Jacks

In 1965 Yoshio Hayakawa and fellow classmate Suehiro Takahashi were in a folk group called Eri Matsubara and the Folktorio Nightingale [not sure of that first word - kana is フォークトリオ・ナイチンゲール]. After graduation in the summer of 1966, Hayakawa and Takahashi performed as a duo at their university with the name 'Jacks'. The following year they became a quartet with Hitoshi Tanino playing bass and Takasuke Kida on drums. Takahashi soon left the group so Haruo Mizuhashi joined on lead guitar. Each member would make major contributions to Jacks unique melange of styles:

Yoshio Hayakawa (早川義夫) – vocals, rhythm guitar - Hayakaya's singing is always expressive and often distraught with emotion; I would guess his vocal style (and lyrical subject matter) owes more to Japanese enka ballads than 'folk'.

Haruo Mizuhashi (水橋春夫) – lead guitar, vocals - Haruo Mizuhashi definitely plugged into the sounds coming from California in 1967, especially Barry Melton's playing on Country Joe and the Fish's first LP Electric Music for the Mind and Body. He makes good use of contrasting delicate passages with discordant stabs of solos and riffs.

Hitoshi Tanino (谷野ひとし) – Fender bass, upright bass - Tanino's bass playing is original and solid and he was their second most active songwriter after Hayakawa.

Takasuke Kida (木田高介) – drums, flute, vibraphone, tenor saxophone - Takasuke Kida's jazz-influenced drumming gives a special fury to the songs with wild fills and orchestral effects.

They made at least three appearances on NHK network's radio show Folk Village, including February and June of 1967 and January of 1968. Seven songs from these shows survive on the LP Echoes in the Radio released in 1986, but I haven't heard this yet. All these songs would be revisited by the band for studio recordings in the next year.

In one long session at Meguro Studio on February 3, 1968 they cut twenty tracks for the film. Most of these were released on two LPs released in 1986, Realization and Remains but the complete session is now on CD, Selected Masterpieces by Koji Wakamatsu film music series: Harakashi Onna.

A number of these songs would be re-cut for later single and LP releases: "Marianne" (マリアンヌ), "Gloomy Flower" (裏切りの季節), and "In the Broken Mirror" (われた鏡の中から). "Dm 4-50" would be revisited on the Super Session LP in much abridged form - here the band stretches out with a long solo passage and slower pace.

"Omae wa Hinagiku" (お前はひな菊), "Gone My Yumiko" (由美子はいない) and "Jijoku No Kisetsu" (地獄の季節) would not be revisited in the studio, but each was a feature of their live and radio shows.

"Vacant World" (からっぽの世界 / Karappo no Sekai) is present, but only as an airy instrumental. Instrumentals take up half the session. "Teki Wa Toku Ni" (敵は遠くに) is slow and has a bleating saxophone throughout. "Umi to Onnanoko" (海と女の子) is also a slow instrumental, but nicely atmospheric. In addition there are six instrumentals written by Haruo Mizuhashi, of which "M-19" is one of the best.

I'm very surprised to hear Jacks cover two songs on these sessions: the Carnabeats' お前に夢中さ (Give Me Lovin' - itself a version of the Great Scots song) and the Tempters' first single 忘れ得ぬ君 (Wasure-Emu Kimi). Both would have been recent hits from late 1967, I assume Jacks dashed these off for the fun of it. To my knowledge, they never again would cover another band's song, either live or on record.

These recordings show Jacks had already established the arrangements of their original songs. On the other hand, the production is definitely rougher than their later sessions. Obviously the band was learning their way around a studio. The guitarists are sometimes out of tune with each other or with Tanino. This is especially apparent on "Omae wa Hinagiku" (お前はひな菊).

Hayakawa sounds the most confident, and has his vocal inflections down. Mizuhashi lacks the great distorted tone he'd have on the later recordings, and at times he seems still to be perfecting his leads, though for the most part he's right on. Takasuke Kida shows his improvisational skills in "Marianne", but his touch would also be defter in the near future.

The b-side to this first 45 was a great song "Ii Ko Da Ne" (いい娘だね) which I've seen translated as both "Lovely Girl" and "She's a Good Old Girl", but a snide "Nice Girl, Isn't She?" is how I'd put it. The verse and chorus structure is conventional by their standards. It's definitely their most 'garage' number and one of my favorites. It was never picked up for their LPs, so it remains a lesser-known track.

Their concert recorded on July 24, 1968 shows the group were a strong live act, performing their full range of songs with a few new compositions. "Battlefield in My Head" (敵は遠くに) went to over ten minutes with some vamping and a long bass solo. Check out the live version of "Ii Ko Da Ne" to see how together this band could sound.

I'm not sure what kind of response or sales the first two singles generated, but Jacks received attention beyond the underground press. They signed to the Express label (a Toshiba subsidiary) and released their first album, Vacant World (also known as Jacks' World / ジャックスの世界) on September 10, 1968. Their album featured re-recorded versions of songs from the Million 45s in nearly identical arrangements.

Below are a few of my favorite tracks from the LP:

"Gloomy Flower" (裏切りの季節 ) is one of Jacks' most powerful songs, with a deadly opening riff by Mizuhashi. Hayakawa wrote the song and delivers the lyrics in a voice that's almost deranged at times.

I'd like to know whether "Love Generation" (ラブ・ジェネレーション) is a sarcastic view of the hippie scene or has a different message. Mizuhashi's solo here is very reminiscent of something James Gurley of Big Brother might play.

Bassist Hitoshi Tanino wrote "Bara Manji" 薔薇卍, a demented-sounding blues with a wild solo passage.

Super Session is a jumble of styles, including a couple that sound like outright parody. Despite the title, the LP was not cut in one session. Some recordings date to when Mizuhashi was still on guitar, while others featuring Tsunoda, including what may be the best cut on the LP, "Rock for Fallen Angel", and his own composition, the 17-second "To Love You".

Hitoshi Tanino's "DM 4-50" dated back to their first session for the Harakashi Onna soundtrack while one of Hayakawa's two contributions to the LP, "Battlefield in My Head" had been in their live repertoire by July 1968 if not earlier. "Rock for Fallen Angel" was written by S. Tsuge, the composer of nearly half the LP and features drummer Takasuke Kida on tenor saxophone.

It appears Jacks' peak creativity came in 1967 and early '68. Perhaps the attention they received, or the task of re-cutting songs for their singles and then again for their LPs took a toll on the band's original output. By the time of the release of Super Session, Jacks had already broken up.

Click for larger images of the scans below:

Notes from Nihon Rock ki GS-hen - can anyone translate any relevant info?

Notes from the Harakashi Onna soundtrack CD.

Notes inside the "My Road" sleeve

Notes inside the "Joe's Rock" sleeve

Back cover of Vacant World

Notes from the back cover of Super Session

Notes from Takt Days CD

Sources include Top 100 Japanese Pop Artists site.

Kurosawa Susumu's (黒沢 進) definitive catalog of 60's Japanese rock and psychedelia, Nihon Rock ki GS-hen (Japan Rock Chronicles: Group Sounds Compendium) is essential. When researching this piece I discovered Kurosawa Susumu passed away in April, 2007, at age 52.

Special thanks to Jeff Hill for helping with the Harakashi Onna sessions.

I posted a very brief article on Jacks on August 6, 2004. This update published October 18, 2009.