Public Domain (album)

Public Domain
Studio album by Dave Alvin
Released	August 15, 2000
Recorded	April 2000 at My Place or Yours Studio, Glendale, California
Genre	Folk
Length	1:01:15
Label	HighTone
Producer	Dave Alvin
Dave Alvin chronology
Blackjack David (1998) Public Domain (2000) Out in California (2002)

Public Domain (subtitled Songs from the Wild Land) is an album by American artist Dave Alvin, released in 2000.

At the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards the album won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album.

"The Murder of the Lawson Family" was recorded by The Stanley Brothers in March 1956. It is based on the mass murder of his family by Charlie Lawson.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	C+ [2]

Writing for Allmusic, music critic Denise Sullivan wrote of the album "This is the work of a scholar as well as a master craftsman."^[1] Robert Christgau wrote "If Harry Smith is what some people love about folk music, this is what other people hate about it, summed up by a title that claims humility as it sneaks presumption in the stage door—a title worthy of a brilliant record and dishonored by this dull one... It's not that these songs are all obvious or overdone—this nonfolkie had never heard a few of them. It's that they're so soft they squish even when Alvin tries to rev one past you, which usually he doesn't."^[2]

Track listing

All songs traditional unless otherwise noted.

1. "Shenandoah" – 4:08
2. "Maggie Campbell Blues" – 3:26
3. "A Short Life of Trouble" – 3:41
4. "What Does the Deep Sea Say?" – 3:01
5. "Engine 143" (A.P. Carter, Traditional) – 3:56
6. "Delia" – 3:38
7. "Dark Eyes" – 3:59
8. "Walk Right In" (Gus Cannon, Hosea Woods) – 3:28
9. "Murder of the Lawson Family" – 4:18
10. "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down" – 4:35
11. "Railroad Bill" – 3:27
12. "Texas Rangers" – 5:07
13. "Mama, 'Tain't Long For Day" – 3:19
14. "East Virginia Blues" – 4:17
15. "Sign of Judgment" (Kid Prince Moore) – 3:45
16. "Untitled Instrumental Track" (E. Smith) – 3:01

Personnel

• Dave Alvin – vocals, guitar, National Steel guitar
• Gregory Boaz – guitar
• Greg Leisz – dobro, slide guitar, mandolin
• Rick Shea – guitar, pedal steel guitar, mandolin, backing vocals
• Brantley Kearns – fiddle, backing vocals
• John "Juke" Logan – harmonica
• Joe Terry – accordion, Harmonium, organ, piano, backing vocals

Production notes

• Mark Linett – engineer, mixing
• Joe Gastwirt – mastering
• Lou Beach – design

References

1. Sullivan, Denise. "Public Domain > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
2. Christgau, Robert. "Dave Alvin Reviews". Retrieved July 13, 2014.