The Blasters - American Music/Trouble Bound

I used to see the Blasters whenever I could when they first started playing the clubs and picking up steam around LA. They would turn places like Club 88 and the Starwood into combination juke joints and sock hops with their upbeat, energetic and super fun mix of rockabilly and blues. With one of the swingingest and solidest rhythm sections around (John Bazz and Bill Bateman on bass and drums, natch) and the front men/brothers Dave and Phil Alvin (lead guitar and lead vocals), they were terrific players/singers and would always put on a helluva show. I didn't think the addition of piano was necessary and almost detracted from their smokin' guitar-based show, and I never thought their albums really captured the magic of the gigs (as they rarely do), so I have not been a big collector of their recordings. This 2-CD set, though, has the original, pre-keyboard group on CD one and a terrific live show on CD 2 and is a fantastic testament to their talents.

Right from the start, the band "blasts" out their anthem, "American Music", with swingin' energy and style that continues into the jumpin' "Real Rock Drive" and the harp-fueled "Barefoot Rock". Dave smokes on lead guitar on "I Don't Want To" (and he thought he wasn't that good!), their "Marie, Marie" scored hits for others (catchy as hell!), they do justice to Billy Boy Arnold's "I Wish You Would" (Phil was pretty damn good on the harp!) and they rock through another 13 (!!) songs on this CD, with tunes running the gamut of jump blues, rockabilly, R&B, Americana (dig Phil's yodeling talent in "Never No Mo' Blues") and more (they take the Hollywood Flames doo-wop number "Buzz Buzz Buzz" and make it a rockabilly tune, though still a little odd in their set) all filtered through their own rock'n'roll blender!

The live CD does include Gene Taylor on keys, but despite my reservations as a youngster, he is smokin' on this set and he does fit in well. The set has some of their best, from the opening hot rockabilly "One Red Rose", the Texas swing-blues of the title track "Trouble Bound", the great "Long White Cadillac", Dave spits out some Delta blues licks for the intro (and amazing solo) to "Cryin' For My Baby" (Phil blows some mean harp, as well), their take on Little Willie John's classic "I'm Shakin'" is damn iconic, "Blue Shadows" is a fine bluesy rockabilly tune, and we're only a third of the way through the show at this point! Damn near everything is rockin' here, but other highlights include Dave's "Common Man" (with some melodic similarities to "13 Women" and another fantastic solo by Dave - I do love his playing), Johnny Guitar Watson's "Too Tired" and Billy Boy's "I Wish You Would", the menacing "Dark Night", "So Long Baby, Goodbye" where Phil references numerous other tunes in his terrific harp solo and, of course, a couple of their finest, "American Music" and "Marie Marie".

Excellent 2-CD set here of the band at their best! Ya can't go wrong with this one!