"SNL" Last Night, Plus: The Sad Saga of a Songwriter

Blues ran the game for Jackson C. Frank, and today's cartoons.

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Let’s jump right in: I know a lot of people no longer stay up for “SNL”—due to age, other things to do, or feeling the show is far too uneven. SO, to cut to the chase, here are last night’s cold open and Weekend Update.

Bonus fun: Who is that fellow playing drums with members of the George Lewis Ragtime Jazz Band of New Orleans, 1950? Yes, on assignment for LOOK magazine under famed photog and photo editor Arthur Rothstein (father of my friend Rob Stoner), it’s Stan “The Man” Kubrick just before devoting his time fully to making movies.

Not fun at all:

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Now, taking a trip down Esoterica Lane for music: I’ve long been fascinated with the little-known (still) mid-1960s folk/blues/rock singer Jackson C. Frank. Partly because he hailed from near the same Buffalo area where I grew up. Then there was the cult aspect: Only recorded one full album yet songs would be covered by some of my tops faves, such as Nick Drake and Sandy Denny. Paul Simon, not yet famous as part of S & G, produced that album in London and Jackson dated Sandy.

Then there was the life-changing tragedy: Before then he had barely escaped from a fire that killed 15 of his school mates, and left him with a very long recovery from burns that left his face partly scarred forever. And his end story: living on the streets for years (including in Woodstock, N.Y.), forced into hospitals for psychological therapy, and so on. No happy ending.

Except that his few songs were discovered by succeeding generations, right down to John Mayer and Counting Crowes. His classic song, “Blues Run the Game,” appeared in many movies and series and his “My Name is Carnival” got a big boost when used at a key point in the Joaquin Phoenix “The Joker.” Now there is a new doc film, see below. Here is a recent story in The Guardian that tells the full story and my selection of tunes below.

Trailer for the film:

His original version of the great “Blues Run the Game”

Excerpt from “The Joker” with “My Name is Carnival”

Sandy Denny’s “Milk and Honey” from pre-Fairport

A 1965 outtake from Simon & Garfunkel for “Blues Run the Game”

Another from Sandy, “You Never Wanted Me”

Nick Drake’s demo for “Blues Run the Game”

Counting Crowe’s live version of same:

And John Mayer, ditto:

From Tunes to Toons