- Source: Non Fiction (The Blasters album)
Non Fiction is the third album by the American band the Blasters, released in 1983.
The album peaked at No. 95 on the Billboard 200.
Production and release
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. "Long White Cadillac" is dedicated to Hank Williams.
"Tag Along" is a cover of the Rocket Morgan song. 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.
Critical reception
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." Trouser Press opined that the album "presents a series of well-crafted vignettes reminiscent of Robbie Robertson’s work with the Band." 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."
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." 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."
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." 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." The San Diego Union-Tribune deemed Non Fiction the eighth best album of the 1980s.
Track listing
All tracks written by Dave Alvin, except where noted.
Personnel
Lee Allen – tenor saxophone
Dave Alvin – composer, guitar, lyrics
Phil Alvin – guitar, harmonica, vocals
Bill Bateman – drums
John Bazz – bass
Steve Berlin – baritone saxophone
The Blasters – producer
Steve Crimmel – engineer
Frank Gargani – photography
Jim Hill – associate producer, engineer
Laura Livingston – engineer
Hudson Marquez – art direction, illustrations
Gene Taylor – piano, vocals