CD REVIEW
Mr. Hugo Ball
Blackjack David
Once I allowed myself to get past the slick, Tex-Mex country-folk sound of Blackjack David I found a series of sad, sad songs about runaways, renegades, disenfranchised war heroes and hard-luck drifters that got me crying in my drink. Just about every one of the 11 songs and traditional folk tunes told the haunting tale of people longing to connect with something but hopelessly doomed to miss whatever it is. A woman leaves her comfortable life, husband and child to live the fast life with a nomad gambler - a young nightclub dancer flees a life of physical abuse and broken relationships and travels half the country in the hope of meeting up with a better man who won't be there when she arrives - a deranged man murders the husband of a childhood friend to set her free from his oppressive grip and then is duped by her in court and left pining for her love... man I gotta take another sip of my Wiedemann... that's better. Dave Alvin is a singer/songwriter who lays his tragic tales over a backdrop of standard bluegrass and country instruments like pedal steel, dobro, mandolin, banjos and accordion. If you like AAA format radio, or any of the heart wrenching songs off Springsteen's The River then you like Dave Alvin and should snatch this up quick. (Hightone Records, 220 4th St. #101, Oakland, CA 94607).