David Lynn Jones: Snapshot from 1988

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I sent an old Baylor friend the link to my most recent blog entry on David Lynn Jones, and she thought that she recalled having "read an article in the Washington Post a year or two back on David Lynn Jones" that referred to his turn-around.

I was skeptical about that and suspected that she might have confused David Lynn Jones with some other country musician named "Jones," but I took the opportunity to search the Washington Post archives and thus happened across an old article from May 27, 1988 by Mike Joyce, "David Lynn Jones, Riding High," that offers a snapshot of David Lynn at a crucial moment in his career not long after his number one hit for Willie Nelson, "Living in the Promise Land," and at a time when he was trying to reach a larger audience for his own albums.

Apparently, he had recently played at the well-known music club "The Birchmere," which has launched many a music career, and Joyce begins by citing a humorous opening remark by David Lynn:

"You better be nice because we outnumber you," country-rocker David Lynn Jones told the audience at the Birchmere Wednesday night.

Nice line, for the audience was rather smaller than the capacity 500 seats, but David Lynn performed his best anyway:

Actually, the crowd was about five times the size of his eight-piece band, but Jones played flat-out anyway, turning in one of the most impressive shows staged at the club in recent memory.

Joyce goes on to say some things about David Lynn's voice and music:

Raised in Arkansas, Jones has a powerful, grainy voice that occasionally brings Guy Clark to mind, and one of his best known songs, "High Ridin' Heroes," bears a strong resemblance to Clark's "L.A. Freeway."

But that's all that the internet combined with the Washington Post archives offered minus a subscription or purchase. I'm curious what Joyce had to say about David Lynn in the other 60 to 70 remaining words, but perhaps some fan can provide the rest.

Meanwhile, it gives us something to reflect upon . . . maybe about life's opportunities that sometimes don't take us where we expect to find ourselves, but also -- given some more recent developments in David Lynn's life -- something about second chances.

UPDATE: John B has graciously provided the remainder of Mike Joyce's review:

Raised in Arkansas, Jones has a powerful, grainy voice that occasionally brings Guy Clark to mind, and one of his best known songs, "High Ridin' Heroes," bears a strong resemblance to Clark's "L.A. Freeway." But just as Clark's influence seemed obvious one moment, it vanished the next, as Jones and his band tore into some galloping, visceral rock tunes, including a couple of songs from an upcoming album. As rousing as these performances were, though, nearly every tune expressed a personal and often sobering viewpoint.

Local singer, songwriter and guitarist Dave Allen opened with a genial and crisply performed set of original material, rounded out by a couple of choice cover tunes.

Thank you John B.! David Lynn Jones fans owe you one. Have a beer on me sometime when you're in the neighborhood.