He was really close friend with Sandy Denny, John Kay of Steppenwolf and Paul Simon.
He influenced Nick Drake, Counting Crows, Tom Paxton, Dave Cousins, Bert Jansch and so many others...
Jackson has had a major impact on modern folk, he obviously is one of the forefathers of folk music.
Jackson's influences:
"When I was 21 years old John Kay and I took off to Toronto and we tried to spend as much money as fast as possible. I bought a Jaguar straight out of a showroom. We went all over the Northeast dropping into clubs and meeting musicians. We were heavily into the blues back then. We listened a lot to John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGee, and the Library of Congress collection of blues artists."
Frank also had an early appreciation and love for folk songs, especially historical folk songs that told a story:
"By the time I was seventeen I was recording songs for friends. I had a whole album of Civil War tunes. I began collecting old Civil War songs with a passion, and I would record the ones I could sing. I remember going into a studio back then and cutting a side of tracks for $7"
Sounds Like
'Jackson C Frank' (eponym album) - 1965
"I recorded my album in under three hours in a CBS studio on New Bond Street in London. I remember hiding behind a screen while I was singing and playing, because I was just a little nervous and I didn't want anyone to see me"
His one and only album has been enough to put Jackson C Frank amongst the best folk singer ever.
Then he recorded:
Studio tracks in 1960 for an envisaged album entitled "Peaches & Crust", they are beautifully sang country songs.
Studio tracks in 1975 that appears on the 1996 and 2003 re-releases
Studio tracks in 1994, appears on the 2003 re-release
Home demos in 1997, appears on the 2003 re-release
Jackson C Frank is the most famous folksinger of the 60's that no one has ever heard of.
This is an authorized tribute page.
The only video of Jackson, playing 'Just Like Anything':
Biography:
The sad life of an influential folk singer began traumatically and ended in obscurity. When he was eleven a furnace at his elementary school in Cheektowaga exploded, killing eighteen of his fellow classmates and leaving Frank with burns over his body. It was here while he was recovering from his injuries in a hospital, Charlie Casatelli, one of his school tutors gifted young Frank with his first guitar which sprung his passion for music.
Greenwich Village's coffeehouse folk scene in the early sixties drew Frank to New York. He met such names as John Kay, later of Steppenwolf. A large insurance settlement he received after he turned 21 enabled him to travel to London, and it was here he made his biggest impact.
He took up a flat with a then struggling folk singer Paul Simon in London, who later was impressed enough to produce ten of Frank's songs in a self-titled album. While Frank's voice was tremulously somber, the quality of the compositions was often impressive, with a reflective, melancholic touch that possibly influenced Simon himself and the likes of Sandy Denny and Nick Drake. Although his first album was well-received in the British folk community, he was unable to reproduce a similar quality of material and crippled any attempt for a follow-up. Combined with deepening depression, increasing stage fright, and an end to his insurance settlement that had allowed him to live freely, he decided a move back to the states in 1969, without releasing another album.
Frank took a slow slide into despair as his depression grew worse. Taking a bus to New York, he hoped to connect with Paul Simon again, but with little luck began sleeping on the streets. He became a ward of the state, and at times he was institutionalized. In 1977, with life looking better, Frank tried to release a new album, but was promptly dismissed by what publishers said was a lack of market appeal for his music. Again he fell into a deep depression, and the injuries from his childhood got much worse, once again he was hospitalized for both physical and medical reasons.
That is until Jim Abbott, a local Woodstock resident and sympathetic fan, rediscovered the aging singer from an inscription on an old album bearing his name in a record store. He successfully made contact with Frank and brought him out of a state housing project in the Bronx and into a senior center in Woodstock. He resumed songwriting and performing occasionally until his death on March 3, 1999.
After you've finished here, you may like to hear this poem sung on myspace...
Poem 162 of 230, WalkaboutsVerse (please see my blog): TEES TO TYNE: FIRST IMPRESSIONS - SUMMER 2001
Where traditions are not so rare; Sea, country and works scent the air; A multitude of monuments, Planted tubs and patterned pavements.
The longish pedestrian malls; The remnants of defensive walls; Historic buildings are a gauge Of the respect for heritage.
Wheat, rape and pines in the fields; Estuaries guarded by shields; Long sandy beaches and wide scenes; Romantic-ruin go-betweens.
Rivers in parts licked by trees, Or fringed by boat clubs, wharfs, gantries, And crossed by practical delights - Varied spans, forming pleasing sights.
Fine churches headed at Durham; Football kits ad infinitum; Kept castles - one for study; Masonry behind masonry.
And, with moulding-works out that way, It’s somewhere for a longer stay..?
Hi...Welcome, and thanks for dropping by our site for a visit. Thank you too for the add, and for the friendship.
To find out more about Slick Nickel go to www.slicknickelyumaaz.com and when you get a chance check out our new CD, "MAGIC" at www.cdbaby.com/cd/slicknickel
Hey hows it going, Hope this finds you well. I was just checking if you had, had a chance to download the free album yet? You can get it at http://www.megaupload.com/?f=3NNQTYF1 We only have a few weeks left and we have to stop giving it away for free :( Chat to you soon
After you've finished here, you may like to hear this poem sung on myspace...
Poem 2 of 230, WalkaboutsVerse (please see my blog): WALKABOUT WITH MY PEN
Once drove an old sedan, up north, From a place in Sydney to Cairns; Then to Kuranda I went forth, By train, to look without set plans.
I browsed through the trendy market, With fresh fruits of tropical kind; Walked to the creek through lush thicket - Nature’s hand giving peace of mind.
I dined in a scenic cafe; Then, outside, as I wrote for yen, Some passing Kooris called-out: “Hey, You go walkabout with your pen.”
Request or question, I don’t know - Assured voices, elderly men. That’s now several years ago, And I’ve seen the world - with my pen.
Hi, thanks for the friendship. Jackson C. Frank was one of the most talented folk singer i've ever heard. Check out my cover of "I want to be alone (Dialogue)" on my myspace. Bye :)
Many thanks for the add. I once had a nice 40 minute conversation (phone call) with Jackson about 4 or 5 months before he passed on. Once I've read the article in thiss month's mojo mag, I'll tell you about it (either send a letter to the mag plus post it up on my blog). Such fond and kind memories. (I was just about old enough on the 60s - and living in the East End of London - to remember Judith Piepe's itinerent folkie 'den'). Thanks.
Hello,
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<br />We are a new acoustic band from stirling in scotland. If you have time, please come listen to us, look at our photos, read our blogs, leave a comment. We'll try to comment you back, it'll be nice! have a lovely day.
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<br />xx
