The Columbia Gypsy
DAVID JACOBS-STRAIN
Longest Road I Know: Live In Concert
Hang-Dog Music 2102 (2001)
From Eugene, David plays classic blues, "country blues" as they call it. David has played around the Northwest, he's 17 and this is his second album. All the songs on this album were recorded live, two of them in Hood River about 20 miles from where I live.
There is nothing more to the band than David and his National guitar (I'm not sure it's always a National), and there is that stark, live sound to all the tracks. His voice is fine, though not exceptional, but the guitar playing is just wonderful and packed with precision, energy, and invention. Otis Taylor's "Bowlegged Charlie" stands out, driving and quick as a knife. The next track switches on to dead slow with the traditional "Wild Bill Jones," a nice contrast. The arrangements vary; for instance, there's a muffled, funky sound to John Lee Hooker's "Bottle Up And Go;" "John Harding/Lining Track" becomes fast and chanty and almost brutal. Two of the songs on Longest Road are by Fred McDowell, also some are by Sleepy John Estes, R.L. Burnside, Taj Mahal, and so on down the line. The last track, "Silver on Your Decks," is an original. I do believe that though coming from the Willamette Valley David catches the soul of these Southern songs in his hands.
David tours on and off with Joe Craven.
The Columbia Gypsy