Jeffrey Frederick - Vermont

Vermont

In the late 1960s Jeffrey, Jill Gross, Morgan Huber, John Raskin, and Robert Nickson (Froggy) established the original Clamtones band in Vermont. In the early 1970s, Jeffrey made some changes and started Automatic Slim & the Fat Boys (celebrated in Michael Hurley's song by the same name on his first Rounder Records album, Snockgrass). In addition to Jeffrey, the band consisted of his close friend, Michael Hurley (vocals, guitar, banjo), Doug Southworth (piano, guitar), and Melting Snow (Tom Hayes) (guitar).

Jeffrey developed many of his best-known songs during this period, such as "What Made My Hamburger Disappear" (which was borrowed by the TV program, Sesame Street, even though it is actually written from the perspective of somebody having a heart attack), "Robbing Banks" (which Jeffrey claimed was written for his great-uncle, "Gentleman" Willie Sutton), "Stolen Guitar", and many others. His songs were almost invariably inspired by real people and events. For instance, during this period, in northern Vermont there was increasing tension between conservative rural and establishment Vermonters and the young "hipster" crowd. A corrupt undercover officer, Paul Lawrence, staged a fraudulent drug bust at a St. Albans tavern where Automatic Slim and The Fat Boys often played. As a consequence, the proprietor, Otto Kremer, lost the bar, was forced to plead guilty to a variety of narcotics crimes and leave the state within 72 hours (all charges were later overturned). These events inspired Jeffrey's song, "Poor Otto". They also helped convince Jeffrey to leave the area in which he had grown up.