Every couple of years, a new generation discovers folk singer/songwriter Jackson C. Frank – and gets all obsessive about him – similar to Nick Drake, Judee Sill, (and for reasons I’ve never understood) Vashti Bunyan – and yet, oddly not enough people do that with Sandy Denny. Anyway Frank is worth some obsessing – and with each decade, he gets reissued on CD with even more bonus tracks – I think this new 3 CD set titled ‘complete’ should be the final word – there’s sublime BBC sessions that are new to me, as well as pre-first album recordings. Perhaps the biggest surprise – was his 1970’s material which I’d previously felt was substandard – actually has several gems tucked in there.
– Pat Thomas is the author of Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975.
