The Blasters came on the scene in 1980, pioneered by brothers Dave and Phil Alvin. The two brothers emerged from the L.A. punk scene determined to build The Blasters' sound around the classic rock of the 1950s, particularly rockabilly. They signed with Slash! Records, a division of Warner, and recorded both originals and classics from the rock repertoire. As with those of his U.K. counterpart Dave Edmunds, …entire summary
Dave Alvin - guitar, vocals
Phil Alvin - guitar, vocals
Lee Allen - saxophone
Steve Berlin - baritone sax
Bill Bateman - drums
John Bazz - bass
Gene Taylor - pianist
The Blasters came on the scene in 1980, pioneered by brothers Dave and Phil Alvin. The two brothers emerged from the L.A. punk scene determined to build The Blasters' sound around the classic rock of the 1950s, particularly rockabilly. They signed with Slash! Records, a division of Warner, and recorded both originals and classics from the rock repertoire. As with those of his U.K. counterpart Dave Edmunds, Dave Alvin's originals were almost impossible to tell apart from the rock and blues classics the band covered of Bo Diddley, Roy Orbison and Big Joe Turner.
Their record Non Fiction was completed five months after The Blasters cut a six song live EP of rock classic songs in the U.K. called Over There. The material features an amalgamation of songs from their first two albums, and the aforementioned live EP; together, they make up this show's energetic set list. Alvin's guitar playing is stunning, especially on the jet-fuel power romp "I Love You So."
Note that by the time these tracks were recorded, the band had been augmented by the addition of pianist Gene Taylor and New Orleans saxophone legend Lee Allen. The highlights of this show are the Alvin original "Marie, Marie," the band's great cover of Little Willie John's "I'm Shakin'" and their encore of "Roll 'Em Pete" - a piano boogie woogie exercise that was originally recorded by Big Joe Turner and Pete Johnson.
The Blasters fell apart a few years after this recording was made, and Alvin briefly joined the punk band X before launching a solo career. He and his brother Phil have reformed The Blasters a number of times since 1992 and continue to tour today.
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