RIP Earnest Jackson Sarah Gonzalez/NPR cover caption
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Sarah Gonzalez/NPR
RIP Earnest Jackson
Sarah Gonzalez/NPR
When Planet Cash spoke to the singer and songwriter Earnest Jackson again in 2022, the then 74-year-old was a bit wistful about his unrealized dream.
“I’ve all the time wished to be a famous person,” Jackson stated. “I really feel like I had the potential. And, you understand, I have never given up my dream. I pray on it on a regular basis.”
Jackson started writing and performing soul and R&B songs when he was simply a young person. Positive, he had some brushes with fame. However regardless of his expertise and laborious work, he, like so many different musicians, by no means actually obtained his second within the solar.
That’s till Planet Cash obtained its arms on a dusty, outdated cassette tape of a music that Jackson wrote and recorded with a band known as Sugar Daddy and the Gumbo Roux. The music known as “Inflation.” And whereas it was recorded approach again in 1975, in the course of the heyday of stagflation, it actually tapped into the inflationary zeitgeist of the previous few years.
We beloved the “Inflation” music. It is jazzy and funky. Jackson’s voice and lyrics actually seize the ache and frustration of dwelling in an financial system through which the price of dwelling is skyrocketing. However regardless of the music being so good, it had by no means been launched. So we determined to vary that.
What adopted was an odyssey into the music business, all documented in a three–half podcast collection. Planet Cash began a document label with the goals of creating the music a success and Jackson a star (in addition to studying the ins and outs of the music enterprise).
And we’re completely satisfied to report that the music ended up being a success. On Spotify alone, the music has been streamed over 1.8 million occasions, placing it simply within the prime one p.c of all songs listened to on the streaming platform (lower than one p.c of songs on Spotify get greater than 1,000,000 listens).
Planet Cash Data’ one and solely launch. NPR cover caption
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We’re additionally completely satisfied to report that Jackson obtained a style of what he had all the time dreamed of. He obtained recognition for his expertise and artistry like by no means earlier than. “Inflation” was streamed around the globe, from Japan to Nigeria to Norway to Kazakhstan. Of specific significance to Jackson, the music was performed on his favourite radio station, Q106.5 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The music additionally proved to be a launching pad for different work. Jackson, for instance, was featured on the favored animated TV present Bob’s Burgers, singing a music known as “Gasoline in my automobile,” which is concerning the fuel disaster again within the Nineteen Seventies.
However, alas, we’re unhappy to report that Earnest Jackson lately handed away in his hometown of Baton Rouge. He was 75.
In a latest episode of Planet Cash, Jackson’s son, Corey, advised us that his dad was “ecstatic” about his late-found success. “He was in such good spirits, man,” Corey stated. “He was so completely satisfied about that.”
We at Planet Cash will always remember Earnest Jackson. Not solely was he a terrific singer and songwriter, however, after spending hours with him, we realized that he was additionally a terrific man, with infectious ebullience and intoxicating charisma. His gentle could also be extinguished, however his songs will proceed to shine — together with, in fact, “Inflation,” which is bound to resonate anytime costs rise within the financial system.
