Whenever Nick Drake comes up in conversation, I feel the sudden urge to mention that I prefer Jackson C Frank’s self-titled album to any of Drake’s studio recordings. Why? Well, Drake was hindered early in his career by heavy-handed producers (see Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter), while Frank’s lone studio album — recorded by Paul Simon, of all people — featured just him, a guitar and a microphone… much like Pink Moon. Another similarity between those two albums is that both were recorded quickly. Pink Moon was put to tape at midnight in 2-two hours sessions, over two days. Jackson C Frank was recorded in less than three hours at CBS Studios in London. Both are stunning works, but hopefully after hearing this one you’ll agree with me that it’s the superior of the two works.

Of course, my position could very well be influenced by Jackson C Frank’s life story, which is one of the most tragic I have ever read. If any unsung hero deserves a bio-pic, it’s Frank. Fuck Ray Charles and Johnny Cash. The following was taken from his Wikipedia entry:

“At the age of 11, a furnace exploded, 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 York. The fire killed fifteen of his fellow students and hospitalized him for seven months. 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 $100,000 for his injuries, giving him enough to catch a boat to England.

“His 1965 self-titled album, Jackson C. Frank, was produced by Paul Simon whilst both men were playing folk clubs in England. Jackson was so shy during the recording that he requested upon being 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.’

“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, Frank began to experience writer’s block. His insurance cheque was running out, so he decided to go back to the USA for two years. When he returned to England in 1968, he was deemed a different person. His depression from the fire had increased, and he had no self-confidence. Al Stewart recalled,

“He proceeded to fall apart before our very eyes. His style that everyone loved was melancholy, very tuneful things. He started doing things that were completely impenetrable. They were basically about psychological angst, played at full volume with lots of thrashing. I don’t remember a single word of them, it just did not work. There was one review that said he belonged on a psychologist’s couch. Then shortly after that, he hightailed it back to Woodstock again, because he wasn’t getting any work.”

“While in Woodstock, he married Elaine Sedgwick, an English former fashion model. They had a son, though he unfortunately died of Cystic Fibrosis, and later a daughter, Angeline. This sent Frank into a period of great depression, and he was committed to an institution.

“In 1984, Frank took a trip to New York 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 surgery, 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, when he actually had depression caused by the trauma he’d 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’d heard of Jackson C. Frank. He recollects:

“I hadn’t even thought about it for a couple of years, and he goes, ‘Well yes, as a matter of fact, I just got a letter from him. Do you feel like helping a down-on-his-luck folk singer?”

“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.

“Soon after this, Frank was sitting on a bench in NY while awaiting a move to Woodstock, when someone shot him in his left eye, and consequently blinded him. At first no reason was given for this but it was later determined that kids from the neighborhood were firing a pellet gun indiscriminately at people and Jackson 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, but despite some beautiful lyrics and melodies, they were unfortunately disappointing, deficient of the harmonious ease of his original album, although Frank’s resurfacing did lead to the first CD release of Jackson C. Frank.

“Jackson Frank died of pneumonia and cardiac arrest in Great Barrington, Massachusetts on March 3rd, 1999, at the age of fifty-six. Though Frank never achieved fame during his lifetime, his songs have been covered by many well-known artists, including Simon and Garfunkel, Counting Crows, Nick Drake, Sandy Denny, and Bert Jansch.”

Wow.

Jackson C Frank
Jackson C Frank
MediaFire Download Link

Tracklisting:
01. Blues Run The Game
02. Don’t Look Back
03. Kimbie
04. Yellow Walls
05. Here Come The Blues
06. Milk And Honey
07. My Name Is Carnival
08. I Want To Be Alone (Dialogue)
09. Just Like Anything
10. You Never Wanted Me

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