Liberation Hall continues its wide-ranging reissue campaign encompassing all things Blasters-related by getting Phil Alvin’s second solo album, County Fair 2000, back into general circulation. Before writing this review I went to consult my original 1994 Hightone Records edition and was unable to find it. While this might speak to the general disarray of my CD library, it could just as well indicate that I didn’t know where to file the album. Blues, country, pop, ragtime, jazz, spoken interludes… County Fair 2000 has it all and then some. In fact, it’s that constant genre-hopping that made this record feel a bit like a patchwork to me all those years ago, and thus I was hard-pressed to bring it to mind when I sat down for this review. Hence, my desire to get the original back in hand and, perhaps also, as some kind of sign, its mysterious disappearance.
If anything, contemporary listening put me in mind of something like a vaudeville show, with New Orleans-inflected jazz like “What’s The Reason I’m Not Pleasin’ You,” solo country blues via the beautiful “That Thing,” and even comedy relief in the form of a version of “Wreck Your V-8 Ford” with Billy Boy Arnold and “Mr. Satellite Man” with both Mary Franklin and infamous LA rocker, Top Jimmy. I mean, there’s even a version of Sun Ra’s “Ankh.”
But if anyone doubts the power of good liner notes, here is a case in point. Again provided by long-time LA-based music writer Chris Morris, they reveal much. In fact, the record *is* stitched together. Originally conceived as a concept album with a spoken narrative, the record retains vestiges of this initial idea. After Hightone nixed the narrative, Phil began to rope in everyone and everything that stoked his enthusiasm, which turned out to be quite a lot. The money ran out long before the enthusiasm, at which point Phil just started recording in people’s homes. Put in this context, I quickly came to a new appreciation of the record. Maybe it’s more like a quilt work of American musical forms performed at the highest level, with Phil’s timeless voice and presence weaving it all together.
When I say Phil roped in everyone, I mean the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Los Lobos’ Cesar Rosas, the then-current members of The Blasters, and even Molly Ringwald’s dad, Bob (piano on “What’s The Reason I’m Not Pleasin’ You”). Perhaps most interesting to me is the inclusion of a street musician that Phil admired and befriended, James Bowman. It turns out Bowman wrote (and sings backing vocals on) my favorite song on the record, the lovely, shuffling “Keep In Touch,” done by The Blasters themselves. Again, kudos to Chris Morris for the liners.
If it seems like I’m reviewing around this record rather than through it, that may be another indication of how much is going on in County Fair 2000’s 56 minutes. So let me summarize by saying that Phil Alvin is one of the treasures of American music, and I believe a person should hear everything he’s ever done. (See my reviews of a couple of Liberation Hall’s Blasters releases, as well as Alvin’s first solo album, Un “Sung Stories,” elsewhere at The Daily Vault). While County Fair 2000 might not be the place to start with Phil Alvin, you’ll get here eventually, and you can thank Liberation Hall for making this record available again when you do. It’s also on vinyl for the very first time (although reduced by four tracks due to space constraints).
Finally, as you dig into the catalog, spare some healing thoughts for Phil Alvin himself, who has been dealing with health challenges the last few years. Here’s hoping he gets back on a stage soon.