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Biography
About | an American musician| a Virginia politician| Jeff FrederickInfobox musical artist | name = Jeffrey Frederick| image = jeff-playing-for-wiki.JPG| caption =| image_size =| background = solo_singer| birth_name = Jeffrey Sutton Frederick| alias =| Born = Wilmington, Delaware , United States | Died = Portland, Oregon | origin = Vermont and Portland, Oregon|Portland , United States | instrument = Guitar | genre = Alternative country , Americana (music)|Americana , rock and roll | occupation = Songwriter, guitarist| years_active = 1960s - 1990s| label = Frederick Productions, Rounder Records| associated_acts = The Clamtones Automatic Slim & the Fat Boys The Holy Modal Rounders Les Clams The Jeffrey Frederick Band| website = www.jeffreyfrederick.com| notable_instruments = Jeffrey Sutton Frederick (1950–1997) was a songwriter , guitarist and performer specializing in good-time Americana (music)|Americana music—an idiosyncratic blend of folk music|folk , country music|country and rock and roll . He was a largely uncredited predecessor of today's alternative country music genre. Also notorious for his pranks, he was a prodigious songwriter, specializing in sly, hilarious and soulful pieces. Frederick's tightly crafted songs and intricate guitar work were praised by the likes of Willie Nelson , Eric Clapton , and Dan Hicks . His songs are being featured in a series of tribute albums, starting with ''St. Jeffrey's Day: The Songs of Jeffrey Frederick, Volume I (2008). Jeffrey Frederick and the Clamtones (his best-known group) were inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame on October 8, 2011.
Early life
Born in Wilmington, Delaware , to highly religious parents, Harry and Edna Frederick, Jeffrey spent most of his early years in rural Vermont . He went so far as to become an Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)|Eagle Scout , but quit the Scouts at age 14 to start his first band, the Renegades.
Vermont
In the late 1960s Jeffrey, Jill Gross, Morgan Huber, John Raskin, and Robert Nickson (Froggy) established the original Clamtones band in Vermont. In the early 1970s, Jeffrey made some changes and started Automatic Slim & the Fat Boys (celebrated in Michael Hurley (musician)|Michael Hurley 's song by the same name on his first Rounder Records album, Snockgrass ). In addition to Jeffrey, the band consisted of his close friend, Michael Hurley (vocals, guitar, banjo ), Doug Southworth ( piano , guitar), and Melting Snow (Tom Hayes) (guitar).
Jeffrey developed many of his best-known songs during this period, such as "What Made My Hamburger Disappear" (which was borrowed by the TV program, Sesame Street , even though it is actually written from the perspective of somebody having a heart attack ), "Robbing Banks" (which Jeffrey claimed was written for his great-uncle, "Gentleman" Willie Sutton ), "Stolen Guitar", and many others. His songs were almost invariably inspired by real people and events. For instance, during this period, in northern Vermont there was increasing tension between conservative rural and establishment Vermonters and the young "hipster" crowd. A political corruption|corrupt undercover officer , Paul Lawrence, staged a fraudulent drug bust at a St. Albans tavern where Automatic Slim and The Fat Boys often played. As a consequence, the proprietor, Otto Kremer, lost the bar, was forced to plead guilty to a variety of narcotics crimes and leave the state within 72 hours (all charges were later overturned).Davis, Hamilton E. (1978). ''Mocking Justice: Vermont's Biggest Drug Scandal''. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc. These events inspired Jeffrey's song, "Poor Otto". They also helped convince Jeffrey to leave the area in which he had grown up.
Portland
Jeffrey moved to Portland, Oregon , in 1975 at the urging of the Holy Modal Rounders ' Robin Remaily. His singing partner, Jill Gross, joined him later that year and together they started the Clamtones on the West Coast of the United States|West Coast . In an unusual arrangement, the band performed as the Clamtones when Jeffrey was the frontman and as the Holy Modal Rounders when Steve Weber was frontman. These "two bands in one" often shared the same stage, with the Clamtones typically playing the opening and closing sets, as documented in Jeffrey Frederick and the Clamtones, B.C. and Steve Weber and the Holy Modal Rounders, B.C. (Frederick Productions). In addition to Jeffrey and Jill, the band consisted of Dave Reisch ( Bass guitar|bass and vocals), Robin Remaily (guitar and mandolin ), Teddy Deane ( wind instruments|horns and woodwinds ), Richard Tyler (piano), and R. "Willy" North ( Drum kit|drums ). They soon gained the reputation of "the greatest... f---ing bar band in America".Gallagher, Jack. Clinton Street Quarterly , Vol. 3 No. 2, Summer 1981.
Bicentennial tour
In 1976 the bands took off on a 9,000 mile United States Bicentennial|Bicentennial tour of the perimeter of the United States. During this tour, Jeffrey was arrested in Texas for performing in a dress, and the band was escorted out of Alabama by the state police, for singing the irreligious gospel music|gospel tune, "Let Me Down" ("Take these nails right out of my hands/And I swear you will get to the promised land/All your sins are forgiven/now let me down...").For stories of their road trip see Dave Reisch's "A Piece of Work" section of http://www.freakmountain.com the Freak Mountain Rambler's web site. During the tour, Jeffrey recorded Have Moicy! ("best album of the year," Village Voice , "the top folk album of the rock era," Rolling Stone Magazine ) with Jill, Michael Hurley, Peter Stampfel, Paul Presti, Dave Reisch, Robin Remaily, Wax Iwaskiewicz and Robert Nickson. His contribution to this groundbreaking record is widely recognized. For example, rock critic Robert Christgau has described Jeffrey as "the secret hero of my beloved Have Moicy ."
Jeffrey's only full-length solo studio album, Spiders in the Moonlight , was recorded in 1977 after the completion of the tour. Shortly thereafter, Jeffrey and Jill went back to Boston for a "short break", and Steve Weber and Robin Remaily went their own ways. Jeffrey came back to Portland alone and formed a new band, Les Clams. The lineup was Jeff, Dave Reisch, Roger North, Bruce Sweetman or Lex Browning (depending on who was around) and Michael Shade.
Nevada
Les Clams rocked the area until Jeffrey moved to the Comstock region of Nevada in 1983. There he gathered a group of northern Nevada musicians and formed the Jeffrey Frederick Band. The lineup consisted of Morgan Huber (bass, mandolin, piano, guitar), Willis Allen (keyboards); Sport Arnold (drums, vocals); Darius ( clarinet , saxophone|sax , guitar), Johnny Fingers (lead guitar), B. B. Morse (later of Willie Nelson 's band) (bass, vocals), Tommy Ward lap steel guitar , and the Horn Brothers, Dolph and Rookie Fischer ( trumpet and trombone ). The Jeffrey Frederick Band became wildly popular among the infamous saloons of Virginia City , the clubs of Reno and Lake Tahoe , and the bars of Dayton, Nevada|Dayton , Yerington, Nevada|Yerington and Fallon, Nevada .
Later years
On New Year's Eve, 1983, Jeffrey married Kathryn NoelBennett and informally adopted her children. Shortly after, Jeffrey and Kathryn acquired the infamous Dayton, Nevada Western saloon|saloon , The End Of The Trail. Owning the bar allowed Jeffrey to perform regularly while maintaining a stable family life. The Fredericks eventually wearied of running a bar and Jeffrey returned to playing gigs, shuttling between Nevada and Portland. He was recording a new album with his Nevada band when he received a nearly fatal head injury in 1986. After a prolonged recuperation, he returned to writing and playing music as well as working a variety of jobs to help support his new family.
In 1996, the Fredericks moved back to Portland, Oregon. Jeffrey reformed the Clams and began working with old colleagues and new musicians such as Turtle Vandemarr ( Freak Mountain Ramblers , Christmas Jug Band , previously with Dan Hicks (singer)|Dan Hicks ), Kevin "Bingo" Richey ( Bingo Dream Band ), and Jim Boyer ( Freak Mountain Ramblers ). Highly charismatic and an inveterate prankster, Jeffrey once again achieved near-legendary status both within and without the musical community. When he succumbed to liver failure (related to treatment for his head injury) in March 1997, Jeffrey's funeral|memorial service was attended by hundreds of mourners, including Portland's mayor , and the local PBS television station, WOPB, played videotapes of his performances continuously all day. He was survived by his wife, Kathryn, her children Robyn and Paul Bennett, his son, Jake Ray, his sister, Eileen Gilander, and his parents. Jeffrey's surviving band members, protegés and admirers are currently recording a series of tribute album s highlighting his songwriting, the first of which was released by Frederick Productions in Fall, 2008.
"To Jeffrey it wasn't a successful show unless he 'made 'em dance' and he always had us dancing." Kathryn Frederick.
Partial discography
Have Moicy! (1976), Rounder Records
Spiders In The Moonlight (1977), Rounder Records. Out of print, but a remastered and expanded version has been issued on CD as Resurrection of Spiders In The Moonlight (2007), Frederick Productions.
I Make A Wish For A Potato (as "Holy Modal Rounders and Friends") (2003), Rounder Records
Jeffrey Frederick Band, Live At The Icehouse (2003), Frederick Productions
Oooh La La… Les Clams (2004), Frederick Productions
Jeffrey Frederick, Clamtones B.C (2005), Frederick Productions
''St. Jeffrey's Day: The Songs of Jeffrey Frederick, Volume I (2008), Frederick Productions
Persondata | NAME = Frederick, Jeffrey | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 1950 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = 1997 | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Frederick, Jeffrey Category:American country singers Category:1950 births Category:1997 deaths Category:Eagle Scouts
