One thing that's obvious about
Dave Alvin if you've followed his career at all is that the man loves music. He's a fan as much as an artist, and the joy derived from the simple act of playing and singing a song that moves him is palpable and infectious. He also loves musicians who feel the same way he does, and his best recordings are full of moments where the interplay between
Alvin and his partners is taut and just short of electric.
From an Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased Recordings presents 16 tracks from
Alvin's personal archives, 13 of them covers, and according to his liner notes, most of them were recorded for no other reason than he and some friends went into the studio, got to playing, and walked out with some magic preserved for the ages. The fact none of these made their way to an album before is a bit puzzling, considering all the material comes in somewhere between very good and excellent, but
Alvin held on to them for a reason, one that's obvious when you give this a listen. There are no dates given for the recordings (the presence of the late
Chris Gaffney on three songs confirms some of this dates back before 2008, at least), which makes the time frame hard to establish. But the strength of
Alvin's guitar playing and the cool, muscular passion of his vocals remains consistent throughout (the bemused tone of the bluesy take on
Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" and the road-worn longing he brings to
Don Williams' "Amanda" show just how much he's learned to do with his range). The five-and-a-half-minute jam on "Variations on Earl Hooker's Guitar Rhumba" is the sound of a roomful of musicians having a blast that's just as satisfying for an observer as for a participant.
Alvin chooses great material (the songwriters include
Willie Dixon,
Mickey Newbury,
Peter Case, and
Doug Sahm) as well as excellent pickers (along with former
Blasters bandmates
John Bazz,
Bill Bateman, and
Gene Taylor, the roster includes
Greg Leisz,
Bill Frisell,
Cindy Cashdollar, and
Don Heffington), and he has the modesty and wisdom to let them have their fair share of the spotlight even when he's the leader of the gig. Though it was stitched together from outtakes and covers,
From an Old Guitar is a fully satisfying album filled with the spirit and vigor that has made
Dave Alvin one of the enduring heroes of the Americana music community. ~ Mark Deming
