Jackson C. Frank
Encyclopedia
Jackson Carey Frank was an American
folk music
ian.
. The fire killed fifteen of his fellow students and burned Frank over more than half his body. It was during his time in the hospital that he was first introduced to playing music, when a teacher, Charlie Castelli, brought in an acoustic guitar to keep Frank occupied during his recovery. When he was 21, he was awarded an insurance check of $110,500 for his injuries, giving him enough to "catch a boat to England."
, was produced by Paul Simon
while the two of them were also playing folk clubs in England. Frank was so shy during the recording that he asked to be shielded by screens so that Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel
, and Al Stewart
(who also attended the recording) could not see him, claiming 'I can't play. You're looking at me.' The most famous track, "Blues Run the Game
", was covered by Simon and Garfunkel
, and later by Counting Crows
and Colin Meloy
, and Laura Marling
, and Robin Pecknold (White Antelope), while Nick Drake
also recorded it privately. Another song, "Milk and Honey", appeared in Vincent Gallo
's film The Brown Bunny
, and was also covered by Fairport Convention
, Nick Drake
, and Sandy Denny
, whom he dated for a while. During their relationship, Jackson convinced Sandy to give up nursing (then her profession) and concentrate on music full time.
Although Frank was well received in England for a while, in 1966 things took a turn for the worse as his mental health began to unravel. At the same time he began to experience writer's block. His insurance payment was running out so he decided to go back to the United States for two years. When he returned to England in 1968 he was deemed a different person. His depression, stemming from the childhood trauma of the classroom fire, had increased and he had no self-confidence. Al Stewart recalled that:
, Frank went into a period of great depression and was ultimately committed to an institution. By the early 1970s Frank began to beg aid from friends. Karl Dallas wrote an enthusiastic piece in 1975 in Melody Maker
, and in 1978, his 1965 album was re-released as Jackson Frank Again, with a new cover sleeve, although this did not encourage fresh awareness of Frank.
, found him gone with no forwarding address when she arrived home. He was living on the street and was frequently admitted and discharged from various institutions. He was treated for paranoid schizophrenia, a diagnosis that was probably correct, though he had always claimed that he actually had depression caused by the trauma he had experienced as a child. Just as Frank’s prospects seemed to be at their worst, a fan from the area around Woodstock, Jim Abbott, discovered him in the early 1990s. Abbott had been discussing music with Mark Anderson, a teacher at the local college
he was attending. The conversation had turned to folk music
, which they both enjoyed, when Abbott asked the teacher if he had heard of Frank. He recollected:
Frank, who had known Anderson from their days at Gettysburg College, had decided to write him to ask if there was anywhere in Woodstock he could stay after he had made up his mind to leave New York City. Abbott phoned Frank, and then organized a temporary placement for him at a senior citizens’ home in Woodstock. Abbott was stunned by what he saw when he travelled to New York to visit Frank.
Soon after this, Frank was sitting on a bench in New York while awaiting a move to Woodstock, when someone shot him in his left eye and consequently blinded him. At first no details were known, but it was later determined that children from the neighborhood were firing a pellet gun indiscriminately at people and Frank happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Abbott then promptly helped him move to Woodstock. During this time, Frank began recording some demos of new songs. Frank’s resurfacing led to the first CD release of his self-titled album. In some pressings, Frank's later songs were included as a bonus disc with the album.
Frank died of pneumonia and cardiac arrest in Great Barrington, Massachusetts
on March 3, 1999, at the age of 56.
, Nick Drake
, Sandy Denny
, Bert Jansch
, and Robin Pecknold
(as White Antelope) of Fleet Foxes.
Frank's song "I Want To Be Alone", also known as "Dialogue", appeared on the soundtrack for the film Daft Punk's Electroma
.
Marianne Faithfull
covered Frank's arrangement of a traditional song, "Kimbie" on her 2008 album Easy Come, Easy Go
and included the song in the repertoire of her 2009 tour.
Erland & The Carnival also covered "My Name is Carnival", apparently Frank's favourite song. Bert Jansch also covered this song as a gesture to Frank.
Sandy Denny
's song, "Next Time Around", contains coded references to Frank, her ex-boyfriend.
"Marcy's Song" is played by Patrick, John Hawkes
Character, in the 2011 film Martha Marcy May Marlene
.
Re-issues:- 1978 ('Jackson Again', vinyl), 1996 (CD), 2001 (vinyl), 2001 (CD), 2003 (2 CD)
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
ian.
Early life
When Jackson Frank was 11, a furnace exploded at his school, sending a ball of flames down corridors until it ended up in Frank's music classroom in the Cleveland Hill Elementary School in Cheektowaga, New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The fire killed fifteen of his fellow students and burned Frank over more than half his body. It was during his time in the hospital that he was first introduced to playing music, when a teacher, Charlie Castelli, brought in an acoustic guitar to keep Frank occupied during his recovery. When he was 21, he was awarded an insurance check of $110,500 for his injuries, giving him enough to "catch a boat to England."
Music career
His eponymous 1965 album, Jackson C. FrankJackson C. Frank (album)
Jackson C. Frank is the 1965 self-titled album by Jackson C. Frank, released by Columbia . It was produced by Paul Simon, and both Al Stewart and Art Garfunkel attended the recording. Frank was apparently so nervous at the time that, in order to play and sing, he had to have screens around him...
, was produced by Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
while the two of them were also playing folk clubs in England. Frank was so shy during the recording that he asked to be shielded by screens so that Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel
Art Garfunkel
Arthur Ira "Art" Garfunkel is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and actor, best known as being a member of the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel...
, and Al Stewart
Al Stewart
Al Stewart is a Scottish singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician.Stewart came to stardom as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s, and developed his own unique style of combining folk-rock songs with delicately woven tales of the great characters and events from history.He is...
(who also attended the recording) could not see him, claiming 'I can't play. You're looking at me.' The most famous track, "Blues Run the Game
Blues Run the Game
"Blues Run the Game" is a song written and performed by Jackson C. Frank, which has been performed by various other artists, such as Simon and Garfunkel, Sandy Denny and Nick Drake, and later by Bert Jansch, Counting Crows, John Mayer, Colin Meloy and Laura Marling....
", was covered by Simon and Garfunkel
Simon and Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel are an American duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They formed the group Tom & Jerry in 1957 and had their first success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl". As Simon & Garfunkel, the duo rose to fame in 1965, largely on the strength of the...
, and later by Counting Crows
Counting Crows
Counting Crows is an American rock band originating from Berkeley, California. Formed in 1991, the group gained popularity following the release of its debut album in 1993, August and Everything After, which featured the hit single "Mr. Jones"...
and Colin Meloy
Colin Meloy
Colin Patrick Henry Meloy is the lead singer and songwriter for the Portland, Oregon, folk-rock band The Decemberists. In addition to vocals, he performs with an acoustic guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bouzouki, harmonica, percussion and interpretive hand gestures.-Early life...
, and Laura Marling
Laura Marling
Laura Beatrice Marling is an English folk musician from Eversley, Hampshire.Initially prominent within the London folk scene, she has also toured with a number of well-known indie artists in the UK. Her debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim and her second album I Speak Because I Can were nominated for...
, and Robin Pecknold (White Antelope), while Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
also recorded it privately. Another song, "Milk and Honey", appeared in Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo is an Italian-American film director and actor. Though he has had minor roles in mainstream films such as Goodfellas, he is most associated with independent movies, including Buffalo '66, which he wrote, directed, did the music for and starred in; The Brown Bunny, which he also...
's film The Brown Bunny
The Brown Bunny
The Brown Bunny is a 2003 independent American art house film written, produced and directed by actor Vincent Gallo about a motorcycle racer on a cross-country drive who is haunted by memories of his former lover. The film had its world premiere at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival to boos and catcalls...
, and was also covered by Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
, Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
, and Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny , born Alexandra Elene Maclean Denny, was an English singer and songwriter, perhaps best known as the lead singer for the folk rock band Fairport Convention...
, whom he dated for a while. During their relationship, Jackson convinced Sandy to give up nursing (then her profession) and concentrate on music full time.
Although Frank was well received in England for a while, in 1966 things took a turn for the worse as his mental health began to unravel. At the same time he began to experience writer's block. His insurance payment was running out so he decided to go back to the United States for two years. When he returned to England in 1968 he was deemed a different person. His depression, stemming from the childhood trauma of the classroom fire, had increased and he had no self-confidence. Al Stewart recalled that:
Woodstock 1970
While in Woodstock, he married Elaine Sedgwick, an English former fashion model. They had a son and later a daughter, Angeline. After his son died of Cystic FibrosisCystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is a recessive genetic disease affecting most critically the lungs, and also the pancreas, liver, and intestine...
, Frank went into a period of great depression and was ultimately committed to an institution. By the early 1970s Frank began to beg aid from friends. Karl Dallas wrote an enthusiastic piece in 1975 in Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
, and in 1978, his 1965 album was re-released as Jackson Frank Again, with a new cover sleeve, although this did not encourage fresh awareness of Frank.
1980s - death
In 1984, Frank took a trip to New York City in a desperate bid to locate Paul Simon, but he ended up sleeping on the sidewalk. His mother, who had been in hospital for open heart surgeryOpen Heart Surgery
Open Heart Surgery was released on August 8, 2000 by rock band Virginwool. The band signed to Breaking/Atlantic Records after initially beginning signed to Universal Records. The album was produced and mixed by Brad Wood....
, found him gone with no forwarding address when she arrived home. He was living on the street and was frequently admitted and discharged from various institutions. He was treated for paranoid schizophrenia, a diagnosis that was probably correct, though he had always claimed that he actually had depression caused by the trauma he had experienced as a child. Just as Frank’s prospects seemed to be at their worst, a fan from the area around Woodstock, Jim Abbott, discovered him in the early 1990s. Abbott had been discussing music with Mark Anderson, a teacher at the local college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
he was attending. The conversation had turned to folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, which they both enjoyed, when Abbott asked the teacher if he had heard of Frank. He recollected:
Frank, who had known Anderson from their days at Gettysburg College, had decided to write him to ask if there was anywhere in Woodstock he could stay after he had made up his mind to leave New York City. Abbott phoned Frank, and then organized a temporary placement for him at a senior citizens’ home in Woodstock. Abbott was stunned by what he saw when he travelled to New York to visit Frank.
Soon after this, Frank was sitting on a bench in New York while awaiting a move to Woodstock, when someone shot him in his left eye and consequently blinded him. At first no details were known, but it was later determined that children from the neighborhood were firing a pellet gun indiscriminately at people and Frank happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Abbott then promptly helped him move to Woodstock. During this time, Frank began recording some demos of new songs. Frank’s resurfacing led to the first CD release of his self-titled album. In some pressings, Frank's later songs were included as a bonus disc with the album.
Frank died of pneumonia and cardiac arrest in Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,104 at the 2010 census. Both a summer resort and home to Ski Butternut, Great Barrington includes the villages of Van...
on March 3, 1999, at the age of 56.
Legacy
Though he never achieved fame during his lifetime, his songs have been covered by many well-known artists, including Simon and Garfunkel, Counting CrowsCounting Crows
Counting Crows is an American rock band originating from Berkeley, California. Formed in 1991, the group gained popularity following the release of its debut album in 1993, August and Everything After, which featured the hit single "Mr. Jones"...
, Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
, Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny , born Alexandra Elene Maclean Denny, was an English singer and songwriter, perhaps best known as the lead singer for the folk rock band Fairport Convention...
, Bert Jansch
Bert Jansch
Herbert "Bert" Jansch was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s, as an acoustic guitarist, as well as a singer-songwriter...
, and Robin Pecknold
Robin Pecknold
Robin Noel Pecknold is an American singer, guitarist and principal songwriter for the band Fleet Foxes.-Biography:He formed Fleet Foxes with guitarist and friend Skyler Skjelset while the two were at school...
(as White Antelope) of Fleet Foxes.
Frank's song "I Want To Be Alone", also known as "Dialogue", appeared on the soundtrack for the film Daft Punk's Electroma
Daft Punk's Electroma
Daft Punk's Electroma is a 2007 film by French duo Daft Punk. The plot revolves around the quest of two robots to become human. The music featured in this film is not by Daft Punk, which is a first for the duo after their previous film and home video releases, D.A.F.T. and Interstella 5555...
.
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
covered Frank's arrangement of a traditional song, "Kimbie" on her 2008 album Easy Come, Easy Go
Easy Come, Easy Go (Marianne Faithfull album)
Easy Come, Easy Go is a studio album of cover versions by English singer-songwriter Marianne Faithfull, which was released in the EU on 10 November 2008. The album is produced by Hal Willner and features guest appearances from a variety of musicians...
and included the song in the repertoire of her 2009 tour.
Erland & The Carnival also covered "My Name is Carnival", apparently Frank's favourite song. Bert Jansch also covered this song as a gesture to Frank.
Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny , born Alexandra Elene Maclean Denny, was an English singer and songwriter, perhaps best known as the lead singer for the folk rock band Fairport Convention...
's song, "Next Time Around", contains coded references to Frank, her ex-boyfriend.
"Marcy's Song" is played by Patrick, John Hawkes
John Hawkes (actor)
John Hawkes is an American film and television actor. He is known for his portrayal of the merchant Sol Star on the HBO series Deadwood, Dustin Powers on Eastbound & Down, and his Academy Award-nominated performance as the menacing backwoods meth addict Teardrop in Winter's Bone.-Life and...
Character, in the 2011 film Martha Marcy May Marlene
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Martha Marcy May Marlene is a 2011 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Sean Durkin, and starring Elizabeth Olsen , John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, and Hugh Dancy...
.
Albums
- Jackson C. FrankJackson C. Frank (album)Jackson C. Frank is the 1965 self-titled album by Jackson C. Frank, released by Columbia . It was produced by Paul Simon, and both Al Stewart and Art Garfunkel attended the recording. Frank was apparently so nervous at the time that, in order to play and sing, he had to have screens around him...
(1965)
Re-issues:- 1978 ('Jackson Again', vinyl), 1996 (CD), 2001 (vinyl), 2001 (CD), 2003 (2 CD)
External links
- Jackson C. Frank homepage
- Jackson C Frank Complete Discography at the Folk Blues & Beyond website
- http://www.myspace.com/jacksoncfrank tribute album project
- Review of Jackson C. Frank at Crawdaddy!Crawdaddy!Crawdaddy! was the first U.S. magazine of rock and roll music criticism. Created in 1966 by college student Paul Williams in response to the increasing sophistication and cultural influence of popular music, Crawdaddy! was self-described as "the first magazine to take rock and roll...