| Non Fiction | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1983 | |||
| Recorded | January 1983 | |||
| Studio | Ocean Way Recording | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 31:45 | |||
| Label | Slash [3] | |||
| Producer | The Blasters | |||
| The Blasters chronology | ||||
| ||||
Non Fiction is the third album by the American band the Blasters, released in 1983. [4] [5]
The album peaked at No. 95 on the Billboard 200. [6]
The album was produced by the Blasters; the band intended for it to be a concept album about "lost dreams," and a refutation of their revivalist music party image. [7] [8] "Long White Cadillac" is dedicated to Hank Williams. [9]
"Tag Along" is a cover of the Rocket Morgan song. [10] The other cover song, "Barefoot Rock", was released as a single; much to the band's chagrin, their record label kept choosing the Blasters' covers as singles, rather than their originals. [11]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Robert Christgau | A [2] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [12] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |  [13] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [14] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10 [15] |
The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau thought that "this is r&b Jerry Lee could be proud of ... Dave Alvin writes with an objective colloquial intensity that fits the straight-ahead dedication of his cross-racial and -generational band." [2] Trouser Press opined that the album "presents a series of well-crafted vignettes reminiscent of Robbie Robertson’s work with the Band." [7] The Philadelphia Inquirer determined: "Choosing the simplest words to tell clear, vivid stories, lyricist Dave Alvin is one of the best writers in popular music." [16]
The Washington Post wrote that "Phil Alvin's anguished voice is a treat... This singer, who can inflict a sense of torment on the silliest syllable, is one of rock's most underrated vocalists." [10] The New York Times concluded that the Blasters "are able to conjure a vision of America that is uniquely their own with the help of Dave Alvin's snapshot-sharp images and deftly idiomatic music." [17]
AllMusic wrote: "Like Television's Adventure and the New York Dolls' Too Much Too Soon , the Blasters' Non-Fiction followed an instant classic, and seemed like a disappointment on first glance, but give it a listen on its own terms, and it plays like the work of a great band working with heart, soul, and plenty of skill, and it's one of the finest roots rock discs of the '80s." [1] The Spin Alternative Record Guide stated that "Alvin's tales of men leaving and sometimes returning, lost in boomtowns and bus stations, resemble the drugstore paperbacks of '50s writers like Jim Thompson." [15] The San Diego Union-Tribune deemed Non Fiction the eighth best album of the 1980s. [18]
All tracks written by Dave Alvin, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Red Rose" | 2:31 |
| 2. | "Barefoot Rock" (LaCharles Harper, Joseph Scott) | 2:29 |
| 3. | "Bus Station" | 2:31 |
| 4. | "One More Dance" | 2:26 |
| 5. | "It Must Be Love" | 2:54 |
| 6. | "Jubilee Train" | 3:00 |
| 7. | "Long White Cadillac" | 2:54 |
| 8. | "Fool's Paradise" | 2:44 |
| 9. | "Boomtown" | 3:34 |
| 10. | "Leaving" | 3:26 |
| 11. | "Tag Along" (Rodney Morgan) | 2:53 |
| Total length: | 31:45 | |
| Chart (1983) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| United States (Billboard 200) [6] | 95 |
David Albert Alvin is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He is a former and founding member of the roots rock band the Blasters. Alvin has recorded and performed as a solo artist since the late 1980s and has been involved in various side projects and collaborations. He has had brief stints as a member of the bands X and the Knitters.
The Blasters are an American rock band formed in 1979 in Downey, California, by brothers Phil Alvin and Dave Alvin (guitar), with bass guitarist John Bazz and drummer Bill Bateman. Their self-described "American Music" is a blend of rockabilly, early rock and roll, punk rock, mountain music, and rhythm and blues and country.
Lone Justice is the debut studio album by American roots rock band Lone Justice, released in April 1985.
Pink Flag is the debut studio album by English rock band Wire. It was released in November 1977 by Harvest Records. The album gained Wire a cult following within independent and post-punk music upon its initial release, later growing to be highly influential on many other musicians.
Only a Lad is the debut studio album by American new wave band Oingo Boingo, released in 1981, following their self-titled EP.
Songs About Fucking is the second and final full-length studio album by the punk rock band Big Black, released in 1987 by Touch and Go Records, and reissued in 2018. The album includes a rendition of Kraftwerk's "The Model" in a remixed version from that which appeared on Big Black's then-recent single. The compact disc of Songs About Fucking added the other side of that single, a cover of Cheap Trick's "He's a Whore".
Perverted by Language is the sixth studio album by English post-punk group The Fall, released in December 1983 on Rough Trade Records.
Everything Falls Apart is the debut studio album by American punk rock band Hüsker Dü, released in January 1983 by Reflex Records.
Trouser Press was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press". Publication of the magazine ceased in 1984. The unexpired portion of mail subscriptions was completed by Rolling Stone sister publication Record, which itself folded in 1985. Trouser Press has continued to exist in various formats.
Philip Joseph Alvin is an American singer and guitarist known primarily as the leader of the rock band The Blasters. His voice has been described as "robust...powerful...rich, resonant, [and] supremely confident."
Hard Line is the fourth album by the American roots rock band the Blasters, released in 1985. Dave Alvin quit the band shortly after the album's release. The album peaked at No. 86 on the Billboard 200.
The Blasters is the second album by American rock band the Blasters. Originally released in the United States by the independent label Slash Records, its strong sales performance required a deal for wider distribution with Warner Bros. Records. The album was well received, being ranked among the top 10 albums of 1982 by Time magazine and peaking at number 36 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart.
Love is the third studio album by Scottish pop group Aztec Camera, released in November 1987 on Sire. While it was released under the Aztec Camera name, Roddy Frame was the only remaining permanent member of the group and he recorded the album alongside a group of session musicians. Departing from the indie and folk-rock approach of earlier records, Love incorporated R&B influences, seemingly to break the American market. It failed to do so but did achieve commercial success in the UK, reaching No. 10 on the albums chart, following the success of its third single "Somewhere in My Heart", which reached No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. As a result, it became the band's most commercially successful album.
American Music is the debut album by American rock band The Blasters, released in 1980.
Blue Blvd is an album by American musician Dave Alvin. It was released in 1991.
Romeo's Escape is the debut album by American artist Dave Alvin, released in 1987. It was released in Europe as Every Night About This Time. It has been reissued multiple times under both titles. The album included three songs previously written and recorded by Alvin with The Blasters,.
Bill Bateman is an American drummer best known for his long service in the Blasters. He has also played for the Flesh Eaters, the Red Devils, and the Cramps.
Un "Sung Stories" is the first solo album by the American musician Phil Alvin, released in 1986. Alvin supported the album with a North American tour. He then returned to his graduate studies in mathematics.
County Fair 2000 is the second solo album by the American musician Phil Alvin, released in 1994. It arrived eight years after his solo debut, Un "Sung Stories", and followed years Alvin devoted to mathematics work. Alvin supported the album by touring with a Dave Alvin-less version of the Blasters. Alvin called the album "American minstrel music."
Tales of the New West is the debut album by the American band the Beat Farmers, released in 1985. The band signed a one-album deal with Rhino Records. The album peaked at No. 186 on the Billboard 200. It had sold more than 40,000 copies by the end of 1985. An expanded edition of Tales of the New West was reissued in 2004.
