My Name Is Jack Explained

My Name Is Jack
Type:single
Artist:Manfred Mann
B-Side:There Is a Man
Recorded:March 1968
Studio:Trident, London[1]
Genre:
Length:2:50
Label:
Prev Title:(Theme from) Up the Junction
Prev Year:1968
Next Title:Fox on the Run
Next Year:1968
Producer:

"My Name Is Jack" is a song written by American record producer John Simon[2] and released as a single by British group Manfred Mann in 1968.[3] Their version reached number 8 on the UK Singles Chart.[4] It became an international Top 10 hit, but only reached number 104 in the US.[5]

Background

The lyrics and music were written by John Simon, and his own version was included on the soundtrack of the 1968 film You Are What You Eat.[2] The song tells the story of a resident of the "Greta Garbo Home for Wayward Boys and Girls", which was the nickname of a real hostel, the Kirkland Hotel,[6] in San Francisco, where part of the movie was filmed.[7] [8] [9] Formerly Sakutaro Nakano's[10] Kashu Hotel,[11] 1701 Laguna Street, the building became dilapidated and was demolished, and the Christ United Presbyterian Church was opened on the site in 1975.[12]

The song was recorded at one of the first high-profile sessions at the newly constructed Trident Studios in London, which would later become renowned for its use by such artists as the Beatles, David Bowie, Queen, and others.

Personnel

Mike d'Abo – vocals, piano

Manfred Mann – keyboards

Tom McGuinness – guitar

Klaus Voormann – bass guitar

Mike Hugg – drums

Chart history

Chart (1968)Peak
position
Austria 1
Australia (Go-Set)[13] 10
Australia (Kent Music Report)7
Canada RPM Top Singles[14] 27
Finland (Suomen Virallinen)[15] 33
Germany7
Netherlands16
New Zealand (Listener)[16] 10
UK Singles Chart[17] 8
U.S. Billboard 104

Cover versions

Notes and References

  1. August 1968 . BI's Chart Fax . . 8 . 17 . 10 February 2023.
  2. Web site: AFI Catalog of Feature Films – You Are What You Eat . . 17 July 2014.
  3. News: Shinner . Merrill . Manfred Mann rewrites the past . 13 April 1977. St. Petersburg Times. 17 July 2014.
  4. Book: Betts, Graham . Complete UK Hit Singles 1952–2004 . Collins . London . 1st . 2004 . 488 . 0-00-717931-6.
  5. Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100 1959-2004
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20040922032050/https://www.west.asu.edu/Koptiuch/SBS301_archive/PMEwebF02/Bray.html
  7. http://www.garboforever.com/inspired_Hotels.htm GarboForever.com
  8. https://books.google.com/books?id=IEpIVbgz5JsC&dq=%22Kirkland+Hotel%22+garbo&pg=PA203 Mark Christensen, Acid Christ: Ken Kesey, LSD, and the Politics of Ecstasy, IPG, 2010, p.203
  9. http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=90063 Greta Garbo Home for Wayward Boys and Girls
  10. https://www.pcns.org/papers/2019pprs/paper6/index.html The Kashu Hotel
  11. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2021650556/
  12. https://www.nichibei.org/listing/christ-united-presbyterian-church/ Christ United Presbyterian Church
  13. http://www.poparchives.com.au/gosetcharts/1968/19680828.html Go-Set National Top 40, 28 August 1968
  14. Web site: Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 1968-08-03 . 2018-07-04.
  15. Book: Nyman, Jake . Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja . Tammi . 2005 . 951-31-2503-3 . 1st . Helsinki . 201. fi.
  16. http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20listener&qartistid=450#n_view_location Flavour of New Zealand, 6 September 1968
  17. Book: Betts, Graham . Complete UK Hit Singles 1952–2004 . Collins . London . 1st . 2004 . 488 . 0-00-717931-6.