Steve Peck writes: How does one collaborate anew with a musical icon who has been gone for over twenty-seven years? Come hear the unlikely tale of a contemporary musician writing new songs with the one-and-only Jackson C. Frank.
Imagine how it would feel to unearth a “lost” Jackson C. Frank song, something no one had ever heard before. Considering the tragic trajectory of the singer’s life and haphazard recording career, it’s certain that precious relics vanished into the mist of time, never to be heard again, except maybe under extraordinary circumstances.
In an appendix to his definitive biography of the late musician, The Clear, Hard Light of Genius, author Jim Abbott collected the handful of Frank’s lyrics for which no known music survives. As Jackson’s legal guardian and caretaker during the final years of his life, Abbott encouraged readers to finish them.
Jackson Frank circa 1964-65. Photographer unknown.
Fortunately for fans, Chris Herring, a gifted musician, guitarist and Frank enthusiast, took up the challenge. Over the past several years, Herring has completed six of these songs, the latest of which is Angel of Night, a lyric Frank wrote shortly before his death in March 1999.
As with the others, no chords or musical notation accompanied the sheet of lyrics, which was scrawled in Frank’s notorious chicken-scratch handwriting. The only instruction was “D modal, 5th fret.”
Herring clearly understands Frank’s muse, and Angel of Night is one of the finest of these new creations. He intuitively embeds Jackson’s words in a haunted melody and chordal structure that rings true to the essence of the late artist’s work while retaining his own voice.
Never does it sound like imitation. Rather, these songs are the fruit of a true songwriting partnership, with the personalities of each collaborator clearly on display. What’s remarkable is that decades separate the lyrics from Herring’s arrangements.
Jackson Frank with his parents circa early 1990s. Photo courtesy Jim Abbott.
There is precedent for this sort of thing. T-Bone Burnett helped produce and compile Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes, an album featuring an all-star lineup, including Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens, Marcus Mumford and others, who composed music for recently discovered Bob Dylan lyrics dating from his Basement Tapes era.
Billy Bragg and Wilco released Mermaid Avenue, a collection of songs built around previously unrecorded Woody Guthrie lyrics.
Original lyric sheet to Angel of Night, a perfect example of Frank’s atrocious handwriting. Photo courtesy Jim Abbott.
Hearing the words to Angel of Night, I immediately thought they may have come from the early 1970s. The evocative imagery seemed rooted in Frank’s songwriting of that era.
First come the stars
Then come the scars
Over milkweedThe blind find their sight
the perfect delight
In the same needI have some secrets
Here all alone on the shelf
But talking to you has
Once again made me myself
Of all of Herring’s JCF collaborations, he seems closest to channeling Frank’s musical style on Angel of Night. The capoed guitar work and picking eerily resemble Jackson’s ‘60s and ‘70s work. Its shadowy melody seamlessly blends with Frank’s unsettling lines, a trademark of the man himself.
Another Frank/Herring creation I absolutely adore is St. Madeleine. Copyrighted in 1975, it’s one of Frank’s most poetic moments. With Herring’s timeless melody, warm vocals, and expert use of overdubs, it’s a bona fide folk classic.
But I have been with Madeleine
By the pool of Lourdes
I have seen the angels heal
I am stricken, she assures
On his YouTube channel, Herring has covered all the known Jackson Frank songs, as well as the six new creations. Chris is a masterful guitarist, and his channel houses numerous playlists where he performs the likes of John Renbourn, Dave Evans, and Nick Drake, among others, along with a bounty of classical pieces and originals.
Personally, I’m deeply partial to his Renbourn material. The archive is as vast and deep as Herring’s talent and comes highly recommended.
Sometimes miraculous things happen, like the appearance of new, unheard Jackson C. Frank songs. Through the musical soul of Chris Herring, we can now share in the joy of discovery.
Jackson C. Frank and John Renbourn in the late 1990s. Photo courtesy of Jim Abbott.
Steve Peck also writes at his Facebook music blog Hickory Notes
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