New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Dave Alvin's "Riverbed Rag" from the 25th Anniversary Edition of King of California Premieres at Los Angeles Times Previously Unreleased Track Featured On Expanded Remastered Set Out June 28 from Craft Recordings; Available on Vinyl for First Time GRAMMY Museum Program Slated for June 11 Summer Tour Confirmed Los Angeles, CA-based artist Dave Alvin recently shared "Riverbed Rag,"a previously unreleased track featured on the 25th anniversary edition of King of California, with the Los Angeles Times.
Out June 28, the remastered, expanded edition boasts three bonus tracks, and is available on vinyl for the first time. The album is now available for pre-order. The GRAMMYAward-winning artist will be on the road throughout the summer to celebrate this very special release of King of California. On select dates throughout June and July, you'll find Dave sharing the stage with special guest Greg Leisz. An intimate conversation and performance with Dave Alvin and Greg Leisz was just announced for June 11 at the GRAMMY Museum.
A full list of dates is below. Recorded in Los Angeles the day after the historic 1994 Northridge earthquake and produced by Greg Leisz, King of California had its genesis in the album's title track, a readymade folk ballad, written for his mother, in which an aspiring suitor heads west to make his fortune in the wild, still-young Golden State. "King of California is when I decided 'this is when I let the song tell me what it sounds like," says Alvin. "Ever since then, that's been my rule. It sounds ridiculous, but it was something I had to learn." Featuring acoustic interpretations of some of the finest songs in his catalog, along with new, folk-inflected compositions, and notable covers, Dave Alvin found the true measure of his own voice with King of California. "It was ironic that a guy who was known as a loud guitar player and questionable singer, his best seller was an acoustic album," says Alvin.
Featuring songs written and recorded during the '80s, the album includes: "Barn Burning" from American
Music (1980), "Bus Station" and "
Leaving" from the Blasters' Non Fiction (1983), "Little Honey," written with X's John Doe and featured on the Blasters Hard Line (1985), and the "Fourth of July," which appeared on both X's See How We Are (1997) and on Romeo's Escape (1987). "Every Night About This Time" also appeared on the aforementioned album. Like the records he made as a member of the Blasters, King of California features a variety of covers, including Tom Russell's'"Blue Wing," Dallas singer-pianist Whistlin' Alex Moore's "West
Texas Blues," retitled "East
Texas Blues,"
Memphis Slim's classic "Mother Earth," and "What Am I Worth," a
George Jones song, featured here as a duet with the incomparable Syd Straw. The album also includes co-writes with Rosie Flores ("Goodbye Again") and John Doe ("Little Honey").
The expanded edition includes a previously unreleased track from the recording sessions, "Riverbed Rag," an instrumental designed for a guitar-dobro duel by Alvin and Leisz, and inspired by the usually dry San Gabriel River that both musicians grew up exploring. Two additional covers, including Merle Haggard's "Kern River," originally recorded for the 1994 Haggard tribute album Tulare Dust (co-produced by Alvin and Tom Russell), and Katy Moffatt's "The Cuckoo," from her 1999 Alvin-produced album Loose Diamond, round out the bonus tracks.
"I'm real proud of it twenty-five years later," Alvin says. "The whole process was a revelation, to record with everybody in the studio sitting roughly in a circle. Sitting there on the edge of my chair with an acoustic guitar knowing that if I blow this chord we have to start over. And I could use my voice; when I was recording electric my voice couldn't lead the band. In this situation I could. That allowed a certain openness and freedom I hadn't experienced before. And for Greg, this was his baby, his chance to produce me and get my voice right. His calmness in all of this led to the vibe of the record."
