This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
It all started innocently enough.
Back in the ’80s, three members of L.A. punk rock OGs X teamed up with Blasters guitarist and old pal Dave Alvin and a standup bassist to play old country songs (and a few new ones) for the sheer fun of it. As The Knitters, they put out one album, Poor Little Critter On The Road, way back in 1985. Little did they know they planted the seed for the whole current crop of insurgent country acts. So it’s only right that some of them start repaying that debt with Poor Little Knitter On The Road, a track-by-track reworking of Critter by bands such The Sadies, Whiskeytown, Old 97’s and Robbie Fulks. Nothing could top the original, but this comes damn close — and a newly unearthed Knitters track, Why Don’t We Try Anymore, is worth the price of admission alone.
