What strikes you about I Watched The Devil Die is the feeling that you've walked into a room where Chris Cotton's already in business. It has an unpretentiously good feeling about it, and pulls on your imagination. Cotton writes about half the tunes here, and shows a strong feel for a driving folk blues with excellent bass-runs on the guitar. The covers draw from Skip James, Willie McTell and John Hurt, evidencing Cotton's area of investigation. He traveled down to Clarksdale, Mississippi, to record the date on vintage gear in the old WROX radio building using area talent. Big Jack Johnson guests on a cut. This is young-at-heart-wise-in-time blues, ragged but right, from a man who gives it up.
