Dave Alvin - West of the West (Dig)
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Dave AlvinEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2006-05-30
Music Label: Yep Roc Records
Soundtracks:
- California Bloodlines
- Redneck Friend
- Kern River
- Blind Love
- Here in California
- I Am Bewildered
- Sonora?s Death Row
- Down on the Riverbed
- Between the Cracks
- Don?t Look Now
- Tramps and Hawkers
- Loser
- Surfer Girl
Free Music Notes for West of the West (Dig)
Free Music Review: To Live and Love In the Land of Dreams & Broken Promises
Hit: 5 Stars
Dave Alvin's sublime new CD is a cadre of songs written by Californians either born and/or who grew up in this land. The lyrics talk about what it means to live and love in the land of dreams and broken promises. It is also a look at the story of the frontier in this large western state. Dave Alvin has a voice that is deep and smooth and like a friend of his said "infiltrates your brain like a shot of Jack Daniels."
Dave Alvin says "We started with a list of 25 songs, from Steve Gillette to Captain Beefheart and everything in between. I was even thinking of doing 'Going Back to Cali' as a blues thing. In the end, though, it wasn't about choosing my favorite songs so much as choosing songs that I could sing well enough and arrange differently enough to make them interesting." He has picked these songs carefully and each of them fit his style and voice well. Of them all, and I like each and every one, my two favorite interpretations are "Here In California" and "Surfer Girl"
"California Bloodlines" is a sentimental rendition of John Stewart's fine work, which finds peace in knowing "There's California bloodlines in my heart / There's a California woman in my song ... And a California heartbeat in my soul."
"Redneck Friend" the Jackson Brown less well known song was just right for Dave Alvin's style.
"Kern River" is a song Merle Haggard wrote after losing his best friend, and it is a melancholy rendition.
"Blind Love" from Tom Waits is sung in a bluesy style with some doo wops thrown in to give it style.
"Here in California" one of my favorites is sung with Christy McWilson. He felt this song needed a woman's perspective.
"I'm Bewildered" is an old Richard Berry, the great guitarist's tune. Backed up by The Calvenes.
"Sonora's Death Row" written by Blackie Ferrell is a fable that examines the price of acting out of greed and anger and ends up a as gun fighter's tale.
"Down On the Riverbed" is an old Los Lobos song that is sung in Dave Alvin's old blues style.
"Between the Cracks" a song written by Dave Alvin and Tom Russell is a heartbreaking tale of young boy told by a loving woman, with a rollicking tune. This is the only Dave Alvin orignal song in this CD.
"Don't Look Now" a song sung by John Fogerty is an old Creedence Clearwater revival. Bluesy and fun to make it Dave's.
"Tramps and Hawkers" by Jim Ringer is a delicate country waltz, come dance with me, BK. Lyrics are wonderful.
"Loser" by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter, is darker with more infused blues than Garcia's version. It couldn't sound less like a Deadhead song. Dave Alvin put in a psychedelic section that is a tribute to the San Francisco sound
"Surfer Girl" Brian Wilson's first song is done with doo-wops and again The Calvanes did background. This is my favorite of Dave Alvin's interpretations, and he sings this surfin'song with some tongue in cheek.
Dave Alvin gives voices of California to this CD. Voices from the California coastline and the surf music it inspired to the "brown earth of the state" to the frontier life and the lives won and lost. Dave Alvin had made his mark on this state, and the writers who loved their lives by writing and singing about the state they love. Play it often and pay attention to the subtle influence of this CD. "California Dreamin'?" Highly recommended. prisrob 6-04-06
West of the West (Dig) Poster
West of the West is Dave Alvin's tribute to the songs and songwriters of California. It's the fourth-generation Californian's latest excursion into the sounds and history of his home state, continuing the high standard he set with King of California and Blackjack David. Produced by Greg Leisz (Wilco, Lucinda Williams, Beck, Brian Wilson), the new album mixes much loved songs by Merle Haggard, John Fogerty, Tom Waits, Brian Wilson, Jackson Browne, Jerry Garcia, Kate Wolf, Robert Hunter and Los Lobos' David Hidalgo and Louis Perez, with unearthed gems from such previously overlooked talents as Blackie Farrell and Jim Ringer. Dave's first collection of cover songs (2000's Public Domain) won a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album and his most recent album of originals (2004's Ashgrove) garnered praise from USA Today, Rolling Stone, Mojo and the Los Angeles Times who said, "Few songwriters capture the way music can provide escape or solace to the lonely, the lost and the desperate as Alvin." Digipak.One of the finest composers of rootsy Americana since his years with the Blasters, Dave Alvin here celebrates the quintessential songs (and songwriters) of his native California. Some of his choices--Merle Haggard, John Fogerty, and Alvin's occasional collaborator Tom Russell--are artists who have obviously influenced his own writing, but he extends the selection to include some surprise choices, such as Jackson Browne, the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia, and the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. As revelatory as the songs he selects is what Alvin does with them, turning Browne's "Redneck Friend" into a shuffle worthy of Big Joe Turner and giving an equally bluesy twist to Fogerty's "Don't Look Now," while removing the blues that had characterized Los Lobos' original version of "Down on the Riverbed" in favor of a banjo-driven folk arrangement. The opening rendition of John Stewart's "California Bloodlines" establishes the album's theme; the closing "Surfer Girl" is a stunner, Alvin's most tender vocal to date, giving the Beach Boys ballad a warmth that borders on reverence. Whatever Alvin may lack in vocal range, there's no doubting his interpretive range. --Don McLeese
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