Territory | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1998 | |||
Genre | Blues | |||
Label | Hannibal/ Rykodisc | |||
Producer | Michael Nash, Carey Williams | |||
Alvin Youngblood Hart chronology | ||||
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Territory is the second album by the American musician Alvin Youngblood Hart, released in 1998. [1] [2] It was his first album for a Rykodisc label. [3] Hart supported the album with a British tour, as well as an appearance at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. [4] [5]
"Ice Rose" is a cover of the Captain Beefheart song. [6] "Illinois Blues" was written by Skip James. [7] " John Hardy" is a version of the traditional folk song. [8] Hart's cover of "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" was inspired by X's interpretation of the song. [9] "Countrycide" references an 1886 lynching in Carroll County, Mississippi. [10] Hart played acoustic guitar, electric guitar, six-strings, concertina, lap steel, 12-strings, dobro, and mandolin. [11]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [12] |
Birmingham Post | [13] |
Calgary Herald | [14] |
Robert Christgau | A− [15] |
Edmonton Journal | [3] |
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings | [16] |
Vancouver Sun | [8] |
The Observer called Hart "the best of the new crop of acoustic bluesmen." [6] The Chicago Tribune noted that "Hart's distinctive voice and rocking spirit draw a straight line through everything"; the paper chose the album as the second best blues album of 1998. [17] [18] The Calgary Herald wrote that "Hart stretches stylistically ... while impressively staying true to his acoustic blues heart." [14] The Birmingham Post deemed Hart "a wonderfully inventive player happily mining away at odd, forgotten seams in the vast motherlode of American music." [13]
The Washington Post opined: "Playing a variety of acoustic and electric instruments, he brings surprising color and texture to an improbable but thoroughly enjoyable collection." [19] Newsday concluded that "all this variety might be pointless showing-off were it not for his consistently inventive guitar and compelling vocals, which seem to carry urgent messages from a long-lost past." [20] JazzTimes determined that "Hart’s obvious command of Piedmont and Delta styles is beautifully balanced by a sincere and soulful expression." [21]
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Tallacatcha" | |
2. | "Illinois Blues" | |
3. | "Ouachita Run" | |
4. | "Sallie, Queen of the Pines" | |
5. | "Countrycide" | |
6. | "Ice Rose" | |
7. | "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" | |
8. | "Mama Don't Allow" | |
9. | " John Hardy" | |
10. | "Just About to Go" | |
11. | "Underway at Seven" |