New Highway: Selected Lyrics, Poems, Prose, Essays, Eulogies and Blues

by Dave Alvin

Overview

Celebrated singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Alvin is, first and foremost, a storyteller. The Grammy winning artist's disarmingly well-crafted lyrics represent just one of the many expressions of his unique ability to capture the gritty and beautiful moments of life with the written word. This anthology of his writing is a companion piece to Dave's considerable musical output, and presents a staggering cross section of his work.

New Highway includes a generous selection of his celebrated poetry; excerpts of his moving prose; newspaper articles and essays on artists including Frank Zappa, Bo Diddley, and Ray Charles (which earned Dave a Grammy nomination); tributes to influences such as Merle Haggard; a long-lost interview with Buck Owens; and, of course, a carefully curated representation of his inimitable lyrics. Packed with rich imagery and poignant observations, New Highway follows Dave's previous collections Nana, Big Joe & the Fourth of July, and Any Rough Times Are Now Behind You: Selected Poems & Writings: 1979-1995.

If you know Dave Alvin for his music, this collection will give you deeper insight into the heart of an artist whose pen knows no boundaries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781947026919
Publisher:	BMG Books
Publication date:	09/20/2022
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Dave Alvin is a Grammy-winning artist, musician, songwriter, and poet. A founding member of The Blasters, he has gone on to release well over a dozen critically-acclaimed solo albums, and has published two previous collections of his poetry.

Table of Contents

Introduction xiii

Leaving a Poet's Funeral 1

Ashgrove 2

American Music 4

Meeting Mr. Phillips 6

Johnny Otis: An Appreciation 8

Flat Top Joint 10

Gene Vincent's Last Show 12

Rock and Roll Will Stand 15

Do Not Play the Beat 17

Boss of the Blues 19

Big Joe Turner 21

Lee Allen 22

Hollywood Bed 24

Johnny Ace Is Dead 25

Black Sky 27

In Memory of Ed Pearl, 1931-2021 29

New Highway 31

Dixie Highway Blues 33

Long White Cadillac 34

The Blasters' American Musk 35

Two Lucky Bums 37

1968 39

Six Nights a Week 41

No Worries Mija 42

Run Conejo Run 43

Gaffney Hates Poetry 45

Fourth of July in the Dark 50

Fourth of July 52

Signal Hill Blues 53

No Other Girl 54

Wanda and Duane 56

Little Honey 58

Why Did She Stay with Him? 60

So Long Baby Goodbye 62

Blues for Miss Mercy 63

Frank Zappa at the Roxy 65

A Heart That's Truel 69

King Cry Baby 73

A Meeting with the Man 75

Harlan County Line 77

Barn Burning 79

Dark Night 81

The Underlying Message, 2020 82

Rich Man's Town 84

Common Man 86

Peace Poem 88

Jubilee Train 89

Man in the Bed 91

Brother on the Line 93

Gary, Indiana, 1959 94

Boomtown 96

Trouble Bound 98

Out of Control 100

Thirty Dollar Room 102

Blue Shadows 104

Interstate City 105

Beautiful City 'Cross the River 107

Everybody Likes the Ventures, 1981 108

Blue Boulevard 112

Downey to Lubbock 114

Abilene 116

For Nanci Griffith 118

Bus Station 119

Evening Blues 120

Anyway 122

Black Rose of Texas 123

Angel on Your Shoulder 125

Marie Marie 127

Kathleen 128

Memphis, Tennessee, November 1981 129

Bob Biggs, 1946-2020 131

Guilty Man 134

Mary Brown 136

Murrietta's Head 138

Billy the Kid and Gerommo 140

Andersonville 141

Public Domain Liner Notes 142

Dry River 144

Far Away 146

Everett Ruess 148

Manzanita 149

The Day after Seeing Jimi Hendrix When I Was 13 Years Old 151

Nana and Jimi 154

Red Rose 155

Downey Girl 157

Black Haired Girl 158

Every Night about This Time 159

Border Radio 161

From a Kitchen Table 163

West of the West Liner Notes 165

King of California 168

California's Burning 170

California Snow 171

Out in California 172

Haley's Comet 173

Between the Cracks 175

Rio Grande 176

Moses on Mount Sinai-One Night in Italy 178

Death of the Last Stripper 180

Nine Volt Heart 181

Help You Dream 182

A Poem for Merle Haggard 183

Tulare Dust: A Songwriters' Tribute to Merle Haggard, Liner Notes 185

Highway 99 187

"Just Don't Mention Don Rich" 189

Buck Owens: from the Streets of Bakersfield 193

Blues for Bruce Bromberg 204

Romeo's Escape 205

Plastic Rose 207

Paternity Test 209

Common Ground Liner Notes 211

What's Up with Your Brother? 213

Southwest Chief 215

Springfield, Illinois, October 12, 2015 217

Somewhere in Time 218

(I Won't Be) Leaving 219

For the Rest of My Life 220

Basic Dave Alvin Discography 223

Acknowledgments 225

Editorial Reviews

"Alvin's poems are naked depictions of lonely souls, dreamers, losers, heroes, and villains. A powerful overview of his literary vision." —L.A. Reader (review of Any Rough Times Are Now Behind You)

From the Publisher