Bunky and Jake were an American

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

duo, who were a part of the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

folk music scene in the 1960s and 1970s. They merged folk, rock, R&B and blues. They are influenced heavily from the 50s classic pop and rock, such as Nolan Strong and the Diablos, the Crows,

Dion and the Belmonts Dion and the Belmonts were an American vocal quartet prominent throughout the late 1950s. All of its members were from the Bronx, New York City. In 1957, Dion DiMucci joined the vocal group the Belmonts. The established trio of Angelo D'Aleo ...

, the Mystics and the Passions.

History

Andrea "Bunky" Skinner and Allan "Jake" Jacobs (who later formed Jake and The Family Jewels, a band with Jerry Burnham, Michael Epstein, Dan Mansolino), met in 1962 at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

in New York and performed in the

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

folk circuit. The duo appeared at

The Bitter End The Bitter End is a 230-person capacity nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually s ...

on the bill with

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

and

David Steinberg David Steinberg (born August 9, 1942) is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, director, and author. At the height of his popularity, during the late 1960s and mid-1970s, he was one of the best-known comics in the United States. He appeared on ...

, and were written about in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''. In 1965, Jacobs joined the folk-rock band The Magicians, with Garry Bonner, Alan Gordon, and John Townley. The band gained a following in New York, and took over as the house band from the ''

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'' at the Night Owl Cafe. The Magicians disbanded in 1967, and Jacobs and Skinner signed with

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

, releasing their 1968 debut album, ''Bunky & Jake''. All songs on the first album were written by Skinner and/or Jacobs. Jake noted that the duo had a desire to make an album with much variety and drew upon influences such as

Bobby Goldsboro Robert Charles Goldsboro (born January 18, 1941) is an American pop and country singer and songwriter. He had a string of pop and country hits in the 1960s and 1970s, including his signature No. 1 hit "Honey", which sold over 1 million copies i ...

, the

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, and bossa nova, but stated that "things became too diversified, and the LP just didn’t hold together". At the time they were inexperienced and knew little about studio production. Jazz clarinetist

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is one of the other musicians featured on album. ''Rolling Stone'' writes that the song "Daphne Plum” is "about a girl who makes the dope run". “Taxicab” is a song about protesting, while “The Candy Store” is a "tribute to group harmony and the old days". The second album, ''L.A.M.F.'' (Mercury SR61199), was released a year later. In addition to original songs, included two by

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, one by Don & Dewey, and a Jacobs-Skinner arrangement of "I Am the Light," by the

Reverend Gary Davis Gary D. Davis (April 30, 1896 – May 5, 1972), known as Reverend Gary Davis and Blind Gary Davis, was a blues and gospel singer who was also proficient on the banjo, guitar and harmonica. Born in Laurens, South Carolina and blind since infanc ...

. The band included Skinner (vocals and guitar); Jacobs (guitar and vocals); Douglas Haywood Rauch (bass); and Micheal Rosa (drums). Other

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

s appearing were Mike Matthews, Charlie Chin (not the Chinese actor of the same name),

Felix Pappalardi Felix Albert Pappalardi Jr. (December 30, 1939 – April 17, 1983) was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bass violin, bassist. He is best known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist of the band Mountain (band), Mountain, whose ...

, Buzzy Linhart,

Ray Barretto Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...

Ernie Hayes Ernest George Hayes (6 November 1876 – 2 December 1953) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Surrey, Leicestershire and England. Ernie Hayes was a right-handed batsman, usually batting at No 3 and strong at driving and pullin ...

, and

Chuck Rainey Charles Walter Rainey III (born June 17, 1940) is an American bass guitarist who has performed and recorded with many well-known acts, including Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan, and Quincy Jones. Rainey is credited for playing bass on more than 1,00 ...

. The duo released a children's album ''Oo-Wee Little Children'', on their own B&J Music label (cassette, 1993 and CD, 2004.) Skinner died on Sunday, March 20, 2011, after a brief illness. , Jacobs lives in Manhattan. In October 2012, Jacobs released a new collection of songs on a 16-song CD entitled ''A Lick and a Promise'' by Jake and the Rest of the Jewels.

Discography

* ''Bunky & Jake'' (1968) * ''L.A.M.F.'' (1969)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunky And Jake Musical duos from New York (state) American folk musical groups Psychedelic rock music groups from New York (state)