The LA punk scene in the early 80s was wild. You had bands like X, Black Flag, the Germs, and The Screamers all essentially helping to create their own regional flavor of punk, a genre that was just in its infancy. But the bands and fans were also open-minded enough to latch onto a group like The Blasters – steeped in rockabilly, classic R&B, and 1950s rock – and champion them as one of their own. As a result, The Blasters were free to indulge in their own sound and not worry about current musical trends. It didn’t take long before the band – just three years into their existence at the time – to start to pick up International attention leading them to fly over to London to play a monumental headlining show at the (unoriginally named) Venue in May 1982.
The show resulted in their first live record, the 6-song EP, Over There: Live at the Venue, London. A great sampler, but hardly a true documentation of that frenetic live set. Just in time for Record Store Day Black Friday, the label Liberation Hall is finally putting out the complete show, including the original six songs, plus 17 other tracks from the set. It’s a remarkable time capsule of the band in its prime. The original EP only included one original song from The Blasters’ “I Don’t Want To” and was filled out with covers (but solid covers) of Jerry Lee Lewis’s “High School Confidential,” Edwin Bruce’s “Rock Boppin’ Baby,” Little Richard’s “Keep A Knockin’,” Roy Orbison’s “Go, Go, Go,” and Big Joe Turner’s “Roll ‘Em Pete.”
In 2002, three more of the show’s songs were included on a compilation record, including the blistering saxophone instrumental “Walkin’ with Mr. Lee,” but this latest release is the definitive snapshot of that show, including phenomenal versions of “Marie Marie,” “American Music” and “I’m Shakin,’” as well as a rockabilly cover of Otis Redding’s “These Arms of Mine.” Any of these songs on their own are enough to win over the uninitiated; the entire album is enough to make you a lifelong fan of the band.
The Blasters would break up just three years after the initial live EP came out but had already planted the roots for an entirely new genre: alt country. They also influenced a number of other local artists from the early 1980s scene like Los Lobos and Dwight Yoakum, both of whom are still releasing new music today. The Blasters have reformed several times over the years with additional members with frontman Phil Alvin being the only constant.
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John Bazz has been there always with Phil as well on every incarnation of The Blasters and Bill Bateman was away only few years before returning to drumming duty