New Blasters 5LP set "An American Music Story" due for RSD on April 12

The Blasters 5LP set from Liberation Hall will be strictly limited to 1000 numbered copies available only in the U.S. on April 12th. 

Here's the scoop from Chris Morris...

Now it can be told: Last fall, I spent nearly three months working on the five-LP collection you see here, which will go on sale as an exclusive Record Store Day release from Liberation Hall on April 12, in a slipcased, hand-numbered edition of only 1,000 copies. This set, which will be available only in the U.S., comprises the Blasters’ four original studio albums released by Rollin’ Rock Records and Slash/Warner Bros. Records, which are replicated with the original jacket art and inner sleeves, and a fifth LP of studio outtakes and the tracks recorded for Walter Hill’s film “Streets of Fire.” 

I co-produced the set with my conspirator Antone DeSantis, who has done the heavy lifting on the label’s Blasters-related releases of the last two years. For the 24-page color booklet, I wrote a new 10,000-word essay about the band’s music and history, with fresh input from the members. There are also a lot of great photographs, many of them previously unpublished, by Gary Leonard, Michael Hyatt, Ed Colver, and mi hermano Joel Aparicio, who took the photos that appear in my Los Lobos book. (That’s Joel’s fantastic shot on the cover of the box.) A replica of a poster that was produced to promote the 1983 album “Non Fiction” is included. 

We had a very narrow window to pull this together in time for RSD, and the work was exhausting, but it got done in due time and we’re very proud of the results. I certainly couldn’t be prouder of the booklet, which I view as a monument in writing to a band I’ve loved for 45 years. Note: As this set is extremely limited, if you want your local store to stock it on RSD, you should make a request now. – Chris Morris

Check out The Blasters tearin' it up live in '85 below. 

The Blasters' Over There 2LP Live in London 1982 due for Black Friday

An expanded deluxe 2LP edition of The Blasters' live 'Over There' EP cut in London in 1982 is out on November 29. 

Here's the scoop from co-producer Chris Morris...

BIG FAT NEWS! I am freaking proud to be the co-producer (with Antone DeSantis and the Blasters) and annotator of this thrilling RSD Black Friday release, out Nov. 29. Limited to 1,500 copies, Over There: Live at the Venue, London 1982 — The Complete Concert is a smokin’ hot two-LP, 23-track (!) rendering of the original Slash/Warner Bros. EP, recorded at their UK debut as a headliner. This show has never been heard in its entirety, and 13 of the performances have never been issued in any form. 

The 73-minute show is WILD, and the blow-out power and full-tilt velocity of the seven-piece Blasters in their prime are on full display, in definitive form. The package features a jazzy gatefold jacket containing my detailed essay with new interviews from the band, plus never-before-seen photos and memorabilia. The album will also land on Dec. 6 as a single CD in a sweet-looking digipak; a digital version will also be available that day. I’ve been involved with Liberation Hall Records’ reissue campaign devoted to the Pride of Downey’s work for a year, and this set is to date the true revelation of that program. LET’S ROCK! – Chris Morris

THE BLASTERS 

Over There: Live at the Venue, London - The Complete Concert 

Liberation Hall, LP: LIB-5193 / CD & download: LIB-5192

Over There: Live at the Venue, London - The Complete Concert now stands as the definitive document of the Blasters’ debut performance as a UK concert headliner on May 21, 1982. Drawing its title from a flag-waving George M. Cohan song celebrating American doughboys in England, the original Over There was first issued in October 1982 as a six-song Slash/Warner Bros. EP. It comprised the Dave Alvin original “I Don’t Want To” and covers of Jerry Lee Lewis’ “High School Confidential,” Edwin Bruce’s “Rock Boppin’ Baby,” Little Richard’s “Keep A Knockin’,” Roy Orbison’s “Go, Go, Go,” and Big Joe Turner and Pete Johnson’s “Roll ‘Em Pete.” The contemporaneous cassette version of the set included an additional track, a rendition of Frankie Lee Sims’ “What Will Lucy Do?”

When the Blasters’ complete Slash/Warner recordings were compiled on the two-CD set Testament in 2002, three more numbers from the Venue in London — versions of the Rockin’ R’s’ “Crazy Baby,” Slim Harpo’s “Got Love If You Want It,” and Blasters sax man Lee Allen’s 1958 instrumental “Walkin’ with Mr. Lee” — made their bow.

A gale-force definition of the Blasters’ full power on stage, Over There is now available for the first time at its full length, adding 13 unreleased tracks to join the previously available ten. The band’s lineup comprises Phil Alvin (vocals, guitar), Dave Alvin (lead guitar), John Bazz (bass), Bill Bateman (drums), Gene Taylor (piano), Steve Berlin (baritone saxophone) and Lee Allen (tenor saxophone). The original recordings were produced by the Blasters with associate producer Art Fein, and engineered by Pat Burnette. This expanded edition reissue is produced by the Blasters with Chris Morris and Antone DeSantis. Morris also contributes a new essay, which complements the original sleeve notes by Slash Magazine editor Claude Bessy. 

All configurations of Over There: Live at the Venue, London - The Complete Concert will feature the full 23-song show. CD and digital are released December 6; pre-order at Bandcamp right here. Digital single “Marie Marie” is available now right here.

 Last year, Liberation Hall commenced its ongoing reissue campaign of the Blasters’ catalog with the newly curated Mandatory: The Best of the Blasters compilation and a re-pressing of Un “Sung Stories,” the debut solo album from the group’s frontman, Phil Alvin. In September 2024, Alvin’s second solo album, County Fair 2000, was also reissued. 

TRACKLIST: 1. This It It * | 2. Crazy Baby | 3. No Other Girl * | 4. What Will Lucy Do? | 5. Border Radio *| 6. I Don’t Want To | 7. Rock Boppin’ Baby | 8. Tag Along * | 9. I Love You So * | 10. Got Love If You Want It | 11. Walkin’ With Mr. Lee | 12. I’m Shakin’ * | 13. Hollywood Bed * | 14. Go, Go, Go | 15. Stop the Clock * | 16. Marie Marie * | 17. American Music * | 18. So Long Baby Goodbye * | 19. Roll ‘Em Pete | 20. High School Confidential | 21. These Arms of Mine * | 22. Keep a Knockin’ | 23. Barn Burning *

* Previously unreleased.

All tracks recorded May 21, 1982, at The Venue in London. 

Check out a lo-fi transfer of the original release of The Blasters' Over There below.

Celebrating the Fourth of July with John Doe and Dave Alvin!

Watch old pals John Doe and Dave Alvin duet on "Fourth Of July" at Fitzgerald's in Chicago back in 2014. 

Happy Birthday Phil Alvin!

Celebrating the birthday of Phil Alvin with a couple of performances with his Blasters brother Dave Alvin and more. 

LINKS 

Los Angeles Daily News The Blasters' Phil Alvin hospitalized with unknown illness

Phil Alvin's Sweet Relief Fund Those wishing to help in Phil's hospital care can contribute here 

Get a copy of The Blasters' career-spanning compilation Mandatory via Bandcamp right here. 

Phil Alvin's 1986 album Un "Sung Stories" gets reissued by Liberation Hall

The Blasters' frontman Phil Alvin was joined by Sun Ra's Arkestra & Dirty Dozen Brass Band for his widely slept on solo album.

Here's the scoop...

The former Blasters frontman‘s 1986 solo debut album is a soulful collection of blues, jazz, country, and pop songs originally written and recorded between 1925-1953. More than just an engaging document of pre-rock Americana, the album features avant-garde legend Sun Ra and his Arkestra, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and New Orleans saxman Lee Allen, whose session work with Little Richard and Fats Domino have earned him near-mythic status. 

Before there was any acknowledgement of what’s now known as the Great American Songbook, a genre called Americana, Triple-A radio, or even an internet to aid in research, a dedicated band of crate-diggers sprang up around LA, discovering long-lost gems on 78s and 45s: Barret “Dr. Demento” Hansen, with his novelty records; Lux Interior of the Cramps, foraging for country and rockabilly; Billy Vera, amassing an R&B archive… and perhaps the most eclectic of the lot, Phil Alvin. 

As renowned music journalist Chris Morris observed in the liner notes, “If you made a trip to the Alvins’ family home in Downey, affectionately known as ‘the Flop,’ in the early ‘80s, it was almost inevitable that Phil would reach into a crate of 78s and pull out some gem you had never heard.” That pioneering eclecticism was admired by critics and fans alike, although Alvin was perhaps just a step or two ahead of the general audience, which is why this album was a cult favorite and not a platinum smash. If anything, it has a better chance at reaching a broad fan base now than it did when it was new. Today, this brilliantly sung, stirringly performed, and deeply felt record is ready for a new embrace by contemporary listeners, who should be ready to catch up to its prophetic sound. 

Writes Chris Morris: "Phil Alvin's "Un 'Sung Stories'" was released, sort of, in 1986 as Slash Records 25481-1. The story of its making and unmaking will be found in my forthcoming Punk Hostage Press book. It is being released on CD today by Liberation Hall with new liner notes by yours truly. (It will reappear on LP, for the first time in 37 years, in December, with the same notes.) As I've said before, it's one of my favorite records; Phil sings the vintage blues, R&B, country, gospel, and pop here brilliantly, with ace support from the Sun Ra Arkestra and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. If you know it, I hope you will buy it again; if you don't know it, it's a must for your collection."

Grab a copy of the CD or pre-order the vinyl version due in December via Bandcamp right here. Listen to a few tracks from Un "Sung Stories" below. 

This release comes on the heels of Liberation Hall’s Mandatory: The Best of the Blasters, a definitive 20-song collection of the band’s hits and deep cuts. Liberation Hall plans further releases throughout 2024 in celebration of the Blasters’ 45th anniversary. Get a copy of The Blasters' Mandatory compilation right here. 

Those who'd like to help Phil with his medical costs can contribute to Sweet Relief's Phil Alvin Fund right here. 

The Blasters featured in Country Music Hall of Fame's 'Western Edge' exhibit

Dave Alvin's beat-up Fender Mustang will be part of the Country Music Hall of Fame's Western Edge exhibit opening Sept. 30th. 

Writes Dave Alvin....

In the fall of 1988, after being dropped by CBS Records, I attempted to be a professional Nashville songwriter. I failed miserably.

During that odd, rough time of my life, I lived in a second floor apartment (in the dark back building barely visible behind the two well lit front ones) on 17th Ave South. My roommate was a fine jazz guitarist named Chris Page. Neither Chris nor I had any money to properly furnish the place but we did find two metal folding chairs and a metal folding card table that cost us about 20 bucks total at a local store. I slept on the living room floor on a one person air mattress. I really had nothing going on with my career but, on the bright side, I did have an acoustic guitar, a cassette player/AM-FM radio boombox, some clothes in a suitcase, an ashtray, some pens and stacks of notebooks full of questionable lyrics for half-written songs. 

I also had some intense hangovers, met some wonderful folks, met a few jerks, wrote with some excellent (if struggling same as I was) songwriters, had a few memorable experiences with a couple successful tunesmiths and, seeing how I had no car or credit cards back then, I spent a lot of time exploring the lovely streets of Nashville on foot when I wasn't scribbling verses in "the writer's room" at the Bug Music offices on 16th Ave. When no big Nashville stars cut any of the songs I'd been co-writing and the weather got too damn cold in December, I tucked my tail between my legs and limped back to California.

I'm telling you this old tale because September 30th, 2022 will be the opening night at Nashville's highly respected Country Music Hall of Fame for it's newest landmark exhibit, "Western Edge: The Roots And Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock" and I am proud beyond words to be included in it. This comprehensive exhibit covers the early 60s to the early 90s, from The Dillards, Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and Burrito Brothers to Emmy Lou Harris and Linda Ronstadt through to The Blasters and Knitters then on to Lone Justice, Los Lobos, Rosie Flores and finally Dwight Yoakam. 

I'm sincerely honored that my beat up old Blaster era Fender Mustang guitar will be on display in the exhibit, along with my also beat up old Blaster era leather jacket, my now fragile, lucky red bandanna that I wore on every Blasters album cover and my ragged but right, folk art guitar case that traveled the world with me during those wild years. There is also a big opening night concert at the museum that I'll be performing at which also features many legendary musicians from the exhibit like Chris Hillman (The Byrds/Burrito Brothers), Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield/Poco),  Maria McKee, Rosie Flores, The Watkins Twins and many more. 

Yeah, I'm nervous and a touch scared to be part of this shindig. I know I'm really just a rock and rolling folk/blues guitar basher and not a "country" artist but the influence of country music on my songwriting is undeniable. I'm proud and thrilled The Blasters will be recognized by the Country Music Hall of Fame for the hard work we did and the influence we had. Of course, the down and out guy that was me in 1988, sleeping on the floor in a small Nashville apartment with little money and no prospects, would not believe for one damn second that any of this could possibly be happening. I'm positive, though, that he feels as deeply honored as I do.    – Dave Alvin

For more info, visit the Country Music Hall Of Fame site right here. 

Dave Alvin shares tribute to Blasters piano great Gene Taylor

The Gene Taylor Band's live versions of "Those Lonely, Lonely Nights" and Jimmy Liggins' "Drunk" are available here. 

Here's the scoop from Dave Alvin...

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

Watch a clip of Gene Taylor and Dave Alvin performing a great version of "Before You Accuse Me" shot at McCabe's which probably should've been included. 

R.I.P. Gene Taylor, 1952-2021

Tragically, keyboard king Gene Taylor died at home in Austin after being without water and electricity for five days. 

That time The Skeletons backed Dave Alvin in Sweden

Here's Dave Alvin performing a few gems with Lou Whitney and Bobby Lloyd Hicks at Kupolen Borlänge back in 1992. 

Horton's Holiday Hayride hits Buffalo on Thursday

Rev. Horton Heat is playing the Tralf Music Hall with Junior Brown, Big Sandy & The Blasters – time for a road trip?

Phil & Dave Alvin salute Big Joe Turner on new "Lost Time" album for Yep Roc

Listen to "Feeling Happy" from the Lost Time album out September 18. 

"Here's a jumping track from the upcoming new release by my brother and me, one of four Big Joe Turner songs we recorded on the album. Big Joe was our musical mentor, spiritual guide and lifelong friend so on this record we wanted to finally pay tribute to him. Blaster Gene Taylor struts his stuff on the boogie woogie piano, Don Heffington is rocking the drums, Bob Glaub is keeping everything solid on bass, Chris G Miller is swinging the acoustic guitar while I bash on the loud, electric guitar and my brother shouts the blues just like Big Joe taught him decades ago. Hope you enjoy it." – Dave Alvin

The Blasters rock the Horseshoe, tonight

Dave and Phil Alvin's brilliant Big Bill Broonzy tribute

Dave & Phil Alvin of the Blasters are playing Hugh's Room in Toronto on July 4th.

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

It took a near-death experience to reunite Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin, the California brothers at the heart of roots music heroes, The Blasters.

"Phil died and was brought back to life over in Spain," Dave says of his brother's 2012 health scare. "That was a real wakeup call to me. We hadn't made a full album together since 1985, but as you get older, you realize you're not immortal and you've only got so much time."

It only made sense, then, that for their first record together in three decades, the Alvin brothers would go back to where it all started and pay tribute to one of their original shared musical heroes: Big Bill Broonzy.

"I first remember seeing Big Bill's picture on an album cover that I bought when I was 14 or 15," says Phil. "I didn't really know who he was and came home and played it and was overwhelmed by him."

"We're brothers, we argue sometimes," Dave adds with a laugh, "but one thing we never argue about is Big Bill Broonzy. I remember the day Phil brought the record home, it was one of those childhood memories like you're graduating grammar school or stealing your first Playboy. For me, Big Bill is in that elite company of Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, people like that."

Like the Alvins', Broonzy's career lasted more than 30 years and spanned several stylistic incarnations, all of which the brothers sought to capture on Common Ground: Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin Play and Sing the Songs of Big Bill Broonzy. "He played both country blues and ragtime blues picking, and then in the late 1930's and 40's he was one of the inventors of the Chicago blues sound," explains Dave. "And then in the late 40's until his death, he was the guy that brought blues and American folk music to Europe. He was the first guy to go over there and blaze the trail."

That the Alvin brothers feel such a kinship with a trailblazer like Broonzy is little surprise. The Blasters emerged to international fame in the early 1980's, blending American roots and blues with searing punk energy to critical acclaim. Rolling Stone hailed their "bright, raw playing, terrific taste and...[Phil's] full-bodied vocals." The band performed with everyone from X and Black Flag to The Cramps and Queen, and even gave early breaks to Los Lobos and Dwight Yoakam by inviting them on the road as openers. 

The brothers went their separate ways in 1986, when Dave left the band to pursue a solo career. After decades apart musically, they reunited briefly to record songs for the 2013 soundtrack to The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, a musical written by Stephen King and John Mellencamp featuring performances by Elvis Costello, Taj Mahal, and Kris Kistofferson among others, and produced by T Bone Burnett. They also sang a duet on “What’s Up With Your Brother” for Dave’s last Yep Roc release, 2011's Eleven Eleven.

"We rehearsed at David's house a few times for that," remembers Phil, "and that was a good step in bringing us back together." Check out their performance of the song at McCabe's from 2012.  

Once inspiration struck for the Big Bill Broonzy project, all it took was a phone call from Dave, and Phil was onboard and ready to head into the studio for their first album together in three decades.

"We used this old Foley studio from the 30's that had been used for movie sound effects," says Dave, who shares vocal duties with his brother on the record. "We set up all in that one little room a la Sun or Chess and just recorded."

"It was easy," he continues. "I'm not as boisterous as I used to be. Like the title suggests, this is where we come together. It's square one. There was nothing to argue about outside of 'Am I playing the guitar part right?'" he laughs.

Rather than trying to recreate Broonzy's exact guitar parts and vocals note for note, though, the record honors his innovative spirit and musical adventurousness, blending chords and melodies from different songs and incorporating stylistic nods to other guitarists—everyone from Magic Sam to Bo Diddley—whose work bears Big Bill's unmistakable fingerprint.

That encyclopedic knowledge of American music, that expansive musical vocabulary and the fluency with which the Alvins slip in out and of genres and eras is what enables Common Ground to triumph. Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin may have set out to honor the legacy of Big Bill Broonzy with this record, but in the process, they solidified their own as one of roots music's most exceptional duos.

Ticket's for Dave & Phil's show at Hugh's Room in Toronto on July 4th are now on sale. Call the Hugh's Room box office at 416-531-6604 for details. The Common Ground album – out June 3 – is currently available for pre-order directly from Yep Roc where you may be able to score a limited edition Dave & Phil belt buckle if you act fast.