Unless you're a connoisseur of folk music, have seen Vincent Gallo's movie The Brown Bunny, or have frantically searched the influences of Devendra Banhart, you've probably never heard the absolute beauty of singer-songwriter Jackson C. Frank's music. To be honest, I have to claim the last two of these references as my path to discovering one of the ‘60s greatest forgotten folk treasures.
Since becoming familiar with his music, I've learned that Frank, who died in 1999, had a sad life of pain and loss; both mentally and physically. Frank was severely burned during a tragic fire at his elementary school at the age of 11, and for the rest of his life was left scarred in more ways than one. He always had a sense of insecurity, but managed to write a short list of beautiful songs and influenced a long list of performers before living a life of recluse on the streets, and in the mental hospitals of New York City.
Blues Run the Game is a perfect album in every sense. As far as folk records go, I've heard nothing better. It's full of melancholy and beauty, and is a completely essential exercise in folk music. Produced by Paul Simon and recorded in less than three hours, each track contains pristine sounds of acoustic guitar and gentle vocals. It makes you feel like this is the mold that others have tried to imitate ever since. Many have covered Frank's songs, such as the illustrious Nick Drake and Sandy Denny (Denny was also Frank's girlfriend for a short period of time. Although Denny is more recognized than Frank, it's impossible not to see he was as big an influence on her work as just about anyone else).
The title track, "Blues Run the Game," has been accepted by Frank's fans as his most identifiable and significant song, written during one of the only times things seemed to be going well in his life. He had just received a small fortune of insurance money from his fire accident and began a journey to England. It was there that he became completely engaged with writing folk music.
The stand out song on the album is "Milk and Honey," with its solemn beauty epitomizing everything that is simple and perfect about the state of music in the mid-'60s. The songs have an uncanny ability to paint images in my head of childhood and remind me of an innocence long left behind.
For the longest time, you couldn't find a copy of Blues Run the Game. Over the past decade, however, several labels have re-issued the album for an ever-growing fan base. If you own any folk record, and don't have this in your collection, consider this an insightful plea. It's nice to see so many people slowly going back in time to revisit some of the lost treasures that have fallen to the wayside. And although our timing might be too late to show him some support, hopefully the love for Jackson C. Frank's music that was left behind is just beginning for a new generation.
