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A grand duchy, sometimes referred to as a grand dukedom, is a territory whose head of state is a monarch, either a grand duke or grand duchess.

Today Luxembourg is the only remaining grand duchy. However, some historical grand duchies still retain the titles granted to them, usually from the Congress of Vienna in 1814-1815.

The titles of "grand duke" and "grand duchess", when used as a translation from another language, may not necessarily be associated with a particular grand duchy.

Title and origins of grand duchies[link]

The title of "grand duke" (Latin: Magnus Dux) ranks in honor below king, but higher in diplomatic precedence than a sovereign duke or sovereign prince. Hence, "grand duchy" is the name used when referring to the territory of such a sovereign grand duke or duchess.

The title has confusedly, in translation and in diplomatic ranking (such as deciding who precedes whom in a diplomatic event such as a dinner), been applied to some non-sovereigns, particularly in pre-United Nations eastern European nations. "Grand duke" is also the usual and established translation of sovereign "grand prince" in languages which do not have separate words meaning prince for:

1. the non-ruling relatives of a monarch, and
2. monarch (sovereign or like) princes. English and French use "grand duke" in this way.
3. "Grand Duke" is also the usual and established translation in English and French of the Russian courtesy title Velikiy Knjaz (Grand Prince) of Russia, which from 17th century belonged to members of the family of the Russian tsar, although under the Russian despotism, those grand dukes were not sovereigns.

The title of sovereign "Grand Duke" and it as translation of "grand prince" thus have clearly different meanings. In the widespread political reorganisations following World War II many monarchies ceased to exist, making the title far less prevalent and important.

Western grand dukes and their sovereignties[link]

The only grand duchy in existence today is Luxembourg. It has been a grand duchy since 1815 when the Netherlands became an independent kingdom and Luxembourg was handed over to the King of the Netherlands, William I. Luxembourg remained in personal union with the Netherlands crown until 1890 when William III, King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg, died without leaving a male heir, so that in the Netherlands he was succeeded by his daughter Wilhelmina and, in the Luxembourgish Grand Duchy, by a distant male cousin, Duke Adolf of Nassau who became HRH Grand Duke Adolphe—an arrangement necessitated by Salic law being applicable to Luxembourg but not to the Netherlands. The present Grand Duke of Luxembourg is Henri.

Additionally, other houses of Europe may style themselves as "grand duke" even if they are not wholly recognized as such by rest of the society.

The contemporary independent republics of Finland and Lithuania have been grand duchies during certain eras of their history.

The proper term of "grand duchy" was a later invention, probably originating in Western Europe, to denote lands of a particularly mighty duke, as the duchy had around the end of Middle Ages inflated to belong to rulers of a middle-sized town, shire, or similar relatively small fiefs, instead of the big provinces it once belonged to.

One of the first examples was the unofficial use of the title "grand duke" by the dukes of Burgundy during the 15th century, when they ruled a vast tract of modern day eastern France as well as most of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. The first monarchy ever officially titled a "grand duchy" was the Medici sovereignty of Tuscany under overlordship of the Holy Roman Emperors. They received the title in 1569. Tuscany remained a grand duchy until 1860, when it was annexed by Piedmont-Sardinia as part of Italy's reunification.

Expanded use of the term lapsed until the early nineteenth century, when Napoleon used the title "grand duchy" for several territories given to his allies. The elevation of these figures to the title of "grand duke" usually accompanied an expansion of their fiefs with additional lands obtained from defeated powers such as Prussia. Though Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo and his vassal territories like the Grand Duchy of Berg were erased from the European map, the representatives assembled at the Congress of Vienna consented to yet more uses of the title by restored dukes and princes, especially for several of those in the lands that had constituted the Holy Roman Empire. As a result, the 19th century saw a new group of monarchies titled grand duchy around Central Europe, such as the Grand Duchy of Hesse.

At the same time, the courtesy use of the title "grand duke" in Russia expanded because of the births of several male dynasts. The new set of grand dukes afforded the Romanovs a respite from the continued issue of the male succession that plagued it during the 18th century.

Within Germany, use of the title expanded after 1815, but its application was not universal. This is somewhat ironic, given that a Burgundian ruler in what were once Germany's western border regions first adopted the title, and considering that it was a German overlord, the Holy Roman Emperor, who first granted the official title to an Italian prince. However, in the German language (which has separate words for royal prince, "Prinz", and for sovereign prince, "Fürst"), the grand dukes of Lithuania and historic Russian states, as well as other Eastern European princes and later Russian dynasts, were referred to with the title "Großfürst", a direct translation, rather than using the version "Großherzog".

The title "magnus dux" or "grand duke" (Didysis kunigaikštis in Lithuanian) is said to have been used by the rulers of Lithuania, and after rulers from the Jagiellon dynasty became kings of Poland, it was later found among the titles used by kings of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Polish kings of the Swedish Vasa dynasty also used this grand princely title for their non-Polish territories. Modern translations normally credit the Lithuanian monarch with the title of "High King".

Previous European grand duchies[link]

Between the Napoleonic Wars and World War I there were several grand duchies in Europe. A considerable number of grand duchies were created in the Napoleonic era, and later following the Congress of Vienna and the foundation of the German Confederation.

• The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (1569-1860, part of Italy afterwards)
• The Grand Duchy of Berg (1806-1813, part of Prussia afterwards)
• The Grand Duchy of Würzburg (1806-1814, part of Bavaria afterwards)
• The Grand Duchy of Baden (1806-1918, part of the German Empire since 1871)
• The Grand Duchy of Hesse (1806-1918, part of the German Empire since 1871)
• The Grand Duchy of Fulda (1816-1866) part of the Electorate of Hesse
• The Grand Duchy of Finland (correctly translated as Grand Principality, 1809-1917 in Personal Union with Russia, Republic since 1917)
• The Grand Duchy of Frankfurt (1810-1813, part of several German states afterwards)
• The Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine (1815-1822 as part of Prussia)
• The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (since 1815, in Personal Union with the Netherlands until 1890)
• The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1815-1918, part of the German Empire since 1871)
• The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1815-1918, part of the German Empire since 1871)
• The Grand Duchy of Posen (1815-1848 as part of Prussia)
• The Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1815-1918, part of the German Empire since 1871)
• The Grand Duchy of Oldenburg (1829-1918, part of the German Empire since 1871)
• The Grand Duchy of Cracow (1846-1918 in Personal Union with Austria, part of Poland)

The term "grand duchy" is often, but incorrectly, used in reference to the Duchy of Warsaw (1807-1813), which was in fact a duchy and not a grand duchy.

Metonymy[link]

In Belgium, Grand Duché (French for grand duchy) is often used as a metonym to refer to the neighbouring Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. This is often done in order to avoid confusion with the Belgian province of the same name - when hearing Luxembourg, a Belgian would spontaneously think about the province rather than the Grand Duchy. At the same time, Royaume (French for Kingdom) would be used to refer to Belgium.

Grand prince[link]

Grand princes were medieval monarchs who ruled a nation or several tribes, and were usually at the time translated as kings. However, a grand prince was usually only primus inter pares within a dynasty, other princes of the dynasty were approximately as entitled to succession as the then ruler (succession was for example through agnatic seniority or rotation), and often other members of the dynasty ruled parts of the same realm as some sort of "sub-princes". Such was usual in Eastern Europe, for example among Russians and Lithuanians. As the position of current ruler was not as elevated as that of Western kings, they have been treated more like great princes than full kings.

Velikiy Kniaz was from the 11th century the title of the leading Prince of Kievan Rus' (head of the Rurikid House), then of several princes of the Rus'. From 1328 the Velikii Kniaz of Muscovy appeared as the Grand Duke for "all of Russia" until Ivan IV of Russia in 1547 was crowned as tsar.

The title "grand prince" was used in the Slavic, Baltic, and Russian languages. Великий князь, the Slavic knjaz and the Baltic kunigaitis (usually now translated as "prince") is actually a cognate of "king". Thus, "Veliki Knjaz" was more similar to "high king" than "grand duke".

Another established use of the title was in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (since 14th century) and in the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

These countries moved slowly towards primogeniture or their rulers obtained another kingdom, whereby the position of the head of the dynasty became more elevated compared to other dynasts. In such situations, those monarchs assumed a higher title, such as tsar or sole king.

The title "grand prince" (which in many of those lands already was in later grand princely epochs awarded simultaneously to several rulers in the more expanded dynasty) continued as a courtesy title for all or several members of the dynasty, such as the Grand Duke of Russia (veliki knjaz) in Russia's imperial era. The title "velikiy kniaz", finally formalized by Alexander III, was given to sons and grandsons (through male lines) of the tsars and emperors of Russia. The daughters and paternal granddaughters of Russian emperors, as well as the consorts of Russian grand dukes, were generally called "grand duchesses" in English.

A more accurate translation of the Russian title would be "great prince", especially in the pre-Petrine era, but the term is neither standard nor widely used in English. In German, however, a Russian grand duke was known as a Großfürst, and in Latin as Magnus Princeps.

In 1582 King John III of Sweden added Grand Prince of Finland to the subsidiary titles of the Swedish kings, although without any factual consequences since Finland was already a part of the Swedish realm.

After the Russian conquests, the title of "grand duke" continued to be used by the Russian emperor in his role as ruler of Lithuania (1793-1918) and of Grand Duchy of Finland (1809-1917) as well. The Holy Roman Empire ruling house of Habsburg instituted a similar grand principality in Transylvania (Großfürst von Siebenbürgen) in 1765.

The title Didysis kunigaikštis (in Lithuanian) was used by the rulers of Lithuania, who after Jagiello also became kings of Poland, and was later found among the titles used by kings of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Polish kings of the Swedish Vasa dynasty also used the title for their non-Polish territories. The Latinized translation of the title of Lithuanian rulers was sometimes Magnus Dux or "grand duke".

See also[link]

• Duchy
• Grand Duchy of Cracow
• Grand Duchy of Finland
• Grand Duchy of Lithuania
• Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
• Grand Duchy of Moscow
• Grand Duchy of Poznan
• Archduke
• Fürst
• Herzog
• Nobility

Alex de Campi is a British-American music video director and comics writer.

Biography[link]

De Campi was educated at Princeton University, majoring in Art History. Prior to her writing career, she worked as an investment banker in Hong Kong. She currently splits her time between London and America.

Comics[link]

Alex de Campi is well known for her 2005 mini-series Smoke (published by IDW Publishing, art by Igor Kordey),^[1] which was nominated for the Eisner Award for Best Limited Series,^[2] and her 2006 manga series Kat & Mouse (published by Tokyopop, art by Federica Manfredi).^[3] De Campi's work falls outside the superhero genre, with Smoke being a political thriller, and Kat & Mouse detailing the adventures of two mystery-solving high school students (a "CSI for tweens"); she has published work for children (e.g. Agent Boo) and for the European market (e.g. her French language sci-noir series Messiah Complex).

Recent work includes the Valentine mobile comic,^[4][5] which is the main focus of her Uncanny Valleygirl column at Bleeding Cool.

Films[link]

De Campi has also ventured into filmmaking, directing a number of music videos, including the video for Amanda Palmer's "Leeds United",^[6] the animated video for Flipron's "Raindrops Keep Falling On The Dead" (which was featured at the 2008 Marfa Film Festival,^[7] and SXSW in 2007), The Real Tuesday Weld feat The Puppini Sisters' "Apart of Me" (shown at Soho Shorts in 2008) and for The Schema's "Those Rules You Made", which made it to number 1 music video worldwide in Youtube in August 2007.^[8] She has given a "BBC Two Masterclass" on shooting videos, for Blast (a BBC initiative to encourage creativity in young people), focusing on her October 2007 video for The Real Tuesday Weld versus the Puppini Sisters.^[9]

Works[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Smoke (art by Igor Kordey, 3-issue mini-series, 2005, tpb, 156 pages, December 2005, ISBN 1-933239-28-X)
• Kat & Mouse (art by Federica Manfredi, 2006)
• Agent Boo (art by Edo Fuijkschot, 2006)
• Messiah Complex (art by Eduardo Ocana, 2006)
• Adam in Chromaland (art by Luigi Giammarino, 2007)

Videography[link]

• "Leeds United" - Amanda Palmer (Roadrunner) Aug 2008
• "Last Words" - The Real Tuesday Weld (Six Degrees) Oct 2008
• "Guilty Pleasure" - Manda Rin (ThisisfakeDIY) Oct 2008
• "Lighthouse" - The Duloks (unsigned) - Aug 2008
• "Book of Lies" - Flipron (Tiny Dog) Jul 2008
• "These Eyes" - Martin/Towers (Northstar Records) Feb 2008
• "Jilted" - The Puppini Sisters (Universal) Jan 2008
• "(I Can't Believe I'm Not A) Millionaire" A-side and B-side versions - The Puppini Sisters (Universal) Jan 2008
• "Pretty Little Miss Dysmorphia" - Des O'Connor (unsigned) Jan 2008
• "Apart of Me" - The Real Tuesday Weld feat The Puppini Sisters (Six Degrees) Oct 2007
• "Those Rules" - The Schema (unsigned) Aug 2007
• "Why Dogs Howl at the Moon" - Thomas Truax (ST Records) Jul 2007
• "Dogboy vs Monsters" - Flipron (Tiny Dog) Mar 2007
• "Raindrops Keep Falling on the Dead" - Flipron (Tiny Dog) May 2006

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

James Beeland Rogers, Jr.
Born	(1942-10-19) October 19, 1942 (age 69) Baltimore, Maryland, USA[1]
Alma mater	Balliol College, Oxford Yale University
Occupation	Chairman of Rogers Holdings and Beeland Interests, Inc. Co-founder of the Quantum Fund
Website
www.jimrogers.com

James Beeland Rogers, Jr. (born October 19, 1942) is an American investor and author. He is currently based in Singapore. Rogers is the Chairman of Rogers Holdings and Beeland Interests, Inc. He was the co-founder of the Quantum Fund with George Soros and creator of the Rogers International Commodities Index (RICI).

Rogers is an outspoken proponent of the free market, but he does not consider himself a member of any school of thought. Rogers acknowledged, however, that his views best fit the label of Austrian School of economics.^[2][3]

Early life and education[link]

Rogers was born in Baltimore, Maryland and raised in Demopolis, Alabama.^[1][4] He started in business at the age of five by selling peanuts and by picking up empty bottles that fans left behind at baseball games. He got his first job on Wall Street, at Dominick & Dominick, after graduating with a bachelor's degree in History from Yale University in 1964. Rogers then acquired a second BA degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Balliol College, Oxford University in 1966.

Business career[link]

1970-2002[link]

In 1970, Rogers joined Arnhold and S. Bleichroder. In 1973, Rogers co-founded the Quantum Fund with George Soros. During the following 10 years, the portfolio gained 4200% while the S&P advanced about 47%.^[5] The Quantum Fund was one of the first truly international funds.

In 1980, Rogers decided to "retire", and spent some of his time traveling on a motorcycle around the world. Since then, he has been a guest professor of finance at the Columbia Business School.^[6]

In 1989 and 1990, Rogers was the moderator of WCBS' The Dreyfus Roundtable and FNN's The Profit Motive with Jim Rogers. From 1990 to 1992, he traveled through China again, as well as around the world, on motorcycle, over 100,000 miles (160,000 km) across six continents, which was picked up in the Guinness Book of World Records. He tells of his adventures and worldwide investments in Investment Biker, a bestselling investment book.

In 1998, Rogers founded the Rogers International Commodity Index. In 2007, the index and its three sub-indices were linked to exchange-traded notes under the banner ELEMENTS. The notes track the total return of the indices as an accessible way to invest in the index. Rogers is an outspoken advocate of agriculture investments.

Between January 1, 1999 and January 5, 2002, Rogers did another Guinness World Record journey through 116 countries, covering 245,000 kilometers with his wife, Paige Parker, in a custom-made Mercedes. The trip began in Iceland, which was about to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of Leif Eriksson's first trip to America. On January 5, 2002, they were back in New York City and their home on Riverside Drive. His route around the world can be viewed on his website, jimrogers.com. He wrote Adventure Capitalist following this around-the-world adventure. It is currently his bestselling book.

2002 to present[link]

On his return in 2002, Rogers became a regular guest on Fox News' Cavuto on Business and other financial TV shows.^[7] In 2002, Rogers said that Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's "reaction to the stock-market bubble has caused two more bubbles to grow: a real-estate bubble and a consumer-debt bubble."^[8] In 2006, Rogers said he was shorting US financials, home builders and Fannie Mae.^[9][10]

In 2005, Rogers wrote Hot Commodities: How Anyone Can Invest Profitably in the World's Best Market. In this book, Rogers quotes a Financial Analysts Journal academic paper co-authored by Yale School of Management professor, Geert Rouwenhorst, entitled Facts and Fantasies about Commodity Futures. Rogers contends this paper shows that commodities investment is one of the best investments over time, which is a concept somewhat at odds with conventional investment thinking.

In December 2007, Rogers sold his mansion in New York City for about 16 million USD and moved to Singapore. Rogers claimed that he moved because now is a ground-breaking time for investment potential in Asian markets. Rogers's first daughter is now being tutored in Mandarin to prepare her for the future. He is quoted as saying: "If you were smart in 1807 you moved to London, if you were smart in 1907 you moved to New York City, and if you are smart in 2007 you move to Asia." In a CNBC interview with Maria Bartiromo broadcast on May 5, 2008, Rogers said that people in China are extremely motivated and driven, and he wants to be in that type of environment, so his daughters are motivated and driven. He also stated that this is how America and Europe used to be. He chose not to move to Chinese cities like Hong Kong or Shanghai due to the high levels of pollution causing potential health problems for his family; hence, he chose Singapore. He has also advocated investing in certain smaller Asian frontier markets such as Sri Lanka and Cambodia, and currently serves as an Advisor to Leopard Capital’s Leopard Sri Lanka Fund.^[11] However, he is not fully bullish on all Asian nations, as he remains skeptical of India's future - "India as we know it will not survive another 30 or 40 years".^[12] In 2008 Rogers endorsed Ron Paul for President of the United States.^[13]

Rogers has two daughters with Paige Parker. Hilton Augusta (nicknamed Happy) was born in 2003, and their second daughter Beeland Anderson in 2008. His latest book, A Gift To My Children, contains lessons in life for his daughters as well as investment advice and was published in 2009.

On November 4, 2010, at Oxford University’s Balliol College, he urged students to scrap career plans for Wall Street or the City, London’s financial district, and to study agriculture and mining instead. “The power is shifting again from the financial centers to the producers of real goods. The place to be is in commodities, raw materials, natural resources."^[14]

In February 2011 Rogers announced that he has started a new index fund which focuses on "the top companies in agriculture, mining, metals and energy sectors as well as those in the alternative energy space including solar, wind and hydro."^[15] The index is called The Rogers Global Resources Equity Index and according to Rogers, only the best and most liquid companies go into the index.

Bibliography[link]

• 1995: Investment Biker: Around the World with Jim Rogers. - ISBN 1-55850-529-6
• 2003: Adventure Capitalist: The Ultimate Road Trip. - ISBN 0-375-50912-7
• 2004: Hot Commodities: How Anyone Can Invest Profitably in the World's Best Market. - ISBN 1-4000-6337-X
• 2007: A Bull in China: Investing Profitably in the World's Greatest Market. - ISBN 1-4000-6616-6
• 2009: A Gift to My Children: A Father's Lessons For Life And Investing. - ISBN 1-4000-6754-5

Further reading[link]

• Schwager, Jack D. (1993). Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders. Collins; Reissue edition. ISBN 0-88730-610-1. 
• Train, John (2003). Money Masters of Our Time. Collins; Reprint edition. ISBN 978-0-88730-970-0. 

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (September 2010)

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jim Rogers

• The Millennium Adventure, Official Jim Rogers website
• The Rogers International Commodity Index A site for information on the RICI

Articles

• "An Early Christmas for Jim Rogers". - BusinessWeek - December 8, 2004.
• "Invest In Commodities – and Keep Your Shirt". - November 23, 2006.
• "We Want Our Kids To Learn Chinese". - MySinchew. - July 19, 2008. - (article about Rogers' life in Singapore)
• "Adventure Capitalist". - PODER Magazine. - April 2010.

Interviews

• Curated Interview With Jim Rogers From Market Wizards
• Jim Rogers on the British Pound, US Dollar, And China
• Jim Rogers, The Adventure Capitalist
• Jim Rogers and George Soros Started the Quantum Fund
• rediff.com: The Money Interview/Jim Rogers, investor, globetrotter
• Financial Sense Newshour's Ask The Expert: Jim Rogers:
  • 2003.
  • May 6, 2004.
• Riverside Conversations: a 3 Part TV Series with Marc Faber
• SCMP video interview, September 8, 2008.
• Investors Chronicle interview. - (on the decline of the US/Europe, emerging markets, commodities). - November 2008.
• Bloomberg Night Talk interview. - November 24, 2008.
• Jim Rogers on The Lew Rockwell Show:
  • "The Crash of '08". - December 12, 2008. - (*.MP3 audio)
  • "Economic Advice to My Children (and You)". - May 17, 2009. - (*.MP3 audio)
• Bloomberg TV Jim Rogers Special. - December 24, 2008.
• TIME Q&A: Jim Rogers:
  • April 28, 2009.
  • October 31, 2008.
• Interview from March 2009 on Channel 4
• Jim Rogers Sat 3 Interview German TV Sat 3
• Euro is not to blame for crisis, BBC News, 26 December 2011.

References[link]

Black Francis
Francis and the Pixies headlining at the Brixton Academy, October 2009
Background information
Birth name	Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV
Also known as	Frank Black
Born	(1965-04-06) April 6, 1965 (age 47) Boston, Massachusetts
Genres	Alternative rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1986–present
Labels	4AD, American, Cooking Vinyl, Sonic Unyon, spinART
Associated acts	Pixies, Frank Black and the Catholics, Grand Duchy, Paley & Francis
Website	www.blackfrancis.net
Notable instruments
Fender Telecaster

Black Francis (born Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV^[1] on April 6, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist.^[1] He is best known as the frontman of the influential alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis.^[2] Following the band's breakup in 1993, he embarked on a solo career under the name Frank Black. After releasing two albums with 4AD, he left the label and formed a new band, Frank Black and the Catholics. He reformed the Pixies in 2004 and continues to release solo records and tour as a solo artist,^[3] having re-adopted his current stage name in 2007.

His vocal style has varied from a screaming, yowling delivery as lead vocalist of the Pixies to a more measured and melodic style in his solo career.^[4] His cryptic lyrics mostly explore unconventional subjects, such as surrealism, incest and biblical violence, along with science fiction and surf culture.^[5] His use of atypical meter signatures, loud–quiet dynamics and distinct preference for live-to-two-track recording in his career as a solo artist give him a distinct style within alternative rock.^[6]

As frontman of the Pixies, his songs (such as "Where Is My Mind?" and "Debaser") received praise and citations from contemporaries, including Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Nirvana's Kurt Cobain. Cobain once said that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was his attempt to "rip off the Pixies".^[7] However, in his solo work and records with the Catholics, he received fewer publicized popular and critical accolades.^[8]

Biography[link]

Youth and college[link]

Charles Thompson was born in Boston, Massachusetts.^[9] His father was a bar owner, and Thompson first lived in Los Angeles, California as a baby because his father wanted to "learn more about the restaurant and bar business".^[10] Thompson was introduced to music at a young age, as his parents listened to 1960s folk rock. His first guitar was his mother's, a Yamaha classical guitar bought with money from his father's bar tips, which he started to play at age "11 or 12".^[9]

Thompson's family moved around, first with his father, and then his stepfather, a religious man who "pursued real estate on both coasts"; his parents had separated twice by the time he was in first grade.^[11] When Thompson was 12, his mother and stepfather joined a church that was tied to the evangelical Assemblies of God,^[11] a move that influenced many of his songs written with the Pixies, which often refer to the Bible.^[12]

He discovered the music of Christian rock singer-songwriter Larry Norman at 13 when Norman played at a religious summer camp that Thompson attended. Norman's music influenced Thompson to the extent that he named the Pixies' first EP and a lyric in the band's song "Levitate Me" after one of Norman's catchphrases, "come on, pilgrim!" Thompson later described the music he listened to during his youth:^[10]

Just before Thompson's senior year, his family moved to Westport, Massachusetts, where he received a Teenager of the Year award—the title of a later solo album.^[13] During this time, Thompson composed several songs that appeared in his later career, including "Here Comes Your Man" from Doolittle, and "Velvety Instrumental Version".^[14]

After graduating from high school in 1983, he studied in the University of Massachusetts Amherst, majoring in anthropology.^[15] Thompson shared a room with another roommate for a semester before moving in with future Pixies guitarist Joey Santiago.^[16] The two shared an interest in rock music, and Santiago introduced Thompson to 1970s punk and the music of David Bowie; they began to jam together.^[17] It was at this time that Thompson discovered The Cars, a band he described as "very influential on me and the Pixies".^[18]

In his second year of college, Thompson embarked on a trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico as part of an exchange program. He spent six months in an apartment with a "weird, psycho roommate", who later served as a direct inspiration for the Pixies' song "Crackity Jones";^[19] many of the band's early songs refer to Thompson's experiences in Puerto Rico. Thompson failed to grasp the Spanish language, and left his studies after debating whether he would go to New Zealand to view Halley's Comet (he later said it "seemed like the cool romantic thing to do at the time"),^[20] or start a rock band.^[17] He wrote a letter urging Santiago, with the words "we gotta do it, now is the time Joe",^[21] to join him in a band upon his return to Boston.^[22]

Pixies[link]

Soon after returning to Massachusetts, Thompson dropped out of college, and moved to Boston with Santiago. He spent 1985 working in a warehouse, "managing buttons on teddy bears", composing songs on his acoustic guitar, and writing lyrics on the subway train.^[22] In January 1986, Thompson formed the Pixies with Santiago. Bassist Kim Deal was recruited a week later via a classified advertisement placed in a Boston paper, which requested a bassist "into Hüsker Dü and Peter, Paul and Mary." Drummer David Lovering was later hired on recommendation from Deal's husband.^[15][23]

	"Debaser" noicon is the opening track of Doolittle. This sample contains the first chorus and the bridge into the second verse. "U-Mass" noicon is the sixth track from Trompe le Monde. This sample contains the end of the first verse and the chorus.
Problems listening to these files? See media help.

In 1987, the Pixies released an 18-track demo tape, commonly referred to as The Purple Tape. Thompson's father assisted the band financially, loaning $1,000 in order to record the demo tape; Thompson later said that his father "wasn't around for a lot of my younger years, so I think he was doing his best to make up for lost time".^[24] The Purple Tape led to a recording contract with the English independent record label 4AD.^[17] For the release of the mini album Come On Pilgrim, Thompson adopted the alias "Black Francis", a name inspired by his father: "he had been saving that name in case he had another son".^[25]

In 1988, the Pixies recorded their debut album Surfer Rosa. Thompson wrote and sang on all the tracks, with the exception of the single "Gigantic", which was co-written and sung by Deal. To support the album, the band undertook a European tour, during which Thompson met Eric Drew Feldman,^[26] a later collaborator on Pixies and solo albums. Doolittle, with Thompson-penned songs such as "Debaser" and "Monkey Gone To Heaven",^[27] was released the following year to widespread critical acclaim.^[28] However, by this time, tensions between Thompson and Deal, combined with exhaustion, led the band to announce a hiatus.^[29] Thompson has an aversion to flying, and spent this time driving across America with his girlfriend, Jean Walsh (whom he had met in the band's early days),^[30] performing solo shows in order to raise funds to buy furniture for his new Los Angeles apartment.^[31]

The band reconvened in 1990, and recorded two further albums: 1990's Bossanova and 1991's Trompe le Monde; the latter was Thompson's first collaboration with Feldman. The later Pixies albums were characterized by Thompson's increasing influence on the band's output, as well as a focus on science fiction themes, including aliens and UFOs.^[32] These themes would continue to be explored throughout his early solo work. Trompe le Monde includes the song "U-Mass", which was written about the university he attended as a youth, and due to the keyboard part played by Feldman, signified a move away from the band's alternative rock sound. Although Deal had contributed on the songs "Gigantic" (from Surfer Rosa) and "Silver" (from Doolittle), from Bossanova on, Thompson wrote all the band's original material. This contributed to the increasing tension between him and Deal,^[31] and the Pixies broke up in 1992; this was not publicly announced until early 1993.^[33]

Early solo career[link]

While the Pixies' 1991 album Trompe le Monde was being recorded, Thompson had discussions with the album's producer, Gil Norton, about a possible solo record.^[34] He told Norton he was keen to record again, even though he had no new material; as a result, the two decided on a cover album. However, by the time Thompson visited a recording studio again in 1992, he had "plenty of tunes and musical scraps."^[35]

He collaborated with Feldman to record new material; they began by trimming down the number of covers to one, The Beach Boys' "Hang On to Your Ego".^[36] Feldman became the album's producer, and played keyboard and bass guitar on several songs,^[37] with Santiago featuring on lead guitar^[38] and Nick Vincent on drums. Francis recorded the album during the hiatus and breakup of the Pixies in late 1992 and early 1993. He then adopted the stage name "Frank Black" (inverting his old persona "Black Francis") and released the results as Frank Black in March 1993.^[39] Frank Black was characterized by a focus on UFOs and science fiction, although he explored other subjects, such as in "I Heard Ramona Sing", a song about the Ramones.^[40] The album was similar in style, both musically and lyrically, to the Pixies' albums Bossanova and Trompe le Monde. Feldman later said that the first record connected his solo career with Trompe le Monde, "but at the same time it is an island, like nothing else he [Black] did."^[41]

The following year, Black released his second solo record, a 22-song double album entitled Teenager of the Year.^[42] Teenager included the song "Headache" ( sample (help·info)), a moderate success on alternative rock playlists; critics described the song as "irresistible pop".^[43] The production of Teenager of the Year was markedly different from Frank Black; in the previous album, MIDI templates were used when writing songs, but in Teenager, Black showed individual parts to band members, the core of which included drummer Vincent and Lyle Workman on lead guitar. Feldman noted that Thompson's songwriting became "a lot more spontaneous" while recording the album.^[41] Thompson had begun to stray from his style with the Pixies, writing songs that covered a variety of genres and topics, and his new-found method of recording was closer to later albums than that of Frank Black and Trompe le Monde.

Both Frank Black and Teenager of the Year were critically well received and remain fan favorites, although they enjoyed little commercial success. In 1995, Thompson left his long-time labels 4AD and Elektra.^[44] He continued to write new material: In 1996, he released The Cult of Ray on Rick Rubin's American Recordings; the album marked a turn away from the elaborate production of his first solo works and was recorded primarily live with few overdubs. His band for this album featured sole Teenager holdover Lyle Workman on lead guitar, along with bassist David McCaffrey and Scott Boutier on drums.^[45][46] Though the album was neither critically nor commercially successful, its stripped-down approach would increasingly define Thompson's working methods for the next several years.

Frank Black and the Catholics[link]

Thompson dubbed his new band "Frank Black and the Catholics", and recorded their eponymous first album in 1997. Recorded live-to-two-track initially as merely a demo, he was so pleased with the results that he decided to release the sessions with no further production.^[47] The album was delayed for over a year by conflicts at American, both internal and over its production,^[48] and was ultimately released in late 1998 by SpinArt Records in the US. Since leaving American, Black has avoided long-term contracts with labels, and has maintained ownership of his album masters, licensing each album individually for release.^[49]

Frank Black and the Catholics became the first album to be posted to the eMusic service; they claim it is "the first album ever made legally available for commercial download".^[50] Critical reception to the album was mixed, with some writers noting Thompson's seemingly deliberate turn away from the "quirkiness" of the Pixies and his early solo work for a self-consciously straightforward approach,^[47][51] and the "disappointingly straightforward punk-pop" musical style present on the album.^[52]

He would continue to eschew multi-track recording for the live-to-two-track technique for all subsequent releases under the group name. Live-to-two-track recording precludes the use of overdubs to correct errors or add texture; all takes are recorded continuously, and mixing is done "on the fly". On later albums, he incorporated more musicians into the sessions to allow for more varied instrumental textures. Explaining his rationale behind the method, he commented:^[53]

Well, it's real. It's a recording of a performance, of a real performance between a group of people, an entourage, a band, as opposed to a facsimile of that, which is frequently what people do with multi-track recording ... I prefer it. It's a little more real. It's got a little more heart.

Workman left the Catholics in 1998 to pursue session and sideman work; Rich Gilbert was added to the band to replace him.^[54] Frank Black and the Catholics released Pistolero in 1999, which critics cited as a return to Thompson's earlier form,^[52] and Dog in the Sand in 2001, considered a high point in his solo career.^[55][56] Dog in the Sand added Dave Philips on pedal steel guitar and lead guitar, and Santiago and Feldman began making occasional appearances with the group live and on record.^[57] Both Pistolero and Dog in the Sand were produced by Nick Vincent.

By this time, while dismissing the possibility of a Pixies reunion, Thompson had begun to incorporate an increasing number of the band's songs into Catholics concerts, as well as including Santiago in his solo work again.^[58] Black and the Catholics continued to release records; two separate albums, Black Letter Days and Devil's Workshop, were released simultaneously in 2002.^[59] Devil's Workshop included the song "Velvety" ( sample (help·info)), a version of the Pixies' song "Velvety Instrumental Version" (written by Black as a teenager) with lyrics.^[60] The song was one of the first signs that he had acknowledged his past work with the Pixies in his solo output. A sixth album with the Catholics, Show Me Your Tears, was released in 2003. Show Me Your Tears' title and many of the songs in it were inspired by Thompson's recent divorce and entry into therapy.^[44]

Pixies reunion, Nashville and the return of Black Francis[link]

In late 2003, following long-standing rumors, an official announcement was made that the Pixies were rehearsing for a reunion tour. The band played publicly for the first time in 12 years in April 2004, and went on to tour extensively throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe in the same year. They also recorded one of Deal's compositions, "Bam Thwok", which was released on the iTunes Music Store.^[61] Frank Black Francis, a double album bridging the gap between his two personas, was released to coincide with the Pixies reunion tour. The first disc consisted of solo demos of Pixies songs recorded the day before The Purple Tape was recorded, and the second contained studio collaborations, again of Pixies songs, with Two Pale Boys.^[62]

Also in 2004, Thompson began to collaborate with a group of Nashville session men, including Steve Cropper, Spooner Oldham, Reggie Young, and Anton Fig, as well as producer Jon Tiven. In July 2005, the collective released Honeycomb under the Frank Black name, to generally favorable reviews. Entertainment Weekly described the album as "spare, graceful, [and] in the pocket", while Billboard noted it as "One of [Thompson's] finest hours".^[63] A second volume of Nashville sessions, a double album entitled Fast Man Raider Man, was released in June 2006.^[64] Thompson appeared at a concert by Christian rock pioneer Larry Norman in June 2005 in Salem, Oregon.^[65] Norman and Thompson performed a duet on "Watch What You're Doing", which later appeared on Norman's album, Live at The Elsinore.^[66]

Thompson continued to tour with the Pixies through 2005 and 2006. Though the Catholics were effectively defunct, they released two separate albums of B-sides and rarities, Snake Oil and One More Road for the Hit, on iTunes, with an eye towards a future CD release. Thompson was also working on more new solo material with Feldman in the first part of 2006, some of which they performed live. In the fall of 2006, Thompson began his first solo tour since 2003, taking Feldman, Billy Block, and Duane Jarvis along as his backing band.^[67] In October 2006, Thompson announced plans for the Pixies to start rehearsing and recording a new album in January 2007, but it is believed that no recording took place because of the reluctance of another member of the Pixies to commit to the project.^[3] In December 2006, he released the compilation Christmass album; a collection of new studio tracks, hotel room sessions, and live acoustic recordings from a solo tour the previous summer.^[68]

A Frank Black "best of" compilation, Frank Black 93-03, was released in June 2007. Concurrently with that release, Thompson undertook a European tour with a new band, featuring Salem's Guards of Metropolis members Jason Carter and Charles Normal,^[69] as well as bassist Ding Archer. For this tour, Thompson eschewed his usual rhythm guitar role and performed solely as a frontman and singer. In September 2007, a new album entitled Bluefinger was released under his former stage name of Black Francis. For this album, he was inspired by the life and works of Herman Brood, a Dutch musician and artist. He also released a new "mini-album" entitled Svn Fngrs as Black Francis in March 2008.^[70]

In February 2008, Thompson was taken away by the Irish police in Dublin, Ireland after staging an impromptu "precore" acoustic solo gig at St. Stephen's Green. He was later released and performed that night in Vicar Street as planned.^[71] However, a similar event planned for London was prevented by police and had to be re-arranged for a small indoor venue.

Thompson currently lives in Portland, Oregon, and is married to Violet Clark, his second wife, with whom he has three children, along with her two children from previous relationships.^[1][72] The couple formerly lived in Eugene, Oregon, where they met.^[73] Thompson and Clark currently compose the band Grand Duchy. Their debut album, Petit Fours, was released in February 2009.^[74]

Francis performing in Stockholm, 2009

In early 2009, Art Brut released their third album, Art Brut vs. Satan, which Black produced throughout late 2008. Black has given several joint interviews with frontman Eddie Argos about the album, a move unusual for a producer. In 2009, Art Brut supported The Pixies at their Brixton Academy show.^[75] In 2010, Black worked with the group a second time on their album Brilliant! Tragic!.^[76]

Black Francis released NonStopErotik in March 2010 and contributed the song "I Heard Ramona Sing" to the soundtrack for the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World released in August 2010.

In the fall of 2010 in Nashville, Thompson recorded an album of new songs written and performed with collaborator Reid Paley, as Paley & Francis (Reid Paley & Black Francis). The debut Paley & Francis album (also titled Paley & Francis) was produced by Jon Tiven, and features Reid Paley and Black Francis on guitars and vocals, accompanied by Muscle Shoals legends Spooner Oldham on piano and David Hood on bass. The album was released in October 2011 on Sonic Unyon in North America, and on Cooking Vinyl in the UK & Europe.^[77][78]

Paley & Francis debuted live in early September 2011 with club performances in Albany NY, Buffalo NY, and Hamilton, Ontario (unannounced), and as one of the headliners of Hamilton Ontario's Supercrawl Festival. The band for these performances consisted of Reid Paley and Black Francis on guitars and vocals, Eric Eble (of the Reid Paley Trio) on bass, and Dave Varriale on drums.

Musical style[link]

Thompson's singing style was instrumental in creating the sound of Pixies.

See also: Pixies' musical style

Over the course of his career, Thompson's musical style has grown to encompass a large number of genres; however, he is considered to produce rock or alternative rock compositions.^[79] Whereas songs such as "Here Comes Your Man" (Doolittle), "Velvety" (Devil's Workshop) and "Headache" (Teenager of the Year) expose a more light rock side, others such as "Something Against You" (Surfer Rosa) and "Thalassocracy" (Teenager of the Year) hint to a more heavy rock influence in his material. A strong country music influence is also increasingly evident in his style, most notably in his Nashville albums, Honeycomb and Fast Man Raider Man.

Thompson has said that he acquired his vocal style as a teenager, when a Thai neighbor asked him to sing "Oh! Darling" by The Beatles (from their album Abbey Road) and to "Scream it like you hate that bitch!"^[80] Thompson's powerful screams were a signature of Pixies albums, along with the band's typical song structure of quietly paced verses followed by thundering chorus lines and repetitive guitar staccato.^[15]

Influences[link]

Thompson has drawn influence from a number of musical genres. As a teenager, he mostly listened to 1960s folk and religious music, including the Christian singer-songwriter Larry Norman. Later in high school and in college, he discovered punk music (Black Flag), along with bands from other genres, such as the new wave band The Cars and the obscure Angst. While in Boston in 1984, before starting the Pixies, he listened to Hüsker Dü's Zen Arcade, The Spotlight Kid by Captain Beefheart, and I'm Sick of You, an Iggy Pop bootleg.^[22]

Thompson's lyrics have also featured references to the Bible, especially in his career with the Pixies; most notably in the incestuous tale of "Nimrod's Son", the stories of Uriah and Bathsheba in "Dead", Samson in "Gouge Away" and references to the Tower of Babel in songs such as "Build High" and "Old Black Dawning".^[81] He cited surrealist films Eraserhead and Un Chien Andalou (as mentioned in "Debaser") as major influences on his work with the Pixies; however, surrealism was less of an influence in his solo career.^[82] He commented on these influences (which he paid tribute to most in the Pixies' Doolittle), saying he "didn't have the patience to sit around reading Surrealist novels", but found it easier to watch 20-minute films.^[83]

Songwriting and lyrics[link]

During his stay in Puerto Rico, Thompson acquired a fairly fluent, although informal and at times incorrect, use of Spanish, which he has continued throughout his career. Several early Pixies songs, including "Isla de Encanta" and "Vamos", reference his experiences in San Juan, and the lyrics are often heavily seasoned with the island's slang. The island's influence in his work is most notable in the song "Isla De Encanta", named after the island's motto, "Isla Del Encanto". Other Pixies songs drawn from his experiences there include "Vamos" (Come On Pilgrim), "Oh My Golly!", "Where Is My Mind?" (Surfer Rosa), "Crackity Jones" (Doolittle) and the B-side "Bailey's Walk". Several of his songs contain Spanish lyrics, most notably in the Pixies' first album, Come On Pilgrim, and a Spanish translation of "Evil Hearted You" by The Yardbirds.^[84] From his later works with the Pixies onwards, his use of Spanish drifted westward, reflecting places and aspects of the state of California and its culture.^[53]

Thompson's lyrics are noted for their obscure references to off-beat topics such as outer space, UFOs, and The Three Stooges—the last of these being the subject of "Two Reelers", a song from Teenager of the Year.^[41] Lyrics with a focus on science fiction were particularly prominent on the later Pixies records, as well as his early solo albums.^[85] With the Catholics, his lyrics have tended towards historical topics; for example, the song "St. Francis Dam Disaster" (from Dog in the Sand) details the catastrophic collapse of the St. Francis Dam near Los Angeles in March 1928,^[81] and the All My Ghosts EP featured an account of the "Humboldt County Massacre" of Wiyot Indians in 1860 near Eureka, California.^[86]

Television appearances and videos[link]

See also: Pixies' television appearances and videos

Thompson has appeared on a range of television shows solo and as part of the Pixies, ranging from 120 Minutes and The Late Show in the United States,^[87] to The Word in the UK.^[88]

As part of the Pixies, he was reluctant to film music videos for singles. Elektra Records' Peter Lubin commented that "to get videos out of them was a major ... undertaking and it only got worse over time", citing the fact that Thompson refused to lip-sync;^[89] the video for "Here Comes Your Man" features Thompson and Deal opening their mouths as the vocals are being heard, mocking the practice.

In his early solo career as Frank Black, his videos were more professional; he became more willing to take part in them. "Los Angeles" is an example; the video features Thompson riding across a desert on a hovercraft. They Might Be Giants' John Flansburgh, who directed the "Los Angeles" video, later commented on the change in Black's attitude to music videos:^[41]

I think the Pixies had made enough anti-videos that Charles was ready to do things that were more visually hopped up. The "Los Angeles" video that we did, the last minute and a half of the song is this open field of grey over which hovercrafts are floating. It's about as tripped up as any video I've ever been involved in, and it was also realizing a dream of Charles', getting him in a hovercraft.

Thompson has released few music videos since leaving 4AD, one being a low-budget video in Germany for Dog in the Sand's "Robert Onion". The last widely released video produced for his solo material was for "Men in Black", from Cult of Ray.^[90]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

References[link]

This article's citation style may be unclear. The references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style of citation, footnoting, or external linking. (May 2012)

Bibliography[link]

• Frank, Josh; Ganz, Caryn. (2005). Fool the World: The Oral History of a Band Called Pixies. Virgin Books. ISBN 0-312-34007-9.
• Sisario, Ben. (2006). Doolittle. Continuum, 33⅓ series. ISBN 0-8264-1774-4.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Frank Black

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Black Francis

• BlackFrancis.net - Official site
• frankblack.net - Fan site
• Black Francis discography at MusicBrainz
• Frank Black's Allmusic entry
• 4AD - Frank Black
• Review of 2008 Live Show in Manchester
• Paley & Francis Facebook Page
• Paley & Francis YouTube