Territory (Alvin Youngblood Hart album)

"Ice Rose" is a cover of the Captain Beefheart song.[6] "Illinois Blues" was written by Skip James.[7] "John Hardy" is a version of the traditional folk song.[8] Hart's cover of "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" was inspired by X's interpretation of the song.[9] "Countrycide" references an 1886 lynching in Carroll County, Mississippi.[10] Hart played acoustic guitar, electric guitar, six-strings, concertina, lap steel, 12-strings, dobro, and mandolin.[11]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
Birmingham Post	[13]
Calgary Herald	[14]
Robert Christgau	A−[15]
Edmonton Journal	[3]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings	[16]
Vancouver Sun	[8]

The Observer called Hart "the best of the new crop of acoustic bluesmen."[6] The Chicago Tribune noted that "Hart's distinctive voice and rocking spirit draw a straight line through everything"; the paper chose the album as the second best blues album of 1998.[17][18] The Calgary Herald wrote that "Hart stretches stylistically ... while impressively staying true to his acoustic blues heart."[14] The Birmingham Post deemed Hart "a wonderfully inventive player happily mining away at odd, forgotten seams in the vast motherlode of American music."[13]

The Washington Post opined: "Playing a variety of acoustic and electric instruments, he brings surprising color and texture to an improbable but thoroughly enjoyable collection."[19] Newsday concluded that "all this variety might be pointless showing-off were it not for his consistently inventive guitar and compelling vocals, which seem to carry urgent messages from a long-lost past."[20] JazzTimes determined that "Hart’s obvious command of Piedmont and Delta styles is beautifully balanced by a sincere and soulful expression."[21]