Frank Black: Encyclopedia - Frank Black

Frank Black

Frank Black, also known by the stage name Black Francis (real name Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV, born April 6, 1965 in Boston), is an American musician. He was one of the founding members of the alternative rock band the Pixies, along with guitarist Joey Santiago.

Frank Black - Biography

Thompson was raised in Harbor 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, roommate," who inspired the song "Crackity Jones." Many of the Pixies' early songs refer to Thompson's experiences in Puerto Rico, most notably "Isla De Encanta," incorrectly named after the island's motto, "Isla Del Encanto" (Island of Charm). Thompson finally left his studies after debating whether he would go to New Zealand to view Halley's Comet or to start a rock band with his former roomate from Massachusetts, Joey Santiago.

The Pixies were active from 1986 to 1992. They found modest success (primarily on college radio) in America and became very popular in Britain and throughout Europe. They've retained a following, and have since been seen as one of the best and most influential rock groups of their era.

1996 saw the release of The Cult of Ray, which featured Lyle Workman on lead guitar. A point of interest here is that Workman's guitar was fed solely through the left speaker, with Thompson's rhythm coming from the right. Despite the likeness between Workman and Santiago's berserk styles, the album did not gain the same critical or fan acclaim as his previous solo efforts. Recently, Workman has continued his career by touring with Beck. Following this album, Thompson formed a new band, Frank Black and the Catholics, featuring Rich Gilbert (guitar) and Cult of Ray musicians David McCaffrey (bass) and Scott Boutier (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 Thompson'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]) 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 Thompson'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 12 years in April 2004, and went on to tour extensively in the U.S, Canada and Europe in the same year.

2004 was a high point for the Pixies, but a potential low point for the Catholics, as rumors (still unconfirmed) rapidly spread that they were breaking up. As productive as ever, Thompson teamed up with legendary session-men Steve Cropper and Spooner Oldman, as well as producer Jon Tiven, to record Honeycomb, his first solo album since 1996's Cult of Ray. Honeycomb was released in July 2005 to a vast majority of favorable reviews.

Frank Black - Singing and songwriting style

Thompson once said he modeled his performance style on two simple words: "Scream it." He adopted the mantra from a Thai neighbor, who once asked him to sing "Oh! Darling" by The Beatles and "Scream it like you hate that bitch!"

Indeed, Thompson's 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. His current voice, however, is milder than that of his younger years.

During his stay in Puerto Rico, Thompson 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. Ever since his later works with the Pixies, 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 Thompson'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 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 Thompson'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. Thompson 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" and "Isla De Encanta," as well as "Skeleton Man" from his work with The Catholics hide similar metrics and the same unconventional approach to songwriting within rock songs. Overall, beneath the visceral simplicity of the Pixies' and Thompson'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.

Frank Black - Discography

Frank Black - Studio albums

Frank Black - EPs & singles

Frank Black - Compilations

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