From the Beginning:

I began writing music when I was thirteen (1970) although I had been playing guitar since I was eight years old, inspired by the British Invasion bands and other varied & rich musical influences of the mid-sixties. The first two albums I owned were Simon & Garfunkel's Parsley, Sage,Rosemary & Thyme and Bookends. I didn't actually own them, they were my sister's. I merely appropriated them and then, I played the grooves out of them! (I still have them)

I started out thinking of myself as a singer/songwriter, envisioning myself as possibly another Neil Diamond. (His Love at the Greek special mezmerized me) But,eventually, I put those dreams aside and continued to compose music to be performed by others.

Stylistically, I lean toward the romantic ballad, with a touch of longing thrown in although I have written songs in a wide variety of genres. I appreciate a full,rich sound in a song, with strong harmonies and a song with good, meaningful lyrics.

JACK'S LYRICS:

(click on a category)

love songs

rock songs

Sea Chanties/other

country

activist songs

Christian/spiritual

(All songs copyright/Jack Sparks. All rights reserved.)

On a More Personal Note:

My songs come from many sources: my own love life and heartache , conversations I had with people , a rainy day in Tijuana , a friend's good luck on the dance floor , a photograph.

I'm first & foremost a songwriter, not a performer and I've written songs in a variety of genres, including: Country; Christian;rock and others.

The songs that are closest to my own voice though are the love ballads and somehow, all the songs end up being autobiographical to some extent..

I Write the Songs

Who knows where songs, the good songs- really come from? Like many songwriters, I believe they come flying out of a collective unconscious and pretty much write themselves. As Bob Dylan said of his tremendous earlier works- they just seemed to come out of the air. Then, the song takes on a life of its own. Kind of like your child who didn't grow up exactly like you had planned but who still turned into a great person- their own person.

Strong melodies and harmonies are important to me as are strong lyrics. In my opinion, there is a lot of mediocre stuff being produced these days, music that has about a six month shelf-life before people will start asking Who was that again? I try to write songs that will have a bit more universal appeal and will sound as good in twenty years as they do today. I hope you enjoy them.

And, check out my friends on MySpace - Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, Donovan Leitch, Robbie Krieger of the Doors, and many others:

Jack's MySpace

Want to HEAR Jack's Songs?

Click on-

Many of my rough cuts were made nice by: Denis D'Aoust,

Check 'em out!

Who's Jack listening to these days?:

• Augustana
• Golden Smog
• Norah Jones
• James Blunt
• Terrence Howard
and others.

Also, be sure and check out my talented friends on Friendly Links

Thanks for visiting!

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