Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin have had a famously combative relationship over the years, but as Dave once said, "We argue sometimes, but we never argue about Big Bill Broonzy." So it's fitting that their love of Big Bill brings them together in the recording studio for their first album together since the Blasters' Hard Line in 1985. In addition to its Grammy nomination, that record earned wide critical acclaim, and features with NPR’s Fresh Air, The LA Times, Wall Street Journal and more. Dave and Phil both sing and play guitar throughout Lost Time, and are joined by a crack band including Lisa Pankratz (drums), Brad Fordham (bass), and Chris Miller (guitar).The Alvin brothers founded seminal early LA punk roots band The Blasters in 1979, and after Dave left the group in 1986, they did notrecord an album together again until Common Ground. Dave’s guitar work slithers and stings as never before, and Phil’s feral howl cuts to the core. They remain his humble students, and cut four Turner songs for Lost Time.If their GRAMMY®-nominated 2014 album Common Ground was the sound of a partnership rekindled, Lost Time is a four-alarm fire. The Alvins met Big Joe as teenagers, and he would mentor them for the remainder of his life. Over Lost Time’s twelve tracks, Dave and Phil pay homage to a number of artists and songs that had an early, formative influence, in Dave’s words “the masters of the Blues, the most transcendental form of American music.” Everyone from Lead Belly to James Brown is represented, but the figure who looms largest on the album, and in the brothers’ own musical journey, is Big Joe Turner. However, in Dave’s own words, “Some-times Fate, or God or the Universe, gives you a rare chance to prove an old saying is wrong.” The brothers’ new album, appropriately titled Lost Time, does just that. Lost time is not found again.” This ancient idiom is at the heart of brothers Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin’s long, tumultuous relationship. Tides Of A Teardrop (Standard Edition) Įverything Under The Sun (Bonus Tracks) Īrtificial Countrysides Good 'N' Cheap: The Eggs Over Easy Story Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection For The Whole Family From An Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased RecordingsĬommon Ground: Dave Alvin + Phil Alvin Play & Sing
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |