Hollywood's Jack Black Explores Country Music
Actor Sings Traditional Bluegrass Song, Hopes to Play Grand Ole Opry
Jan 3, 2009
Movie fans are most familiar with comedic-actor Jack Black, 39, from his roles in films such as the animated hit, Kung Fu Panda, or the recent Tropic Thunder, as well as Shallow Hal, Nacho Libre, Saving Silverman, Orange County, King Kong, Be Kind Rewind, Envy and School of Rock, among other flicks.
But in a Jan. 2, 2009, Associated Press interview, the California native said singing with his father-in-law, jazz double-bassist Charlie Haden, on the traditional bluegrass song called Old Joe Clark was something that came surprisingly natural to the quirky thespian who's gravitated toward rock 'n' roll, not country music, for most of his life.
Grand Ole Opry Dreams: Bluegrass Song Inspires Hollywood Actor
"I wasn't sure what to expect, because I haven't recorded or really sung any old songs like that before, bluegrass style, but it came very naturally and I cranked it out in two takes," Black remarked in the AP interview, referring to his rendition of Old Joe Clark, which is contained on Haden's 19-song, Grammy-nominated Rambling Boy CD.
"There was something in the music that I think struck a chord in my DNA," Black has said of his energetic foray into bluegrass. "I think I've got some hillbilly in my roots. ... (And) I'm already practicing my square dancing if we play the Grand Ole Opry."
Also known as the Ole Joe Clark Ballad, the traditional country song's author is unknown. However, according to the mountain ballad's history, it is a song with several versions and some 90 stanzas that was first sung as a folk song during World War I, and then later, by soldiers from eastern Kentucky. An early version of the song was printed in 1918, as sung in Virginia at that time.
Reportedly, the now-infamous subject of the song, Joe Clark, was a mountaineer born in 1839 who was murdered in 1885.
Movie Star Jack Black Sings Traditional Country Music on Grammy-Nominated CD
Although Black's musical contribution to the Rambling Boy CD, which was released Sept. 23, 2008, on the Decca label, wasn't initially in the plans for either bluegrass/gospel/country/jazz musican Haden or his son-in-law, he was given the spur-of-the-moment opportunity to lend his vocals to the now-acclaimed recording after Haden shared a near-completed mix of the recording with Black so that he could hear his sometimes performance-shy wife, Tanya, singing on the disc as part of the Haden Triplets act, alongside sisters Petra and Rachel.
According to the AP story, Haden gathered his family to perform a number of old-style country music on the Family & Friends: Rambling Boy CD. Music that he once sang with his siblings in parents as part of the Haden Family band, an act from the 1930s and '40s. Moreover, Haden has said, the original plan was for the Old Joe Clark number to be recorded as an instrumental on his current CD, but Black has said he felt it'd make a "great jam" so Haden let him give it a go.
Participating on the Rambling Boy album, Black has said, afforded him the opportunity to be "truly part of the (Haden) family," as well as explore his previously untapped country music talents.
Country Singers, Bluegrass Players, Rock & Jazz Musicians Among Record's Contributors
In addition to performances by Black--whose MySpace page lists his musical influence as rockers Led Zeppelin, Van Halen and AC/DC--and the Haden Triplets, the Rambling Boy CD includes performances by Vince Gill, Elvis Costello, as well as a circa 1939 excerpt from the Haden Family's radio show that features a then 22-month-old "Little Cowboy Charlie" yodeling.
Black, who has long fronted Tenacious D, a two-man comedy-rock act that has released two CDs to date, will star in The Year One, a comedy set for release in summer 2009 that will also star Michael Cera. He and wife Tanya, a cellist and visual artist, first met in high school in Santa Monica, Calif., but didn't marry until March 2006 after crossing paths again. They have two children, Samuel and Thomas.
Sources
Clark, Lisa. Old Joe Clark Biography, The Rosinators. Retrieved Jan. 2, 2009, at web.ukonline.co.uk/pdcmusic/old-joe-clark.html.
Gans, Charles J. Jack Black discovers his country music DNA on father-in-law's album, Associated Press wire story, Jan. 2, 2009. Retrieved jan. 2, 2009, from news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090102/ap_en_mu/music_haden_jack_black.
Jack Black MySpace page, n.d. Accessed Jan. 2, 2009, at www.myspace.com/jackblack666.
Official Web page of Charlie Haden, n.d. Accessed Jan. 2, 2009, at www.charliehadenmusic.com.
Old Joe Clark Ballad, Historical Marker No. 1382. Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky Department of Highways (1970). Retrieved Jan. 2, 2009, at www.escapetothesoutheast.com.
Tenacious D Offical Web page, n.d. Accessed Jan. 2, 2009, at www.tenaciousd.com.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
