Alvin_ethh

Released in Europe on Castle Communications and distributed in the U.S. on Domino Entertainment, a label founded by producer Rob Fraboni, the album's tracks were all shuffled into a different order except for "A Little Bit of Love," "It Don't Come Easy," and "Use That Power." An oddity, but you could put the CD in your player on the shuffle setting and it would remain one of journeyman Alvin Lee's finest statements. The stellar track here is "Real Life Blues," which hit in spots around the states, notably in Texas and in Massachusetts. It was a Top 30 hit on the Billboard charts in Boston when the regional papers published such tracking.

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…

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.

Well, it was hot and new back in 1979 when this hard rockin’ album was first released. Ten Years Later was the group Alvin put together to replace Ten Years After, when he wanted to get back on the road after the original band split in 1974. Alvin teamed up with Tom Compton (drums) and Mick Hawksworth (bass), fine musicians who are featured on the ‘live’ and ‘studio’ recordings that comprised the original LP. The leader described the live recording featured as ‘A true and faithful recording of Ten Years Later on stage with no overdubs or effects’. You can hear Alvin and the boys get stuck into ‘Ain’t Nothin’ Shakin’, ‘Hey Joe’ and, of course, ‘Going Home’ - a blistering eight-minute version of the famed boogie shuffle. The other five tracks were recorded in Alvin’s Space Studio…

One of three acts (with Peter Gabriel and Paul Butterfield) on Rockpalast’s Third Rocknacht ("Rock Night") on 15th September, 1978 at the 10,000-capacity Grugahalle in Essen, recorded on the night of the famous Ali-Spinks heavyweight boxing match. Features legendary guitarist Alvin Lee in his only Rockpalast appearance, with backing musicians Tom Compton (drums) and Mick Hawksworth (bass). The Full 10-song set includes the Ten Years After Woodstock classic "I’m Going Home". Includes bonus unbroadcast tracks ‘Sweet Little Sixteen’ and 'Roll Over Beethoven' Alvin Lee post-show comment: "The best TV show I ever appeared in."

Although sometimes called a "New Orleans clarinetist" (his Columbia album even billed him as a "Legendary Pioneer of Jazz"), in reality Alvin Batiste is an avant-garde player who does not fit easily into any classification. Under-recorded throughout his career, Batiste was a childhood friend of Ed Blackwell and he spent time in Los Angeles in 1956 playing with Ornette Coleman. However, Batiste chose the life of an educator in Louisiana…