According to a quote in his New York Times obit, Jack Hardy, who died in New York of complications of lung cancer last Friday at 63, was "undoubtedly the least famous person with a boxed set.”
He was jokingly referring to the pair of boxed sets sampling hundreds of his protest and political songs and romantic ballads that were released independently in 2000. But lack of relative fame aside, his influence on the New York folk scene--and contemporary folk music in general--was profound.
"Chapter 17 of my book starts out like this," says Christine Lavin, reciting the first line of the chapter of her autobiographical Cold Pizza For Breakfast: A Mem-wha??: "Years from now, if someone writes a book about the American contemporary folk music scene of the late twentieth century, they will no doubt write at length about singer/songwriter Jack Hardy."
Besides his own songs, Hardy organized the cooperative singer-songwriter nightclub the Speakeasy in Greenwich Village. He was also the founding editor of Fast Folk Musical Magazine, the monthly magazine/album package that provided a first exposure outlet for singer-songwriters--many of whom went on to great acclaim and some measure of fame--from 1982 to 1997.
Since the late '70s, except when he on tour, he hosted a Monday night songwriters dinner in his Greenwich Village apartment. Attendees were required to contribute $2 to cover pasta and wine, and bring a new song to sing--and critique those of others.
"He really had quite an impact that will continue for years to come," says Lavin. "I was in the recording studio on Tuesday night with 25 singers, adding their voices to a topical song, and it reminded me of Fast Folk sessions where Jack would get the idea to add voices on a chorus, and we'd all pile into the booth, sharing headphones, getting our voices on tape."
Lavin cites Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega, Michelle Shocked, Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, Cliff Eberhardt, John Gorka and Suzy Bogguss, "to just name a few," who made their first recordings for Hardy in Fast Folk--Vega's in Fast Folk's first issue (she returned the favor in covering Hardy's “St. Clare” on her 2001 album Songs In Red And Gray).
"I'm just glad I wrote about him when he was alive and well," continues Lavin. "Although he created such an opportunity for so many, stardom eluded him personally. Death, of course, has always been a good career move for musicians, so maybe a wide audience will now get a chance to know him."
Hardy's brother Jeff played bass for him for many years before becoming a chef, tragically, at global financial services provider Cantor Fitzgerald, in the World Trade Center.
"Jack watched the towers fall on 9/11, knowing that Jeff was in one of them," Lavin recalls. "At times like this I wish I was more religious because I'd like to think that they've reconnected."
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