Hey baby it's the Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July, we have some fireworks for you today.

Dave Alvin remembers years ago watching Austin City Limits for the first time in his home in Downey, California. On the stage for that show were a couple of legends that must have inspired him: Townes Van Zandt and Lightnin' Hopkins. 

Which is why he mentions after performing "Fourth of July" that words couldn't adequately describe his feelings about performing on the same stage. But we're of the opinion that no stage is too big for Alvin, who has never received his due as an artist and songwriter despite his barn-storming days in the Blasters and X, and an impressive catalog of solo work.

Anybody who thought Robert Earl Keen wrote "Fourth of July" owes Dave Alvin a red-white-and-blue apology. You can start by listening to the real deal, which starts as a slow burn and builds up to Alvin's pyrotechnic riffing on his Stratocaster (beginning at 3:46):

On the stairs I smoke a cigarette alone
Mexican kids are shooting fireworks below
Hey baby it's the Fourth of July
Hey baby it's the Fourth of July