Alvin ja Koopaoravad

Listen to the very first cut on Freefall and you'll understand the basic problem with the Alvin Lee Band: the track is a nice piece of mid-tempo rock, rather catchy, but is Alvin Lee in there anywhere? Repeated listenings reveal that he might be singing background vocals, and that guitar lead sounds like a slick studio player who listened to a few Ten Years After records one afternoon…

From the first track "Keep On Rockin'" which sounds alot like Ten Years After's "Choo Choo Mama" you know this cd is gonna cook. You've got the hilarious song "Long Legs" which could have been sung by ZZ Top (Its that kind of song), "Boogie All Day" which is very swing oriented, and you even have Alvin doing some cover versions. One being the Dave Edmunds hit "I Hear You Knockin'" which is as good if not better than the original. And Alvin even does a superb job of covering The Beatles tune "I Want You (She's so Heavy)".

From the first track "Keep On Rockin'" which sounds alot like Ten Years After's "Choo Choo Mama" you know this cd is gonna cook. You've got the hilarious song "Long Legs" which could have been sung by ZZ Top (Its that kind of song), "Boogie All Day" which is very swing oriented, and you even have Alvin doing some cover versions. One being the Dave Edmunds hit "I Hear You Knockin'" which is as good if not better than the original. And Alvin even does a superb job of covering The Beatles tune "I Want You (She's so Heavy)".

Grammy winner, Dave Alvin, has been roaming the highways of American music for over a quarter century. During those decades he's busted speakers with roots rock kick-starters, The Blasters, as well as mined the depths of country, folk and blues with his solo projects. A mainstay during much of this journey has been Alvin's electrifying band The Guilty Men. Following the recent death of Dave's best friend and Guilty Men accordionist Chris Gaffney in early 2008, Alvin decided to move in an exciting new musical direction. In October 2008 he stepped onto the stage of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco with an all-star, all-female group. Since dubbed The Guilty Women, the group consists of Americana scene vets Cindy Cashdollar, Nina Gerber, Laurie Lewis, Sarah Brown, Amy Farris, Christy McWilson and Lisa Pankrantz. Special guests include Marcia Ball and Susie Thompson. The self-titled debut from this unique assemblage of players, led by Alvin, is a spirited collection of thoughtful yet dynamic tunes featuring world-class musicianship worthy of his now legendary pedigree.

In 1997, Dave Alvin – former guitarist and songwriter with the Blasters, and one of the leading advocates of classic blues and R&B on the West Coast roots rock scene – played a special show in Long Beach, California, where he was joined by three very special guests. The fabled Texas fiddler and guitarist Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Chicago harmonica master Billy Boy Arnold, and San Francisco-born blues guitarist Joe Louis Walker all sat in with Alvin that evening, making for a very eventful evening for fans of blues and American roots music. The show was captured on tape, and Live in Long Beach 1997 allows listeners to hear Alvin mix it up on-stage with a few of his heroes. Songs include "Barn Burning", "Long White Cadillac", "I Wish You Would", "Chains of Love", "Jolie Blon", "Wabash Cannonball", and more.

Blasters 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. 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.

The guitar maestro in cracking form on this hard rocking but richly varied album, which was Alvin’s first studio set after the break up of group Ten Years After. After many years on the road, he was in a mood to find freedom and work out with new musical mates, and as a result ‘Pump Iron’ is packed with fine performances. It was made at Alvin’s home studio in 1975 with keyboard player Tim Hinkley.