Blues Run The Game Trivia Quiz

Answer: Paul Simon

It is believed that Paul Simon produced Jackson C. Frank's first (and only as time would tell) album off the first batch of royalties he got for "Sounds Of Silence".

Simon and Frank met through Judith Piepe, a folk music devotee whose London flat became a melting pot for young folk singers.

"Jackson C. Frank" (released Dec. 1965) was recorded in about 3 hours in a CBS studio on London's New Bond Street with the shy Frank playing and singing behind a curtain.

Paxton, Garfunkel and Simon all belonged to the pioneer group of American folk musicians who landed in London in 1964. By that time, Dylan was already planning the next revolution, changing colours from acoustic folk to electric rock.

Answer: He was badly injured in a school fire

Jackson Carey Frank was born in 1943 in Buffalo and grew up in Elyria (OH) before his family moved back to the upstate New York town of Cheektowaga.

In March 31st 1954, a furnace blew up in the Cleveland Hill high school, killing 15 of Frank's classmates and leaving Frank severely scarred and hospitalized for the next 7 months. The accident would haunt his health till his death.

Two positive events that resulted from the fire were Jackson getting a guitar from his schoolteacher and an inspiring trip to Graceland with his mother in 1956, meeting Elvis.

Answer: He received a large sum from an insurance company

In 1964, at the age of 21, Jackson received an insurance installment of $110,500 (less legal fees) for the Cheektowaga fire. At first he went on a spending rampage with his friend John Kay (later of Steppenwolf fame), next he took the trip to England (on board the Queen Elizabeth). According to him, his main goal in going to England was buying fancy cars and indeed at one stage he is said to have owned a few of them. But, the emerging London folk scene soon sucked him in.

Answer: All of these, and more

A few of the diverse artists who covered this classic are John Renbourn, Counting Crows, The Decemberists, Eddi Reader, Derek Brimstone and Simon & Garfunkel.

Sandy Denny was Jackson C. Frank's girlfriend for a while. She also covered Jackson's "Milk and Honey" and "You Never Wanted Me" from his album. It is said that her song "Next Time Around" is about her relationship with Frank.

Nick Drake was strongly influenced by Jackson's compositions. In his posthumously found home tapes renditions of "Milk and Honey" and "Here Come the Blues" were also found.

Answer: All of these

Not being able to complete a second album, Frank last left England in 1969 leaving his seat at the Les Cousins folk club in Soho to Roy Harper (who is said to dedicate the song "My Friend" to him).

Soon after, his marriage to a former English fashion model broke up and their baby son died of CF. He suffered a mental breakdown and spent time in and out of mental care. An attempted comeback in the mid 70s failed, leaving a few recordings on tapes and a reissue of his 1965 album. He returned to Buffalo and lived with his parents, until he set off to New York to "look for Paul Simon", a quest which left him living in the NY streets of for the most part of the 80s. It was then when he was shot in the eye by a teenager, apparently just for "the fun of it".

Answer: Al Stewart

Ever since Jackson arrived in England, Al Stewart has been in touch with him. In fact, it is Stewart playing second guitar in the song "Yellow Walls" from Jackson's 1965 album.

In 1968, Stewart visited Jackson in the US and convinced him to return to England to record a second album. A mental block and a failure to adjust his material to the 1969 folk zeitgeist prevented realization of the album and Jackson returned to the US.

It took Jim Abbott a few years to complete the puzzle, but somewhere in the beginning of the 90s he succeeded in locating Frank. He found him in an extremely dismal condition and arranged respectable housing in a senior centre in Woodstock for him, as well as royalties he was entitled to from past years.

Answer: Just Like Anything

"Just like anything / To sing / To Sing / To Sing / Is a state of mind"

A charming tune. Somehow the saddest people manage to create the happiest tunes.

"On My Way To The Canaan Land" is from a 1960 recording of an unreleased collection of American Civil War songs titled "Peaches & Crust".

"Prima Donna Of Swans" is from the 1975 sessions and "Bull Men" is from a 1997 home session.

Answer: False

A small victory, maybe. Jackson did wake up older, so much older, but did not stop his trying. Jim Abbott arranged for a guitar and Jackson even recorded a few new songs in a studio (1994) and at home (1997).

Abbott commented on Jackson's voice: "Sometimes his voice doesn't sound too bad. Nothing like it used to though. It's more gritty and gravelly, sort of like Townes Van Zandt. It's a lived-in voice".

Answer: 56

Born 1943, died 1999. A parathyroid malfunction stemming from the fire resulted in excess weight gain which led to a terminal cardiac arrest.

Answer: A Peel session on "Night Ride" (BBC1, 1968)

The BBC1 session is believed to have been lost.

The Castle Music 2CD is the definitive Jackson C Frank collection, a one-stop-shop with the 1965 album and single, and the sessions from 1960, 1975, 1994 and 1997.

For the full story, http://www.blueangel.demon.co.uk/jcfrank/ is an excellent hub. Be sure to delve into the mesmerizing memories page.

For online audio, I recommend the MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/jacksoncfrank

Thank you for taking this tribute quiz, what little I could do for this great artist.