The best CD of 2005 you probably never heard.........

is Dave Alvin and the Guilty Men's "The Great American Music Galaxy" issued on Y.R.P.S. (Yep Roc's Private Stock). The disc kicks off with Chris Gaffney taking lead vocals on "All Night Worker", a tune written by Rufus Thomas and also covered by The Tail Gators.

The selection of "All Night Worker" as the opening track says it all about Dave Alvin and his devotion to "roots" music. How many musicians would open a disc with a band member singing a cover tune? The Guilty Men rock hard through thirteen tracks including a funky "Sinful Daughter", "Abilene" and The Blaster's "Marie, Marie".

If you aren't familiar with Dave's music this is a good place to start. Dave's definition of Americana, from The Blaster's "American Music" (disclaimer:that track is not on this disc) pretty much tells you what to expect:

We got the Louisiana boogie and the Delta Blues Country swing and rockabilly, too
We got jazz, country-western and Chicago blues
It's the greatest music that you ever knew
Well it's American Music, it's American Music It's American Music.

Highly recommended. Do yourself a favor and buy a copy. Short on cash after the holidays? If it wouldn't piss so many people off I'd suggest trading in "Modern Times" and "The Seeger Sessions" and picking up this disc at your local used cd shop.

Note: This disc was released in 2005. I'm still working on my best of 2006 list (and you can probably guess two discs that won't be on it).