Dave Alvin: Blackjack
David
Mobile Fidelity UDSACD 2007
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 Dave Alvin has become one of my "stealth"
favorites. I seem to always have one of his discs in my to-play pile -- and I keep
discovering his co-songwriting credits on some of my favorite tunes on other people’s
records (such as Tom Russell’s).
Why stealth? Some artists are so simply and plainly who
they are that you tend to forget just how good they are. When people ask you who your
favorite performers are, it’s easy to remember Bob Dylan or Bruce Springsteen or
Keith Richards -- they’re bigger than life. They’re memorable.
Guys like David Bromberg, Tom Russell, and Dave Alvin are
bigger than life, too -- they’re just quiet about it. I listen to their albums, go to
their concerts, and enjoy their music constantly, but ask me who my favorite artists are
and I probably won’t name one of these. I don’t think much about the air I
breathe either.
Dave Alvin is a relatively recent discovery for me. I knew
who the Blasters were, of course, but I’m not a huge fan of brother Phil Alvin’s
voice, so I admired the band rather than loved it. I thought the Blasters had their hearts
in the right place -- on the sleeve -- but that was about it.
I also missed Dave Alvin’s stint in X and his first
solo albums, but Public Domain [Hightone HCD 8122] really caught my fancy. It was a
romp through the kind of folk I was raised on -- and it rocked. Alvin’s
baritone was rich and strong, and the arrangements respected the old songs while making
them sparkle to contemporary ears. Then came 2002’s Out in California
[Hightone HCD 8144], Alvin’s live record, which really, really rocked. It
ranks up there with At the Fillmore East and Live at Leeds -- as one of the
best live albums ever. It has great sound, too.
I listened to those records all the time, but I never
thought of myself as a Dave Alvin fan -- that’s what I mean by stealth. But when
Mobile Fidelity announced that it would remaster Alvin’s 1998 Blackjack David
as a dual-layer SACD, at least I knew enough to be excited.
And rightly so. Blackjack David lies halfway between
the pure rock energy of Out in California and the Americana purity of Public
Domain. It features some traditional material, such as the title track, a song that
was ancient when the Carter Family recorded it in the 1930s, but it also highlights Alvin
originals ("The Way You Say Goodbye," "Abilene"). It also boasts the
marvelous "California Snow," delivered here in a version every bit as fine as
that of co-writer Tom Russell.
Of course, if you’re interested only in the songs, you
can still buy the Hightone original -- what the MoFi version delivers is sound that’s
even clearer, richer, and deeper than the original -- whether you listen to the CD or SACD
layer. Don’t ask me how MoFi made the background even quieter or the bass deeper --
that’s typical remastering magic. But Alvin’s voice is also richer, warmer, more
personal. It sounds like he’s in my room -- and, increasingly, that’s where I
want him to be.
Speaking of personal, MoFi convinced Alvin to write
additional liner notes for the SACD release, which detail his thoughts in creating the
record. Critic David Hoekstra also writes some new text for the insert.
Blackjack David is the third Dave Alvin record
I’ve fallen head over heels for. I suspect it won’t be the last. If you
haven’t yet discovered how compelling Alvin’s music can be, it’s a great
place to start your voyage of discovery. I bet you’ll be begging for more.
...Wes Phillips
wes@onhifi.com
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