Comments on: Forgotten Songwriters pt.2: Jackson C. Frank

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:17:38 +0000

Don’t know if you’ll read this but someone recently allowed me the opportunity to upload to ‘lost’ Jackson C Frank tracks – covers of ‘Jimmy Clay’ and ‘Frankie & Johnnie’. Obviously having been hidden for so long the quality isn’t as great as the studio stuff, but it is better than quite a few of the bonus tracks that came on the 2 CD re-issue.
I’m doing my best to track down more but don’t believe they’re going to come easy.

By: Blues Run the Game » Song, by Toad

Blues Run the Game » Song, by Toad — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:33:36 +0000

[...] album by another American refugee, the extremely troubled Jackson C. Frank. I was reading this post at Motel de Moka and I discovered that, following a fire in his school classroom which killed several classmates, [...]

By: Blues Run the Game « Song, by Toad

Blues Run the Game « Song, by Toad — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 13:00:28 +0000

[...] Anyhow, yesterday it turned out that this still wasn’t the whole story. Before striking folk gold as half of Simon & Garfunkel Paul Simon spent some time in the burgeoning English early 60s folk scene where he happened to produce the only complete album by another American refugee, the extremely troubled Jackson C. Frank. I was reading this post at Motel de Moka and I discovered that, following a fire in his school classroom which killed several classmates, Frank was able to use the insurance money to travel to England, which resulted in his collaboration with Simon. Apparently he is still well known in folkie circles, although I’d never heard of him, but the likes of Bert Jansch and Nick Drake rated him very, very highly apparently. To read the whole story go to Motel de Moka – I’d really recommend it. It’s a rather sad tale of a troubled artist whose problems ultimately overwhelmed his artistic output, and apart from a few abortive session tracks in 1975 he only ever released a single, self-titled album. [...]

By: Bubbachups

Bubbachups — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:44:43 +0000

Good spot Alex! It was only later when I read about his life in several articles that I started to see the true meaning of that song. I mean, the beautiful lyrics were right there under my nose all along but I only came to understand them when I knew about his background. It made the song even more beautiful and precious.

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:13:21 +0000

By the way… big thanks, La caverna. Looking forward to hearing the other fella, too.

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:08:01 +0000

Thanks for the intro to this man. I’ve been a Nick Drake fan for years, and I’ve always thought his life and Pink Moon were the epitome of tragic life/beautiful sad album. But Marlene and Dialogue are something else entirely; these songs completely slay me. Coupled with his story (some good info on Wiki, btw), he’s been running through my head since this post.

I’ve been trying to figure out all the lyrics to Marlene; I’d recommend anyone giving a few very close listens. They are incredibly revealing regarding the classroom explosion, and the lingering effects that shaped his life.

By: Lizzie

Lizzie — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 01:53:09 +0000

i’m buffalo gal and it is always nice to find a hometown hidden gem has warm reception somewhere.

looking forward to walking in the first snowfall with jackson….

thanxs.

By: Daft Punk : Electroma at motel de moka

Daft Punk : Electroma at motel de moka — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 20:13:35 +0000

[...] After Bubbachups amazing introduction to Jackson C. Frank’s music I decided to research and find out whatever I could about this immesely talented and underrated artist. This investigation led me to the last place on earth I would expect to find any information on him : A Daft Punk forum. Not only a Daft Punk forum but also a forum discussing a movie they premiered last year in Cannes, called Electroma. It seems everyone else but me was aware of the existence of this movie and I wonder how it went under my radar after all this months when I share the same obsession towards Daft Punk’s general aesthetics in their musical videos and discographic output as the rest of my generation. [...]