Jacks

Jacks are a 1960s Japanese psychedelic rock group that begins in 1966 as a folk trio under the name Nightingale. Yoshio Hayakawa and classmate Suehiro Takahashi first perform together as a duo at university, then the group expands into a quartet with Hitoshi Tanino on bass and Takasuke Kida on drums. Takahashi later leaves, and Haruo Mizuhashi joins on lead guitar. The group’s line-up is Yoshio Hayakawa on vocals and rhythm guitar, Haruo Mizuhashi on lead guitar and vocals, Hitoshi Tanino on Fender bass and upright bass, and Takasuke Kida on drums, flute, vibraphone and tenor saxophone.

Style and sound

The band develops a sound that combines psychedelic rock with elements of surf, folk and jazz. Their music is often slow, dramatic and dark, with an exploratory and improvisational quality. They use reverb, tremolo, subtle fuzz guitar, vibraphone, organ and wind instruments including flute. Hayakawa sings in Japanese with a voice that moves between calm restraint and more strained, desperate outbursts, while Kida’s drumming ranges from light jazzy figures to offbeat rhythms and heavy cymbal crashes.

Career and recordings

Jacks make several appearances on NHK’s radio programme Folk Village in 1967 and 1968. A number of songs from those broadcasts later appear on the 1986 release Echoes in the Radio. In the summer of 1967 they do well in a Yamaha-sponsored contest, and they are then hired to work on the soundtrack for Koji Wakamatsu’s film Harakashi Onna (A Womb for Let). At a long recording session in February 1968, they cut twenty tracks for that film, including versions of songs that later appear in other forms on later releases. The soundtrack material is later issued on albums such as Realization and Remains, and the complete session is also released on CD in the Selected Masterpieces by Koji Wakamatsu film music series.

Vacant World and later releases

Their best known studio album is Vacant World, released in 1968 as Karappo No Sekai or Jacks no Sekai in Japanese. It is widely regarded as one of the most important Japanese albums. The title song, “Vacant World” or “Karappo no Sekai”, is banned from Japanese airwaves because of its lyrics. Jacks disband shortly before the release of their second studio album, Super Session, which appears in 1969 as Jacks No Kiseki. Later releases include Jacks’ Greatest Hits in 1972, Live ’68 in 1973 as a fan-club release, and Echoes In The Radio in 1986. Vacant World and Super Session remain in print by EMI Japan.

After the group

After Jacks break up, singer Yoshio Hayakawa releases one solo album, retires from music, and later returns as a solo artist in the 1990s. Drummer Takasuke Kida dies in a car accident in 1980. Haruo Mizuhashi, the group’s guitarist, later works as a music producer and dies in 2018.

Selected discography

Albums: Vacant World / Jacks No Sekai (1968), Super Session / Jacks No Kiseki (1969), Jacks’ Greatest Hits (1972), Live ’68 (1973), Echoes In The Radio (1986).

Singles: “Karappo No Sekai” / “Iikodane”, “Marianne” / “Tokei Wo Tomete”, “Karappo No Sekai” / “Tokei Wo Tomete”, “Kono Michi” / “Karappo No Sekai” (album version), and “Joe’s Rock” / “Flower”.