{{short description|1968 single by Manfred Mann}} {{infobox song | name = My Name Is Jack | cover = <!--just the file name--> | type = single | artist = Manfred Mann | B-side = There Is a Man | released = {{Start date|1968|06|07|df=y}} | recorded = March 1968 | studio = Trident, London<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |date=August 1968 |title=BI's Chart Fax |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Beat-Instrumental/6808-Beat-Instrumental-1968-08-OCR.pdf |journal=Beat Instrumental |issue=8 |page=17 |access-date=10 February 2023}}</ref> | genre = *Pop rock *psychedelic pop | length = 2:50 | label = *Fontana | writer = John Simon | prev_title = (Theme from) Up the Junction | prev_year = 1968 | next_title = Fox on the Run | next_year = 1968 | producer = *Gerry Bron *Manfred Mann<ref name=":0" /> }}
'''"My Name Is Jack"''' is a song written by American record producer John Simon<ref name="American Film Institute - AFI Catalog of Feature Films - You Are What You Eat">{{cite web |title=AFI Catalog of Feature Films – You Are What You Eat |url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=1&Movie=20483 |publisher=American Film Institute |access-date=17 July 2014}}</ref> and released as a single by British group Manfred Mann in 1968.<ref name="St. Petersburg Times - 13 April 1977 - Manfred Mann rewrites the past">{{cite news |last=Shinner |first=Merrill |title=Manfred Mann rewrites the past |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19770413&id=vqwpAAAAIBAJ&pg=6028,3451774 |date=13 April 1977|work=St. Petersburg Times|access-date=17 July 2014}}</ref> Their version reached number 8 on the UK Singles Chart.<ref name="betts">{{cite book |last=Betts |first=Graham |title=Complete UK Hit Singles 1952–2004 |publisher=Collins |location=London |edition=1st |year=2004 |page=488 |isbn=0-00-717931-6}}</ref> It became an international Top 10 hit, but only reached number 104 in the US.<ref name="ReferenceA">Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100 1959-2004</ref>
==Background== The lyrics and music were written by John Simon, and his own version was included on the soundtrack of the 1968 film ''You Are What You Eat''.<ref name="American Film Institute - AFI Catalog of Feature Films - You Are What You Eat"/> The song tells the story of a resident of the "Greta Garbo Home for Wayward Boys and Girls", which was the nickname of a real hostel, the Kirkland Hotel,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.west.asu.edu/Koptiuch/SBS301_archive/PMEwebF02/Bray.html|title=Bray.html|date=Sep 22, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040922032050/https://www.west.asu.edu/Koptiuch/SBS301_archive/PMEwebF02/Bray.html |access-date=January 23, 2025|archive-date=22 September 2004 }}</ref> in San Francisco, where part of the movie was filmed.<ref>[http://www.garboforever.com/inspired_Hotels.htm ''GarboForever.com'']. Retrieved 17 July 2014</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=IEpIVbgz5JsC&dq=%22Kirkland+Hotel%22+garbo&pg=PA203 Mark Christensen, ''Acid Christ: Ken Kesey, LSD, and the Politics of Ecstasy'', IPG, 2010, p.203], Retrieved 17 July 2014</ref><ref>[http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=90063 Greta Garbo Home for Wayward Boys and Girls], discussion at ''HipForums.com''. Retrieved 17 July 2014</ref> Formerly Sakutaro Nakano's<ref>[https://www.pcns.org/papers/2019pprs/paper6/index.html The Kashu Hotel] by Jerry F. Schimmel</ref> Kashu Hotel,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2021650556/|title=San Francisco(?), Calif. Apr. 1942. A sign in a window of the Hotel Kashu owned by a Japanese-American among those ordered to evacuate and, later, to go to War Relocation Authority centers for the duration of the war. It offers to give away kittens|first=Dorothea|last=Lange|date=Jan 23, 1942|website=Loc.gov|access-date=January 23, 2025}}</ref> 1701 Laguna Street, the building became dilapidated and was demolished, and the Christ United Presbyterian Church was opened on the site in 1975.<ref>[https://www.nichibei.org/listing/christ-united-presbyterian-church/ Christ United Presbyterian Church] nichibei.org</ref> "Superspade", a real-life Haight Ashbury drug dealer, is also mentioned.
Early versions of the Manfred Mann cover also reference "Superspade", but as it is also a slur, the band later re-recorded the song with the more familiar "Superman" in its place, at the request of their US distributor, Mercury.<ref name="NME Rock 'N' Roll Years 3">{{cite book |last=Tobler |first=John |title=NME Rock 'N' Roll Years |publisher=Reed International Books Ltd. |year=1992 |edition=first |location=London |page=185 |id=CN 5585}}</ref>
The song was recorded at one of the first high-profile sessions at the newly constructed Trident Studios in London,<ref name=":0" /> which would later become renowned for its use by such artists as the Beatles, David Bowie, Queen, and others.
==Personnel== :Mike d'Abo – vocals, piano :Manfred Mann – keyboards :Tom McGuinness – guitar :Klaus Voormann – bass guitar :Mike Hugg – drums<ref>{{YouTube|yo0kSE4t2_Q|My Name Is Jack (Mono Version)}}</ref>
==Chart history== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- !Chart (1968) !Peak<br />position |- |Austria | style="text-align:center;"|1 |- |Australia (''Go-Set'')<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.poparchives.com.au/gosetcharts/1968/19680828.html|title=Go-Set National Top 40, 28 August 1968|website=Poparchives.com.au|access-date=January 23, 2025}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|10 |- |Australia (Kent Music Report) | style="text-align:center;"|7 |- |Canada ''RPM'' Top Singles<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.5843&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.5843.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.5843|title=Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=1968-08-03 |access-date=2018-07-04}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|27 |- |Finland (''Suomen Virallinen'')<ref>{{cite book |last=Nyman |first=Jake |title=Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja |publisher=Tammi |year=2005 |isbn=951-31-2503-3 |edition=1st |location=Helsinki |page=201|language=fi}}</ref> |style="text-align:center;"|33 |- |Germany | style="text-align:center;"|7 |- |{{singlechart|Ireland2|13|song=My Name Is Jack|access-date=June 6, 2018}} |- |Netherlands | style="text-align:center;"|16 |- |New Zealand (''Listener'')<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search+listener&qartistid=450#n_view_location|title=Flavour of new zealand - search listener|website=Flavourofnz.co.nz|access-date=January 23, 2025}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|10 |- |UK Singles Chart<ref name="betts"/> | style="text-align:center;"|8 |- |U.S. ''Billboard'' <ref name="ReferenceA"/> | style="text-align:center;"|104 |- |}
==Cover versions== * 1978 – Moonriders, ''Nouvelles Vagues'' * 1994 – Pizzicato Five, ''Great White Wonder''
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Manfred Mann |state=collapsed}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1968 singles Category:1968 songs Category:Manfred Mann songs Category:Fontana Records singles Category:British pop rock songs Category:Psychedelic pop songs Category:Songs written by John Simon (record producer)