Frank Black
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Frank Black, also known by the stage name Black Francis (real name Charles Michael Kitridge Thompson IV, born April 6, 1965 in Boston), is an American musician. He was one of the founding members of the alt-rock band the Pixies, along with Filipino guitarist Joey Santiago.
Thompson was raised in Culver City, California. He studied in the University of Massachusetts, before taking off to Puerto Rico as part of an exchange program. It was here where he reportedly spent six months in an apartment with a "weird, psycho, gay roommate," who inspired the song "Crackity Jones." Many of the Pixies's early songs refer to Francis' experience in Puerto Rico, most notably "Isla De Encanta," incorrectly named after the island's motto, "Isla Del Encanta" (Island of Charm). Black Francis' insufficient grasp of the local language (which meant he couldn't even open a bank account to cash his checks) forced him to make a decision whilst slumped in a local bar. He would either go to New Zealand to observe the passing of Halley's Comet or form a rock band.
The Pixies were active from 1986 to 1992. They found modest success (primarily on college radio), but retained a following, and have since been seen as one of the best and most influential rock groups of their era.
After the split (due primarily to internal tensions between Black Francis and bassist/singer Kim Deal) of the Pixies, he went on to record solo material with Eric Drew Feldman. His first solo release was the self-titled Frank Black (1993), which included the song "Los Angeles" (about different places named Los Angeles—"not the one in south California / they got one in south Patagonia"), and this was followed in the next year by Teenager of the Year, which included the song "Headache." These two albums were critically well-received and remain fan favorites, although they enjoyed little commercial success.
1996 saw the release of The Cult of Ray, which did not gain the same critical or fan acclaim as his previous solo efforts. Following this album, Black formed a new band, Frank Black and the Catholics, featuring Rich Gilbert (guitar) and Cult of Ray musicians Scott Boutier (bass) and David McCaffrey (drums). The band's eponymous first album Frank Black and the Catholics was released in 1998. This was the first Frank Black album recorded entirely to two-track live in the studio, which would become a signature of future albums released by the band.
The new band also released "Pistolero" in 1999 and then Dog in the Sand, which is often considered a high-point of Black's career, in 2000. This album added Athens, Georgia musician Dave Philips on pedal steel guitar, and also saw the return of Joey Santiago. Two separate albums, "Black Letter Days" (the title refers to the opposite of "red letter days," which are holidays—a "black letter day" being an ordinary day [1] (http://www.splendidezine.com/features/frankblack/)) and "Devil's Workshop," were released simultaneously in 2002; this was considered to be a somewhat unusual move. A sixth album with the Catholics, "Show Me Your Tears", was released in 2003. "Show Me Your Tears's" title and many of the songs in it were inspired by Frank Black's recent divorce.
In late 2003, rumors were spreading again that the Pixies were reuniting. The official announcements were made that the band was, in fact, practicing for a reunion tour. They played publicly again for the first time in April 2004, after a break of 12 years, and went on to tour extensively in the USA, Canada and Europe in the same year.
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Singing and Songwriting Style
Charles Thompson worked for a time in a flower shop. There he met the cousin of his employer, who had been a minor Thai rock star. From him Black Francis got the mantra that would serve his career so well: "Scream it", Black quoted in an interview, "scream it like you hate that bitch." Indeed, Black Francis' powerful screams were a signature of Pixies albums which fit quite well with the band's typical song structure of quietly paced verses followed by thundering chorus lines and repetitive guitar staccato. As Frank Black he has continued this practice, but his unrestrained style has led to damage in his vocal chords. His current voice is clearly milder than that of his younger years.
During his stay in Puerto Rico, Frank Black picked up a fairly fluent yet informal and at times incorrect use of Spanish, which he has continued to use throughout his career. His earlier songs in The Pixies reflected aspects of his days in San Juan and are heavily seasoned with local slang from the island. In his later works in the Pixies and from then on the use of Spanish drifted westward, reflecting places and aspects of the state of California and its culture. This evolution illustrates the constant combination of Black's sources of inspiration. Many of his songs allude to California's surf culture, although he has never experienced or had interest in it. His admitted interest in space and science-fiction blends with his use of Spanish in references to Arecibo's observatory and the American West as it relates to New Mexico and Area 51.
His lyrics are noted for their sometimes obscure references to unusual topics like outer space, unexplained phenomena such as UFOs, and even The Three Stooges (the last of these being the subject of Two Reelers, a song from Teenager of the Year). He has also used the Bible as a source for his freakish stories, most notably in the incestuous tale of Nimrod's Son. Lyrics with a focus on science fiction were particularly prominent on his three solo albums of the mid-1990s (Frank Black, Teenager of the Year, and The Cult of Ray). With the Catholics, his lyrics have more often tended towards historical topics; for example, on Dog in the Sand, there is a song called "St. Francis Dam Disaster", which is about the catastrophic collapse of the St. Francis Dam in California in March 1928.
Musically, one aspect that is often overlooked by listeners and even loyal fans is Frank Black's frequent use of atypical meter signature in his songs. Rock and pop themes usually rely on conventional, "square" metrics such as 2/4, 4/4 and 3/4. Frank Black has composed many successful songs that stray from these conventional beats. The practice can be easily noticed in songs like "The Marsist" (opening track on "The Cult of Ray"), where the bass cycles through 19 quavers. However, themes like the Pixies' "Gouge Away", "Isla De Encanta" and "Skeleton Man" from his work with The Catholics hide similar metrics and the same unconventional approach to songwriting within catchy rock tunes. Overall, beneath the visceral simplicity of the Pixies' and Black's songs lies some eclectic attention to music theory and sources, evident by the use of Spanish rhythms, galloping marches in the style of cowboy movies, haikus, and many other traits. The lyrics to "Ana", "Speedy Marie" and "Robert Onion" respectively contain the acrostics surfer, Jean Marie Walsh (his then girlfriend and current ex-wife) and Robert The Case For Mars Zubrin.
Discography
Studio Albums
| Year | Title | Label |
| 1993 | Frank Black | 4AD |
| 1994 | Teenager of the Year | 4AD |
| 1996 | The Cult of Ray | American Recordings |
| 1998 | Frank Black and the Catholics | spinART |
| 1999 | Pistolero | What Are Records? |
| 2000 | Dog in the Sand | What Are Records? |
| 2002 | Black Letter Days | spinART |
| 2002 | Devil's Workshop | SpinART |
| 2003 | Show Me Your Tears | spinART |
| 2004 | Frank Black Francis | spinART |
EPs & Singles
| Year | Title | Label |
| 1993 | Hang On To Your Ego | 4AD |
| 1994 | Headache | Badd |
| 1995 | Men In Black | American Recordings |
| 1995 | The Marsist/Better Things | Dragnet |
| 1998 | All My Ghosts | Play It Again Sam |
| 2003 | Nadine | ? |
Compilations
| Year | Title | Label |
| 2000 | Oddballs | EMusic |
External link
- Official site (http://www.frankblack.net)
- Frank Black's Allmusic entry (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=MIW050505171551&sql=11:ln5uak5k5m3l~T0)de:Frank Black