Jacob's Trouble

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Jacob's Trouble
Background information
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Genre(s)	Rock
Years active	1989 - 1998
Label(s)	¡Alarma! Records
Associated acts	Janah sideways8
Members
Jerry Davison Mark Blackburn Steve Atwell
Former members
Ron Cochran Keith Johnston

Jacob's Trouble was a rock and roll band that originated in the Atlanta area in the 1980s. Committed to Jesus and a Beatles-esque sound, the group originally consisted of members Jerry Davison (drums), Mark Blackburn (guitar), and Steve Atwell (bass), with Davison and Blackburn handling the lead vocals.

In 1989, Jacob's Trouble released their debut Terry Taylor produced album, The Door Into Summer that featured several well received originals ("Wind and Wave", "She Smiles at the Future", "The Church of Do What You Want To", and "Awfully Familiar") as well as covers of the Beatles' "Tell Me What You See" and the Monkees' "Door into Summer".

One year later, the band released Knock, Breathe, Shine, an excellent sophomore effort that stretched the group both lyrically and musically. The band received notice at the time for the song "About Sex", a song about the proper role of sex in society from a Christian perspective. Fearing a fundamentalist label, the band opted to remove the song from the album and replaced it with the more ambiguous "About Sex, Part 2". Despite the controversy, the album remains the group's strongest selling. Songs included "There Goes My Heart Again", "Is It True", "Mr. Hitler", "I'm A Little World", and "Look at You Now". Arguably the highlight of this rare CD is the original version of "These Thousand Hills," which was later popularized by Christian music megastars and fellow Atlantans, Third Day.

1 New lineup
2 Split and reunion
3 Discography
4 Sources

[edit] New lineup

Desiring to expand their horizons, the group added two new members (Ron Cochran on drums and guitarist Keith Johnston) who they had hoped would bring new ideas to the format as well as allow Davison to come out from behind the drum set and become the band's principal singer.

The album ...let the Truth Run Wild! was the first effort by the band's new line-up. While lacking the uniqueness of their first album and the experimental curiosity of their second, the album nevertheless contained some gems, including the Gospel cover "I'd Rather Have Jesus" and the Beatles-inspired "Love is the Reason We Live". It also featured the one and only music video the band would ever release, "Something Good Happens."

Blackburn left the band shortly after the third album, but the band continued to grow musically and lyrically with the album Jacob's Trouble, in an attempt to allow more of their modern rock influences to be showcased, with songs like "Wild, Wild Ride." Although it was generally well received, a few critics complained the new sound was a rip off of U2 (truth be told, the group played U2 style songs throughout their career, notably "Psalm 151" and "Waiting for the Son" from their debut album).

[edit] Split and reunion

Jacob's Trouble split after the fourth album and subsequent tour. A collection of "rarities" was released in 1994 entitled Diggin' Up Bones, which featured the long lost "About Sex", the "ode" to celebrity "If Superman Got Saved", and covers of the Byrds' "Turn! Turn! Turn!" (recorded live) and Eric Clapton's "Let It Rain". All of their CDs are currently out of print but can be found inexpensively on eBay.

The group reunited briefly in 1998 to record a new song, "Step By Step," for a best of disc called The Jacob's Trouble Sampler Pak.. Atwell, Johnston, and Cochran continue to record together under the name Janah. Jerry Davison recorded one CD under the name sideways8 in 1998 and occasionally releases the odd song here and there via such internet music sites as garageband.com and IUMA.com. He currently resides in Las Vegas, NV where he serves as Creative Arts Director for Hope Baptist Church. Mark Blackburn is media director at Eastside Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga.