The Knitters Poor Little Critter On The Road LP

It's been 37 years since the release of Poor Little Critter On The Road, the debut album from The Knitters, the original alt-country band comprised of three members of X, one Blaster and a Red Devil. It was in 1985 that Exene Cervenka, John Doe and DJ Bonebrake joined Dave Alvin and Jonny Ray Bartel to record the critically acclaimed debut for a sound that Alvin described as, "It's like if the guys at Sun Records dropped LSD and made a record with Lead Belly and the Carter Family. That's what The Knitters sound like."

This album has not been released on vinyl since its original release in 1985. The Knitters are credited as one of the biggest influences on the alt-country movement. Nan Warshaw said there would not be the idea for Bloodshot Records if there wasn't a Knitters. Jeff Tweedy has talked about the influence they had on him.

Though the band played live frequently, they haven't recorded much with only this 1985 gem and a follow-up made 20 years later. Both records are great, but I lean toward the stony edged quality of this debut release. These versions of Merle Haggard's 'Silver Wings,' Leadbelly's 'Rock Island Line' and X tunes like 'The New World' and 'Love Shack' sound ragged and blissed out, as if they were made by a band at the end of a four-hour, beer fueled set at a roadside honky tonk.