Jack Landron
| Jack Landrón | |
|---|---|
Landrón in 1962
|
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Juán Cándido Washington y Landrón |
| Also known as | Jackie Washington |
| Born |
June 2, 1938 Puerto Rico |
| Origin | Puerto Rico |
| Occupation(s) | Folksinger, Songwriter, Actor |
Jack Landrón (born Juán Cándido Washington y Landrón, June 2, 1938) is an Afro-Puerto Rican folksinger, songwriter, and actor.
Because he was known as "Jackie Washington" early in his career, he is often confused with the Canadian Jackie Washington, (1919–2009), who was a blues and jazz performer (nor is either to be confused with the fictional, female Jackie Washington played by Jenifer Lewis in the 1999 mockumentary TV-film Jackie's Back).
Born Juán Cándido Washington y Landrón on June 2, 1938, in Puerto Rico, he grew up in the Boston, Massachusetts neighborhood of Roxbury. He studied at Emerson College as a Theater Arts major. As part of the Cambridge/Boston folk music scene in the early and mid-1960s, he released four albums on Vanguard—Jackie Washington (1962), Jackie Washington/2 (1963), Jackie Washington at Club 47 (1965), and Morning Song (1967); this last LP consisted entirely of original compositions and was his first with a band. [None of his albums has been released on CD but individual songs have appeared on anthologies. His sole single, for instance, "Why Won't They Let Me Be?" (1966), is included in Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities 2 (Kent, 2005).] The live album, Jackie Washington at Club 47, featuring a cover collage by Eric Von Schmidt, is most representative of his act as he had a lot to say between numbers—not only setting up the contexts of the songs but also relating personal anecdotes; indeed, he could easily have worked as a stand-up comedian, and he fully appreciated the early records of Bill Cosby (nowadays, his main man comedically is Chris Rock). Vanguard, however, tried to groom him as a male counterpart to Joan Baez. He now characterizes himself as primarily a storyteller.
While coming home in the early hours of December 3, 1962, Washington was arrested by the Boston Police: what happened was the subject of dispute, with the police saying that when they questioned him, Washington assaulted one of the officers and Washington asserting that he was stopped, and subsequently beaten by two officers, for no reason other than his race. The case resulted in a cause célèbre which Washington's supporters believed had exposed racism in the Boston police force.[2] Washington was ultimately acquitted of all charges, in a verdict that took the jury only five hours to reach.
...
Wikipedia