Blue Blvd
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album|
| name = Blue Blvd
| type = Studio album
| artist = Dave Alvin
| cover = BlueBlvdDaveAlvin.jpg
| alt =
| released = August 20, 1991
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Folk rock, country rock
| length = 48:26
| label = Hightone
| producer = Chris Silogyi, Bruce Bromberg, Dave Alvin
| prev_title = Romeo's Escape
| prev_year = 1987
| next_title = Museum of Heart
| next_year = 1993
}}
{{Music ratings
| rev1 =AllMusic
| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web |first=Denise |last=Sullivan |title= Blue Blvd > Review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id= mw0000677183 |pure_url=yes}} |publisher=AllMusic |accessdate=July 30, 2015}}
|rev2=Robert Christgau
|rev2score={{Rating-Christgau|hm3}}{{cite web | url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=dave+alvin | title=Dave Alvin Reviews | accessdate=July 30, 2015 | author=Christgau, Robert}}
|rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
|rev3score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=1 |page=149}}
|rev4 = MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide
|rev4score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite book |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1999 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |page=23}}
|rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
|rev5score = {{rating|2.5|5}}{{cite book |title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=1992 |publisher=Random House |page=13}}
}}
Blue Blvd is an album by American musician Dave Alvin.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dave-alvin-mn0000679219/biography|title=Dave Alvin | Biography & History|website=AllMusic}} It was released in 1991.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/dave-alvinskeletonsmichael-hurley/Content?oid=878517|title=Dave Alvin/Skeletons/Michael Hurley|first=Bill|last=Wyman|website=Chicago Reader}}
Production
Alvin worked on the songs over a period of years after the release of his first solo album, in 1987. He dealt with health issues, worked on film soundtracks, and helped other musicians.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-13-ca-359-story.html|title=Lush Images Along a 'Dry River' : Dave Alvin, Who Plays Saturday at Bogart's, Cultivates Some Unusually Rich 'Sad Stories'|date=December 13, 1991|website=Los Angeles Times}} The album employed a fuller production sound than Alvin's previous album, Romeo's Escape, courtesy of Alvin, Chris Silagyi, and Bruce Bromberg.{{Cite web|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1991-10-18-9110170668-story.html|title=DAVE ALVIN|first=Parry|last=Gettelman|website=OrlandoSentinel.com}}
Reception
AllMusic critic Denise Sullivan wrote: "The only thing that mars this wonderful, rootsy singer/songwriter album is a heavy production hand and a drum sound attempting to give it a rock edge; consequently, some of the more beautiful songs like the title track suffer under the weight, but the final cut, 'Dry River,' is alone worth the price of the disc." The Washington Post called the album "11 songs so emotionally compelling and finely crafted that they remind one of Raymond Carver's short stories."{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/11/15/alvin-skeletons-rockings-a-blast/f92bfc6c-c006-48bd-b2e0-51ace3b40b72/|title=ALVIN, SKELETONS: ROCKING'S A BLAST|first=Geoffrey|last=Himes|date=November 15, 1991|via=www.washingtonpost.com}} The Spin Alternative Record Guide wrote that it "offers some idiosyncratic gems."{{cite book |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |date=1995 |publisher=Vintage Books |page=48}} Trouser Press wrote that Alvin's "no-frills singing sometimes fails to hold the spotlight, especially when the backing players crank up."{{cite web |title=Dave Alvin |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/dave-alvin/ |website=Trouser Press |access-date=17 February 2021}}
Track listing
All songs by Dave Alvin.
- "Blue Blvd" – 4:53
- "Guilty Man" – 4:36
- "Haley's Comet" – 4:21
- "Why Did She Stay with Him" – 4:20
- "Rich Man's Town" – 3:56
- "Gospel Night" – 4:50
- "Plastic Rose" – 4:18
- "Brand New Heart" – 3:36
- "Wanda and Duane" – 3:57
- "Andersonville" – 5:45
- "Dry River" – 3:54
Personnel
- Dave Alvin – vocals, guitar
- Don Falzone – bass
- Rick Solem – piano, organ
- Bobby Lloyd Hicks – drums
- Donald Lindley – drums
- Greg Leisz – guitar, mandolin, lap steel guitar, pedal steel guitar
- Lee Allen – tenor saxophone
- Dwight Yoakam – background vocals
- David Hidalgo – background vocals
- Terry Evans – background vocals
- Katy Moffatt – background vocals
Production notes
- Chris Silagyi – producer
- Bruce Bromberg – producer
- Dave Alvin – producer
- Michael Becker – engineer
- Steve Shepherd – engineer
- Paul DuGre – engineer
- Geza X – engineer
- Steve Klein – mixing
- Bernie Grundman – mastering
- Terri Lande Bromberg – design
- Beth Herzhaft – photography
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Dave Alvin}}
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