California is the land of plenty in more ways than just fresh fruits, cracked nuts, jagged mountains and warm beaches. Music, too, is a huge part of the state’s history, and native son Dave Alvin feels it. As a veteran singer-songwriter, he’s part of that musical history himself, but he’s also quick to recognize the talents of others. He’s done so before, with his 2000 album Public Domain; now he’s turned his attention toward material by California songwriters.
West Of The West showcases a wildly diverse cast, from heavyweights such as Tom Waits (a sultry, slow-boiling “Blind Love”) to lesser-knowns such as Jim Ringer (the sad, beautiful “Tramps And Hawkers”). All are songs that obviously mean a lot to Alvin; you can hear it in the way he works them with dedicated love and care.
In the process, though, he gives them his own spin. Think you could pick Jerry Garcia’s “Loser” out of a lineup? Give a listen to Alvin’s moody, sinister version and reconsider. Equally impressive are his interpretations of songs by Kate Wolf (“Here In California”), Jackson Browne (the bluesy “Redneck Friend”), and Merle Haggard (the melancholy classic “Kern River”, a song Alvin made his own a decade ago on the worthy Hag tribute Tulare Dust). The late Buck Owens, by the way, isn’t represented here, but you can feel his presence hovering in the background.
There’s a sheen of maturity over most of these songs. They’re not entirely acoustic, but neither are they loud or gritty. The production is clean and savvy, and the song choices reflect a rich sense of musical history and a deep wisdom you don’t just happen upon flipping through records at a yard sale. Alvin’s passion for the music, and its subject matter (lost souls, labor camps, rough rivers), is clear.
Like his 1994 classic King Of California, this is an album full of quiet, reflective moments, something Alvin does equally as well as kicking out the barroom jams. He gives new life to Kevin Farrell’s “Sonora’s Death Row”, a riveting western tragedy built on vivid imagery and heavy with deep streaks of regret. And it’s great to hear him give a shout to John Stewart by covering “California Bloodlines”; if you haven’t heard Stewart’s version (from his 1970 album of the same name), it’s an overlooked classic.
Landing a song on a Dave Alvin record won’t make you as much bank as getting cut by, say, Tim McGraw, but it’s a big deal if it’s honor you’re after. The songs on West Of The West have already proven they can stand up on their own; thanks to Alvin, they’ll carry on that much longer.
