Consumer Guide Album

Dave Alvin: King of California [HighTone, 1994]
A closet folkie since the Knitters were the Unravelers, Brother Dave isn't just marking time with this unplugged job, he's figuring out how to sing--quietly, like maybe John Prine, who croaked as a rockabilly himself. Yes his own songs top the covers, only there's a Tom Russell vignette you'd swear he made up; yes the old songs top the new ones, only check the Nashville-simple Rosie Flores duet. As for the old ones, his gravelly sprechgesang conjures more from most of them than Brother Phil or John & Exene ever did. If words are his gift, empathy is their secret, and empathy blooms in the stillest moments. A-