VIDEO PREMIERE: Dave Alvin Shares Original 1994 Performance of “King of California”

By the year 1994, Dave Alvin had already build a prolific career with his band The Blasters, as a member of X, and through his own solo recordings among other impressive ventures. Then he decided to record an album of acoustic songs, which would in turn find this veteran rock and roller stripping down to showcase his playing as much as his lyrical talent. The result was King of California, one of his best albums to date and a reminder to his fans and the music community that Alvin is truly one of the great American songwriters.

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of King of California, Craft Recordings will release a special edition on June 28th, which the acclaimed Los Angeles-based artist support with a 22-date U.S. tour beginning June 11th. Dave will share the stage with special guest and King of California producer Greg Liesz on nine dates, seven of which are already sold out.

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.

Today Glide is excited to premiere the original 1994 performance video for the title track of King of California. Recording in grainy black and white, the video is fitting for the rustic and revelatory sound of “King of California”. Alvin taps into his inner folkie as he lends his unmistakeable baritone to his tale of travel, love, and hard times. Alvin has always been a master storyteller, and this song is perhaps the best encapsulations of his ability to spin epic tales of Americana. Greg Liesz allows his mandolin playing to add a rich layer of sound, only further accentuating the somber mood of the song. Soaking up this tune 25 years later finds that, despite getting mixed reviews upon its release, the song and the album as a whole have stood the test of time.    

WATCH:

King of California is on June 28th on Craft Recordings. Visit davealvin.net for more info and check out tour dates below:

June 11 – GRAMMY Museum – Los Angeles, CA*

June 12 – Freight & Salvage – Berkeley, CA* — SOLD OUT

June 14 – McCabe’s – Santa Monica, CA* — SOLD OUT

June 15 – AMSD – San Diego, CA* — SOLD OUT

June 16 – McCabe’s – Santa Monica, CA* SOLD OUT

July 9 – Cedar Cultural Center – Minneapolis, MN

July 11 – City Winery – Chicago, IL

July 12 – Beachland Ballroom – Cleveland, OH

July 13 – The Ark – Ann Arbor, MI

July 14 – Natalie’s – Columbus, OH – SOLD OUT

July 15 – Natalie’s – Columbus, OH

July 16 – Club Café – Pittsburgh, PA

July 18 – Daryl’s Club House – Pawling, NY

July 19 – City Winery – Boston, MA^

July 20 – World Café Live – Philadelphia, PA^

July 21 – City Winery – New York, NY^

July 23 – Birchmere – Alexandra, VA^

July 29 – Tractor Tavern – Seattle, WA

July 31 – Tractor Tavern – Seattle, WA – SOLD OUT

August 1 – Old Church Concert Hall – Portland, OR

August 2 – Brewminatti – Prosser, WA

August 3 – Treehouse Café – Bainbridge Island, WA

*w/Greg Leisz

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