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Chris Knight
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The Jealous Kind
Dualtone
Release: 9/23/2003
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Rated:
Review by:
David Strickler
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Flying over Colorado at 33,000 feet seems far removed from the dirt roads of Kentucky that Chris Knight has been singing about on his third release, The Jealous Kind. But if you've ever driven an old truck down a long black highway all night for a chance on love, it doesn't seem very unrealistic at all. Chris Knight tells stories. Always has. For years, he's professed John Prine and Steve Earle as major influences on his music, yet on this release nods could be made to Texas stalwarts Robert Earl Keen and Jack Ingram.
His songs have always seemed to have a wandering theme. All eleven songs on the album are about leaving something, whether it is an abusive relationship, workers abandoning a mine running out of coal or Dust-Bowl refugees chasing their hopes and dreams. In "A Train Not Running," penned with Stacy Dean Campbell, Knight worries about providing for his family after the coal mine train stops hauling its load. "Now some nights when our baby cries, I feel a twinge of fear, When the sound of a train not running, Is the only thing I hear." Also, in "Carla Came Home," we see a young boy sent out to chop wood after his sister comes home for Christmas wearing sunglasses and has blood on her clothes. After he realizes "Daddy's Winchester wasn't hanging on the wall," the listener understands what happens to his no
account brother-in-law.
Dan Baird (of Georgia Satellites fame) lent near flawless production to The Jealous Kind. Chris Knight's voice has always had a limited range, but remains one of the most effective tools in conveying both his messages of hope and despair. Baird has capitalized on this, showcasing just how effective the right inflection can make you smile or weep. I must admit, I've been a fan of Chris Knight since his first album. The songs are real country songs. Maybe it's the universal appeal of the gamut of human emotions Knight portrays. Maybe it's his damn fine live show. And since I'm on a bumpy flight now somewhere over Nebraska, I think it just might be a wandering thing. |
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