Who was ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ from The Rolling Stones song?
With one of the biggest power chords in the annals of rock and roll, the driving proto-punk stomp of ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ has been blowing fans of The Stones away for over half a century. But who was the venerated Mr Flash in real life? And what was he to The Rolling Stones?
It’s worth noting that the Stones didn’t coin the name “Jack Flash” or bring it into popular consciousness. In Britain, at least, people would have heard the name up to three decades before the song ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ was released in 1968.
Jack Flash is a superhero character from the British comic book series Beano. Created in 1938, he is a spoof of the American comic book hero Captain Marvel. The Beano archive showcases an example of one of his stories from a 1953 comic.
He was born on Mercury and was inspired by the Roman god of the same name, with winged sandals powering his ability to fly. He could also travel at superhuman speeds with the help of rockets, as his name suggests.
But is this the same Jack Flash?
Well, not exactly. Jumpin’ Jack Flash is actually based on the gardener at Keith Richards’ West Sussex country estate, Redlands. Richards explained that following a heavy night with Mick Jagger at the property the two were woken up by the thud of gardener Jack Dyer’s boots outside.
When Jagger asked what the sound was, Richards replied: “That’s Jumpin’ Jack”. He picked up a guitar and started repeating the phrase before Jagger, in reference to the comic character, quipped “Flash”. There is some link between the song and Jack Flash, then.
But nothing else about it has anything to do with the Jack Flash of Beano, though. Jagger’s first-person narrative description of Jumpin’ Jack Flash in the lyrics owes more to romantic poets and, in his own words, “acid”, than the boys’ comics.
The iconic, incendiary opening line, “I was born in a crossfire hurricane”, sets the tone for a series of outlandish claims of hardship. At the end of each verse, chorus lines reassure us that not only is everything OK, but “in fact, it’s a gas”.
If these lyrics are reflective of anything, it’s the outlaw image Jagger and Richards have cultivated since the formation of their group with Brian Jones. And the ringer they’d been through in the years immediately preceding the song’s recording, with out-of-control acid trips, trials for drug possession, financial troubles and fraught relationships within the group.
The message of the song seems to be similar to many others by the Stones: “It’s alright” in the end. Not only that, but they’re loving it – the notoriety, the excess, conflicts, and run-ins with the laws. That’s what being in rock and roll’s baddest band is all about. The song still ends the band’s pre-encore setlist today, striking this very chord.
