Jeffrey Sutton Frederick (1950–1997) was a

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

and performer specializing in good-time

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana music, a genre or style of American music * Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1981 film), an American drama film * ''Americana'' (20 ...

music—an idiosyncratic blend of

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

and

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

. He was a largely uncredited predecessor of today's

alternative country Alternative country (commonly abbreviated to alt-country; also known as alternative country rock, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative) is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that diffe ...

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 Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

, 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 The Oregon Music Hall of Fame is an award honoring musicians from the U.S. state of Oregon. The first induction ceremony took place on October 13, 2007. History The Oregon Music Hall of Fame was conceived of in the 1990s by a group called the Oreg ...

on October 8, 2011.

Early life

Born in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, to highly religious parents, Harry and Edna Frederick, he spent most of his early years in rural

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. He went so far as to become an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of Scouting America. Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Scout rank has been earned by over ...

, but quit the Scouts at age 14 to start his first band, the Renegades.

Vermont

In the late 1960s Frederick, Jill Gross, Morgan Huber, John Raskin, and Robert Nickson (Froggy) established the original

Clamtones Clamtones was an Americans, American folk rock group, and Jeffrey Frederick's most notable band. The best-known incarnation of the band formed in 1975 when Frederick and Jill Gross moved to Portland, Oregon and began playing with the backing ban ...

band in Vermont. In the early 1970s, Frederick made some changes and started Automatic Slim & the Fat Boys (celebrated in Michael Hurley's song by the same name on his first

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts, by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by A ...

album, ''Snockgrass''). In addition to Frederick, the band consisted of his close friend, Michael Hurley (vocals, guitar,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

), Doug Southworth (

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, guitar), and Melting Snow (Tom Hayes) (guitar). Frederick 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 ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

,'' even though it is actually written from the perspective of somebody having a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

), "Robbing Banks" (which Frederick claimed was written for his great-uncle, "Gentleman"

Willie Sutton William Francis Sutton Jr. (June 30, 1901 – November 2, 1980) was an American bank robber. During his forty-year robbery career he stole an estimated $2 million, and he eventually spent more than half of his adult life in prison and escape ...

), "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

corrupt Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

undercover officer, Paul Lawrence, staged a fraudulent drug bust at a

St. Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman r ...

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 The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "I make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...

crimes and leave the state within 72 hours (all charges were later overturned). These events inspired Frederick's song, "Poor Otto". They also helped convince Frederick to leave the area in which he had grown up.

Portland

Frederick moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, in 1975 at the urging of the

Holy Modal Rounders The Holy Modal Rounders was an American folk music group, originally the duo of Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber, who formed in 1963 on the Lower East Side of New York City. Although they achieved only limited commercial and critical success in th ...

' Robin Remaily. His singing partner, Jill Gross, joined him later that year, and together they started the

on the West Coast. In an unusual arrangement, the band performed as the Clamtones when Frederick was the frontman and as the Holy Modal Rounders when

Steve Weber Steven P. Weber (June 22, 1943 – February 7, 2020) was an American folk singer-songwriter and guitarist. Weber is best known as member of the The Holy Modal Rounders, Holy Modal Rounders, a psychedelic folk band that he founded with Pete ...

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 Frederick and Jill, the band consisted of Dave Reisch (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and vocals), Robin Remaily (guitar and

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

), Teddy Deane (

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (anatomy) * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * Horns (novel), ''Horns'' (novel), a dar ...

and

woodwinds Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and re ...

), Richard Tyler (piano), and R. "Willy" North (

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

). They soon gained the reputation of "the greatest... fucking bar band in America".

Bicentennial tour

In 1976 the bands took off on a 9,000-mile

Bicentennial __NOTOC__ A bicentennial or bicentenary is the two-hundredth anniversary of a part, or the celebrations thereof. It may refer to: Europe * French Revolution bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of 14 July 1789 uprising, celebrated ...

tour of the perimeter of the United States. During this tour, Frederick was arrested in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

for performing in a dress, and the band was escorted out of

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

by the state police, for singing the irreligious

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

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..."). During the tour, Frederick recorded ''

Have Moicy! ''Have Moicy!'' is a collaborative studio album by Michael Hurley, the Unholy Modal Rounders and Jeffrey Frederick & the Clamtones. It was released on January 1, 1976 by Rounder Records. In 2011, Light in the Attic Records reissued ''Have M ...

'' ("best album of the year," ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

'', "the top folk album of the rock era," ''

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 ...

Magazine'') with Jill, Michael Hurley,

Peter Stampfel Peter Stampfel (born October 29, 1938, in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin) is an American Violin, fiddle player, old-time musician, and singer-songwriter. History Stampfel is best known as a member of the The Holy Modal Rounders, Holy Modal Rounders, a ...

, 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 Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

has described Frederick as "the secret hero of my beloved ''Have Moicy''." Frederick's only full-length solo studio album, ''Spiders in the Moonlight'', was recorded in 1977 after the completion of the tour. Shortly thereafter, Frederick and Jill went back to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

for a "short break", and Steve Weber and Robin Remaily went their own ways. Frederick 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 Frederick moved to the Comstock region of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

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 Javaher (

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

, sax, guitar), Johnny Fingers Murdochi (lead guitar), B. B. Morse (later of

's band) (bass, vocals), Tommy Ward

lap steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar or lap slide guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of pla ...

, and the Horn Brothers, Dolph and Rookie Fisher (

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

and

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

). The Jeffrey Frederick Band became wildly popular among the infamous saloons of

Virginia City Virginia City is a census-designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, United States, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Virginia City dev ...

, the clubs of

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

and

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; Washo language, Washo: ''dáʔaw'') is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the Western United States, straddling the border between California and Nevada. Lying at above sea level, Lake Tahoe is the largest a ...

, and the bars of

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

Yerington Yerington is a city in Lyon County, Nevada, United States. The population was 3,121 at the 2020 census. It is the current county seat of Lyon County, with the first county seat having been established at Dayton on November 29, 1861. It is nam ...

and

Fallon, Nevada Fallon is a city in Churchill County, Nevada, Churchill County in the U.S. state of Nevada. The population was 9,327 at time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Fallon is the county seat of Churchill County and is located in the Lahont ...

Later years

On New Year's Eve, 1983, Frederick married Kathryn Noel Bennett and informally adopted her children. Shortly after, Frederick and Kathryn acquired the infamous Dayton, Nevada saloon, The End Of The Trail. Owning the bar allowed Frederick to perform regularly while maintaining a stable family life. The Fredericks eventually wearied of running a bar, and Frederick 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 A head injury is any injury that results in trauma to the skull or brain. The terms ''traumatic brain injury'' and ''head injury'' are often used interchangeably in the medical literature. Because head injuries cover such a broad scope of inju ...

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. Frederick reformed the Clams and began working with old colleagues and new musicians such as Turtle Vandemarr ( Freak Mountain Ramblers, Christmas Jug Band, Anita Margarita and the Rattlesnakes, previously with Dan Hicks), Kevin "Bingo" Richey ( Bingo Dream Band, Mojave Lords), and Jim Boyer (Freak Mountain Ramblers). Highly charismatic and an inveterate prankster, Frederick once again achieved near-legendary status both within and without the musical community. When he succumbed to

liver failure Liver failure is the inability of the liver to perform its normal synthetic and metabolic functions as part of normal physiology. Two forms are recognised, acute and chronic (cirrhosis). Recently, a third form of liver failure known as acute- ...

(related to treatment for his head injury) in March 1997, Frederick's

memorial service A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

was attended by hundreds of mourners, including Portland's

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

, and the local

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

television station, KOPB, 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. Frederick's surviving band members, protégés and admirers are currently recording a series of

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

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

*''

'' (as Michael Hurley, The Unholy Modal Rounders, Jeffrey Frederick, & The Clamtones) (1976),

*''Spiders In The Moonlight'' (1977), Rounder Records. Out of print, but a

remastered A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...

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 "

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 *''Ole' Bunny Brown; Jeffry Frederick & the Clamtones'' (2019), Frederick Productions/Red Newt Records

Notes and references

External links

jeffreyfrederick.com
Facebook
MySpace profile

Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick, Jeffrey American country singer-songwriters 1950 births 1997 deaths 20th-century American singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Oregon