King of California (album) explained
King of California is an album by the American musician Dave Alvin, released in 1994.
Reception
AllMusic critic Mark Deming wrote: "While King of California was often lumped in with the then-fashionable unplugged craze, in retrospect it was the album where Dave Alvin's abilities as a performer began to catch up with his gifts as a songwriter, pointing the way for his later albums Blackjack David and Public Domain."
Track listing
All songs by Dave Alvin unless otherwise noted.
- "King of California" – 4:51
- "Barn Burning" – 4:01
- "Fourth of July" – 4:35
- "Goodbye Again" (Dave Alvin, Rosie Flores) – 3:58 (duet with Flores)
- "East Texas Blues" (Alex Moore) – 4:07
- "Every Night About This Time" – 4:24
- "Bus Station" – 4:04
- "Mother Earth" (Memphis Slim) – 3:39
- "Blue Wing" (Tom Russell) – 3:43
- "Little Honey" (Alvin, John Doe) – 5:10
- "(I Won't Be) Leaving" – 5:06
- "What Am I Worth" (Darrell Edwards, George Jones) – 3:20 (duet with Syd Straw)
- "Border Radio" – 3:51
Bonus tracks on 2019 reissue
- "Riverbed Rag" – 3:11
- "The Cuckoo" – 4:06 (duet with Katy Moffatt)
- "Kern River" (Merle Haggard) – 3:55
Personnel
- Dave Alvin – vocals, guitar
- Chris Gaffney – background vocals
- Bob Glaub – bass
- Patrick Warren – keyboards
- Don Heffington – drums, percussion
- James Cruce – drums, percussion, washboard
- Bob Clar – bass, percussion
- Greg Leisz – guitar, slide guitar, pedal steel guitar, lap slide guitar, Weissenborn, mandolin
- Alan Deremo – bass
- Skip Edwards – accordion, organ
- Don Falzone – bass
- Rosie Flores – vocals on "Goodbye Again"
- Bobby Lloyd Hicks – drums, percussion, background vocals
- James Intveld – bass
- David Jackson – accordion
- Donald Lindley – drums, percussion, background vocals
- Syd Straw – vocals on "What Am I Worth"
- Steve Van Gelder – fiddle
- Jimmie Wood - Harmonica
Production notes
- Paul DuGre – engineer, mixing
- Joe Peccerillo – assistant engineer
- Gavin Lurssen – mastering
- Shelly Heber – design
- Beth Herzhaft – photography
