Archive Archaeology: Phil Alvin
Un “Sung Stories”
Liberation Hall
Phil Alvin was no stranger to American roots music when he started work on Un “Sung Stories”. As singer for the Blasters, Phil was used to singing old time rock and roll, rockabilly, and blues. The Blasters, after all, emerged from the Los Angeles punk scene pioneering the genre now known as Americana. Even with his grounding in roots rock, Phil’s debut solo album took the way back machine back to pre-WWII pop, big band, and jump blues. Making things more head scratching and more interesting, Alvin enlisted both the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and the Sun Ra Arkestra to help give his tunes authentic swing,
The inspiration for Un “Sung Stories” came from a chance encounter with jazz pioneer, Sun Ra. Phil began planning a solo album with Ra. The plan was to record classic tunes that didn’t fit with the Blasters’ sound and were not popular with other revivalist groups at the time. In the end, Sun Ra arranged and played piano on three Cab Calloway songs: “The Old Man of the Mountain,” “Brother Can You Spare a Dime?,” and “The Ballad of Smokey Joe.” These tunes would be the last recordings Sun Ra made before his death. Other brass-fueled songs, like the gospel blues of “Someone Stole Gabriel’s Horn,” have members of The Dirty Dozen Brass Band providing the swing.
About half of Un “Sung Stories”, is big band numbers. The rest of the material is stripped-down country blues. “Next Week Sometime” is a droll tune about sidestepping temptation. When approached by a lady on the street who asks him to buy a fancy dinner, the singer replies, “Next week, sometime, but no, not now. I never did believe in buying Bordeaux for ladies on the very first date no how.” “Death in the Morning” has gospel harmonies on the chorus, “spare my life for just another year.” One of the first nationally publicized caving disasters is memorialized in the country folk of “Collins’ Cave.” In his time, Floyd Collins was a famous cave explorer. When he got trapped in Sand Cave in Kentucky, the rescue attempt made national news. Phil sings the sad tale accompanied by mournful fiddles.
Phil Alvin has had his ups and downs since releasing this solo album. Phil went back to school to earn an advanced degree in mathematics. He’s spent his time teaching math and leading various incarnations of the Blasters. In 2012, while touring in Spain, Alvin was hospitalized with a life threatening infection. Even though Phil had a tracheotomy, he made a full recovery with his voice intact. In January of 2023, Phil was hospitalized with an undisclosed ailment. As of April, 2023, Alvin was recovering in a rehabilitation facility. A fund to help Phil Alvin with his medical care has been set up with the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund. Sweet Relief provides financial assistance to all types of career musicians who are struggling to make ends meet while facing physical or mental health issues, disability, or age-related problems.
