John Jackson (musician)

John Jackson is a musician and record label executive, known for being the guitarist for the Jayhawks.[1][2] He plays guitar, mandolin and violin.[1]

Before joining the Jayhawks, Jackson had been the senior vice president of A&R at Legacy Recordings where he had co-produced The Jayhawks' “Best Of” album.[3] Jackson spoke to Gary Louris when he was on a solo acoustic tour and asked if he could open for him and began to play with the band.[3] Jackson has described the Jayhawks as "the best American band of the last 30 years."[3] Jackson's connections led to the band getting to work with Ray Davies for their Americana album.[4] Jackson co-produced the band's tenth studio album Back Roads and Abandoned Motels at Flowers Studio in Minneapolis.[5]

Since 2010 Jackson has been the vice president of A&R and Content Development for Sony's Commercial Music group.[2] As part of his work, he oversaw the Elvis Presley back catalog, as well as the catalogs of Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash.[6][7] He worked on a box set for the 50th anniversary of the 1970 Presley sessions, and he’s supplied the master tapes for Baz Luhrmann's Presley biopic.[6]

Early life

Jackson went to Indiana University where he majored in the history of rock music, creating what IU calls "the world's first bachelor's degree in rock history."[7]

References

  1. ^ a b "The Jayhawks' Gary Louris Reflects on Working With Ray Davies, Dixie Chicks & Writing an Album With Emerson Hart". Billboard. 2018-08-02. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  2. ^ a b "John Jackson Upped To VP/A&R At SME Commercial Music Group". All Access. 2020-07-07. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  3. ^ a b c John_Jackson; Stacy Chandler on (2018-07-19). "A View of the Jayhawks from the Outside In". No Depression. Archived from the original on 2018-07-19. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  4. ^ Rubio, Dave Gil de; Call, Special to The Morning (2019-05-29). "SteelStacks concert preview: Jayhawks' Gary Louris talks songwriting, experimenting and working with Kinks' legend Ray Davies". mcall.com. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  5. ^ Goldmine1 (2018-09-19). "The Jayhawks' vision". Goldmine Magazine: Record Collector & Music Memorabilia. Retrieved 2020-07-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ a b Browne, David (2020-03-03). "Can Elvis Rise Again?". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  7. ^ a b Johannesen, Kirk (2020-05-01). "Retiring IU rock history professor struck a chord with students". News at IU. Retrieved 2020-07-07.