Catch a boat to England baby

Jackson C. Frank wrote an early album produced by Paul Simon. It was the result of his time in London immersed in the folk scene in the 1960s. His Wikipedia page is one of the most tragic stories about a poet I have read.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4it9vK6G7o

He recorded that at 22. By the time he was fifty this was what had happened to him:

It almost made me cry, because here was a fifty-year-old man, and all he had to his name was a beat-up old suitcase and a broken pair of glasses. I guess his caseworker had given him a $10 guitar, but it wouldn't stay in tune. It was one of those hot summer days. He tried to play "Blues Run The Game" for me, but his voice was pretty much shot.

Towards the end of his life he was sitting on a bench and was blinded by a boy with an air rifle in an accident. As a child his school burned down, permanently harming him and killing some of his friends.

Livin' is a gamble baby Lovin's much the same Wherever I have played Whenever I've thrown them dice Wherever I have played The blues have run the game

His life fell apart so completely in the end that he once went to New York on the off chance of finding Paul Simon for help.

Like Keats, his reputation continues to grow, although he lacked that acclaim in life. I particularly recommend Carnival.