Biography
Emerging in July 1976 from Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue, the Alpha Band entered the music landscape carrying considerable anticipation. Mere weeks after forming, the group secured a contract with Clive Davis at Arista Records valued at a reported $6 million, an arrangement Davis promoted by calling the act one of the most significant to appear in years. Their music mixed a wide assortment of American roots approaches with pop and rock ingredients, orbiting singer-songwriters J. Henry "T-Bone" Burnett and Steven Soles along with multi-instrumentalist David Mansfield.
The ensemble's self-titled 1976 debut album, recorded with an expanded lineup that incorporated drummer Matt Betton and bassist David Jackson, presented a wide-ranging set of songs whose strongest features included Burnett's impressionistic lyrics, Soles' folk-pop compositions, and Mansfield's contributions on guitar, mandolin, and his standout violin. Burnett, Soles, and Mansfield remained together to issue two further albums, Spark in the Dark (1977) and the overtly Christian The Statue Makers of Hollywood (1978), before the band dissolved in 1979.
The ensemble's self-titled 1976 debut album, recorded with an expanded lineup that incorporated drummer Matt Betton and bassist David Jackson, presented a wide-ranging set of songs whose strongest features included Burnett's impressionistic lyrics, Soles' folk-pop compositions, and Mansfield's contributions on guitar, mandolin, and his standout violin. Burnett, Soles, and Mansfield remained together to issue two further albums, Spark in the Dark (1977) and the overtly Christian The Statue Makers of Hollywood (1978), before the band dissolved in 1979.
Albums
Singles
