Jeffrey Sutton Frederick (1950–1997) was a songwriter, guitarist and performer specializing in good-time Americana music—an idiosyncratic blend of folk, country and rock and roll. He was a largely uncredited predecessor of today's alternative country music genre. Also notorious for his pranks, he was a prodigious songwriter, specializing in sly, hilarious and soulful pieces. Frederick's tightly crafted songs and intricate guitar work were praised by the likes of Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, and Dan Hicks. His songs are being featured in a series of tribute albums, starting with St. Jeffrey's Day: The Songs of Jeffrey Frederick, Volume I (2008). Jeffrey Frederick and the Clamtones (his best-known group) were inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame on October 8, 2011.
Early life
Born in Wilmington, Delaware, to highly religious parents, Harry and Edna Frederick, he spent most of his early years in rural Vermont. He went so far as to become an Eagle Scout, but quit the Scouts at age 14 to start his first band, the Renegades.
Vermont
In the late 1960s Frederick, Jill Gross, Morgan Huber, John Raskin, and Robert Nickson (Froggy) established the original Clamtones band in Vermont. In the early 1970s, Frederick made some changes and started Automatic Slim & the Fat Boys (celebrated in Michael Hurley's song by the same name on his first Rounder Records album, Snockgrass). In addition to Frederick, the band consisted of his close friend, Michael Hurley (vocals, guitar, banjo), Doug Southworth (piano, guitar), and Melting Snow (Tom Hayes) (guitar).
Frederick developed many of his best-known songs during this period, such as "What Made My Hamburger Disappear" (which was borrowed by the TV program, Sesame Street, even though it is actually written from the perspective of somebody having a heart attack), "Robbing Banks" (which Frederick claimed was written for his great-uncle, "Gentleman" Willie Sutton), "Stolen Guitar", and many others. His songs were almost invariably inspired by real people and events. For instance, during this period, in northern Vermont there was increasing tension between conservative rural and establishment Vermonters and the young "hipster" crowd. A corrupt undercover officer, Paul Lawrence, staged a fraudulent drug bust at a St. Albans tavern where Automatic Slim and The Fat Boys often played. As a consequence, the proprietor, Otto Kremer, lost the bar, was forced to plead guilty to a variety of narcotics crimes and leave the state within 72 hours (all charges were later overturned). These events inspired Frederick's song, "Poor Otto". They also helped convince Frederick to leave the area in which he had grown up.
Portland
Frederick moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1975 at the urging of the Holy Modal Rounders' Robin Remaily. His singing partner, Jill Gross, joined him later that year, and together they started the Clamtones on the West Coast. In an unusual arrangement, the band performed as the Clamtones when Frederick was the frontman and as the Holy Modal Rounders when Steve Weber was frontman. These "two bands in one" often shared the same stage, with the Clamtones typically playing the opening and closing sets, as documented in Jeffrey Frederick and the Clamtones, B.C. and Steve Weber and the Holy Modal Rounders, B.C. (Frederick Productions). In addition to Frederick and Jill, the band consisted of Dave Reisch (bass and vocals), Robin Remaily (guitar and mandolin), Teddy Deane (horns and woodwinds), Richard Tyler (piano), and R. "Willy" North (drums). They soon gained the reputation of "the greatest... f---ing bar band in America".
Bicentennial tour
In 1976 the bands took off on a 9,000-mile Bicentennial tour of the perimeter of the United States. During this tour, Frederick was arrested in Texas for performing in a dress, and the band was escorted out of Alabama by the state police, for singing the irreligious gospel tune, "Let Me Down" ("Take these nails right out of my hands/And I swear you will get to the promised land/All your sins are forgiven/now let me down..."). During the tour, Frederick recorded Have Moicy! ("best album of the year," Village Voice, "the top folk album of the rock era," Rolling Stone Magazine) with Jill, Michael Hurley, Peter Stampfel, Paul Presti, Dave Reisch, Robin Remaily, Wax Iwaskiewicz and Robert Nickson. His contribution to this groundbreaking record is widely recognized. For example, rock critic Robert Christgau has described Frederick as "the secret hero of my beloved Have Moicy."