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Track Listing 1. Shenandoah 2. Maggie Campbell 3. Short Life of Trouble, A 4. What Did the Deep Sea Say? 5. Engine 143 6. Delia 7. Dark Eyes 8. Walk Right In 9. Murder of the Lawson Family 10. Don't Let Your Deal Go Down 11. Railroad Bill 12. Texas Rangers 13. Mama, Ain't Long For Day 14. East Virginia Blues 15. Sign of Judgement 16. (Untitled) - (Hidden Track)
Album Notes Dave Alvin & The Guilty Men: Dave Alvin (vocals, acoustic, electric & bottleneck slide guitars); Rick Shea (acoustic, electric & pedal steel guitars, mandolin, background vocals); Joe Terry (accordion, piano, organ, background vocals); Gregory Boaz (acoustic & electric basses); Bobby Lloyd Hicks (drums, background vocals). Additional personnel: Greg Leisz (slide guitar, dobro, mandolin); Brantley Kearns (fiddle, background vocals); John "Juke" Logan (harmonica); David Jackson (acoustic & electric bass). Recorded at My Place Or Yours Studio, Glendale, California in April 2000. Includes liner notes by Dave Alvin. PUBLIC DOMAIN won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album. Dave Alvin has carved out a body of work as lasting as the Rocky Mountains. With PUBLIC DOMAIN, he set his sights on the timeless songs in the public domain. From obscure origins and shadow-filled histories, these songs have endured thanks to the people who keep them alive by singing them. Dave Alvin's deep and resonant voice has grown more facile with each ensuing year. It's become a confident instrument he wields with subtle vigor. Alvin's choice of material energized not only him, but also his parcel of like-minded, rough and tumble bandmates. The songs can roll along with chugging grooves ("Maggie Campbell") or be cast in crystalline elegance ("Short Life Of Trouble"). These 15 songs are doorways into the passions, daring, honesty, grief, regrets, lust, and redemption that are our shared humanity.
Industry Reviews ...Wonderful....The immediate delight is in the musical detail....Alvin sings with deep emotional investment... No Depression (09/01/2000)
...Compositional creativity [with] some of his own influences to great effect... CMJ (08/07/2000)
4 stars out of 5 - ...The quality of Alvin and guests' musicianship is exceptional... Uncut (02/01/2001)
3.5 stars out of 5 - ...Digs deeper than ever into the past....handsomely produced....Place [this album] next to your Billy Bragg and Wilco discs, in the section marked 'American Revival'. Rolling Stone (08/31/2000)
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