Blues Run the Game

by

Jackson C. Frank

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Until the release of Sanctuary Records TROUBADOURS OF FOLK in 2003, I was only aware of Jackson C. Frank as the composer of "Blues Run the Game." That British folk anthology included his original rendition of the song along with the traditional "Kimbie." His performances on that album led me to this 2003 reissue by Sanctuary Records of Frank's 1965 debut along with thirty-three bonus tracks.

The album's liner notes reveal one of the most tragic figures of the British folk movement--perhaps in all of music. An American, Frank was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1943. While in grade school, there was a furnace explosion in the music room. Most of his classmates were killed. Frank spent seven months in the hospital recovering from his burns. The physical and psychological toll of those injuries would remain with him the rest of his life. While recuperating he learned to play guitar. In 1960 he recorded seven songs at a cost of $7 for an envisioned album he hoped to title PEACHES & CRUST. [They are among the bonus tracks (disc-2, 16-22) salvaged from a 78 rpm disc.] In the early Sixties, Frank hung out with future Steppenwolf frontman John Kay. In 1964, Frank received a $110,500 pay-out from the insurance company resulting from the fire. By 1965, Frank left for the burgeoning folk scene in England. His debut album was produced by fellow American Paul Simon in less than 3 hours. In 1967, Frank returned to the States, began working for a Woodstock newspaper and got married. By 1969, his marriage had fallen apart, his infant son died, attempts to return to music were unsuccessful. By the Eighties, Frank was in and out of mental hospitals and living on the street where a drive-by shooting cost him his left eye. [Looking at the photos in the accompanying booklet, it's hard to believe that the man in the later photos is the same person.] He returned to the studio one last time in 1994, but never completed a follow-up to his 1965 album. He died in 1999.

What Sanctuary Records has done for this reissue is to gather together in one collection everything Frank ever recorded. [The only material missing are the songs he recorded for John Peel's Radio 1 show in 1968, but these tapes--if they still exist--have yet to be found.]

So here's what you get:

CD-1

Tracks 1-10: The original 1965 album of nine originals and one traditional song ("Kimbie"). The best known of these is "Blues Run the Game." It has been covered by Sandy Denny, Nick Drake, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn and most recently by Counting Crows. Most of the songs are moody, and introspective. The lone exception is the jaunty "Just Like Anything." But it's hard not to listen to these songs without being aware of the tragedies that followed. In the opening verse of "Dialogue," he sings "I want to be alone/I need to touch each stone/Face the grave that I have grown/I want to be alone."

Tracks 11-12: The single version of "Blues Run the Game" in a slightly livelier rendition (with a second guitar--probably Al Stewart), along with the non-album b-side "Can't Get Away From My Love."

Tracks 13-17: Five tracks from a 1975 studio session. Previously inlcuded as bonus tracks on an earlier reissue. Frank's guitar playing is still excellent, but his voice has taken on a heavier timbre.

Tracks 18-20: Three newly discovered tracks from the same 1975 session.

Track 21: Also from 1975, but at 35-seconds, it's little more than a snippet.

CD-2

Tracks 1-6: These are his final studio recordings from 1994. Frank's voice has taken on a world-weary tone, but it only adds to the emotional level of these songs. Frank is still capable of creating haunting music.

Tracks 7-15: These are home recordings from 1997. The quality is marginal, but they still show a man whose muse had not abandoned him.

Tracks 16-22: These seven tracks were recorded when Franks was 17 and in his words "began collecting old Civil War songs with a passion." There is a lot of surface noise on these recordings, but they give us a glimpse of the artist during his formative years.

For anyone with more than a casual interest in the British folk scene of the 1960's, this is required listening. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

while not as fulfilling a listening experience as some of his contemporaries, Jackson C. Frank wrote some nice songs and this collection serves a good document of the folk genre that was the big boom in the 60's.

Jackson moved from America to London in the mid 60's in order to find some kind of success that had already come to artists like Paul Simon, Bert Jansch, Donavan, Sandy Denny, and a host of other folk artists big on the English scene.

He managed to record a few worthwhile gems, such as the title track "Blues Run The Game" which is probably the standout cut on this collection. there's a genuine hollow ache in Frank's world-weary voice that echoes with a deep sense of personal sadness.

as a whole, this album doesn't offer alot of dynamic tension or variation on it's sound, but it serves as a worthwhile testament to a forgotten singer.