2015: Love All the Way to the Dirt

Posted by Lance Davis - January 8, 2016 - Bob Forrest, Brent Best, Britt Daniel, Connections, Courtney Barnett, Dave Alvin, Dead Rock West, Joey Kneiser, Kelly Smith, Low Cut Connie, Mike Nicolai, Phil Alvin, Sabrina Ellis, Sink Tapes, Summer Twins, Sweet Spirit, Will Johnson

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2015 started with such promise. My girlfriend, Sarah, became my wife, Sarah, on March 26, after which we honeymooned in Joshua Tree, even staying in the Gram Parsons Room at JT Inn. (Room 8 for those of you looking to follow that plan.) I saw a transcendent Replacements at the Hollywood Palladium in April, […]

Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs

Posted by Lance Davis - February 22, 2015 - Big Bill Broonzy, Bob Dylan, Bob Wills, Buck Owens, Dave Alvin, Hank Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, Levon Helm, Merle Haggard, Minutemen, Phil Alvin, Sam Cooke, Sam Phillips, Staple Singers, Waylon Jennings

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A couple of weeks ago, Bob Dylan gained a measure of notoriety for giving a speech in which he sprayed buckshot in the direction of Merle Haggard, Tom T. Hall, Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, and the classic songwriting team, Leiber & Stoller. In an age where internet comment sections are like speed dating […]

Dave & Phil Alvin – Common Ground

Posted by Lance Davis - June 29, 2014 - Big Bill Broonzy, Blasters, Dave Alvin, Kinks, Lisa Pankratz, Phil Alvin

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“(Big Bill Broonzy‘s) influence on a variety of players went from the uptown musicians to the country blues guys like Big Joe Williams. He was an influence on Muddy Waters, an influence on the folk musicians of the early 1960s and one of the first blues guys to go over to Europe where he […]

The Vinyl File: The Blasters – American Music

Posted by Lance Davis - August 30, 2013 - Bill Haley, Billy Boy Arnold, Blasters, Bob Wills, Dave Alvin, Jimmie Rodgers, Junior Parker, Phil Alvin, Queen, Vinyl File, X

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The Vinyl File returns and it’s again focused on The Blasters. This was not intentional. I was recently interviewed by Peter Zimowski II of Now Spinning and as the name of his website might suggest, we discussed collecting vinyl and discovering music. If you wanna know how a 7-year-old boy solves the KISS vs. […]

Daddy Rollin’ Stone

Posted by Lance Davis - July 30, 2013 - Blasters, Dave Alvin, Johnny Thunders, Otis Blackwell, Phil Alvin, Phil Lynott, Sex Pistols, Small Faces, Steve Marriott, The Who, Thin Lizzy

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Last time out I analyzed Phil Alvin’s underrated 1986 LP, Un “Sung Stories.” Of that album’s 10 songs, only 2 were written after 1940, but only 1 of those sounded like it: “Daddy Rollin’ Stone.” Where the rest of Un “Sung” was old blues, jazz, country, and pop, “Daddy” was unique in hinting at […]