Charlton legend Johnnie Jackson hitting all the right notes in lockdown with coronavirus charity songs
FORGET Johnny Cash – Charlton Athletic have their own country blues star in Johnnie Jackson.
The Addicks legend and assistant boss has swapped his tracksuit and a football for an acoustic guitar to help rid fans of the Covid-19 Blues and raise money for a good cause.
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Jackson, 37, was due to run the London Marathon this Sunday for his favourite charity, Children with Cancer UK.
But, with that postponed until October, he decided to strut his guitar and belt out a song on social media every time a target figure is raised.
So far he has coined in more than £2,200 and released three songs with more promised throughout the lockdown as that amount increases.
On Tuesday evening, he released Covid19 Blues – which is a brilliant reworking of the Johnny Cash classic Folsom Prison Blues.
That was just a day after Paul Weller fan Jackson released That’s Isolation – inspired by The Jam’s That’s Entertainment.
He told SunSport: “I’ve played guitar for years. It’s a hobby of mine. I’m always getting it out and trying different things.
“I started messing about with a few different songs and lyrics and came up with some different stuff.
“I kept sending it back and forth with my brother-in-law, who is in a band called The Rifles, and we kept trying to outdo each other.
“But then I sent it to a pal of mine, Joe Francis, who works at the club’s academy, and he kept telling me, ‘You’ve got to get something out there.’
“So I reluctantly let him post one on the academy Twitter feed, just for a giggle, and it went from there.
“The song was called That’s Isolation – which was reworked from The Jam’s That’s Entertainment to reflect life in the lockdown and we got loads of feedback.
“So I then thought it would be great to raise money for the charity I was running for on Sunday and it’s gone mental.
“We set a target of £1,000 and if we reached that I said I’d do another one – and no sooner had I announced that we hit the figure so I did Covid-19 Blues.
“I promised to do another one if we hit £1,600 and thought that would give me a few days but it smashed through that figure and now we’re up to £2,000.
“So last night (Wednesday) I put out a cover of Del Amitri’s Nothing Ever Happens and I’ll set further targets. I might have to set the bar a bit higher though to give me a bit more time to come up with something – because I’m no Johnny Cash or Paul Weller!”
Jackson was already a fans’ favourite on the Valley terraces for his eight years as a midfielder – making 234 appearances and scoring 51 goals.
But, during this lockdown, he is loving his new role of being their guitar hero.
He laughed: “It’s tough for everyone right now. We’re all having to stay home to protect the NHS and saves lives while it’s also tough financially for a lot of people.
“I’m just so glad if I can put smiles on people’s faces and raise some funds for a great cause.”
Jackson, though, has no plans to serenade the team when they finally get back together.
He added: “I’d need quite a few drinks to do anything like that.
“It's really strange because I'd be so nervous playing guitar and singing in front of a crowd - despite having played football in full stadiums for years. It would be right out of my comfort zone."
Jackson has enjoyed his first job on the touchline as assistant to Lee Bowyer.
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He said: "I do miss playing. I had a good career playing football. I loved that.
"But I couldn’t have asked for it to go any better in the almost two years I've had this job.
"I was lucky enough to walk straight into a job at a club where I had been at for a long time.
"I love coaching, it’s the next best thing to playing. You get the highs and lows of winning and losing and building up to matchday. You get your fix that way.
"It’s a different dynamic being on the other side. I understand why managers and coaches got so frustrated with us as players.
"At the time, you think ‘calm down, it’s not that bad’ but now I get why they got so angry."
He helped Lee Boywer lead the Addicks into the Championship at their first attempt and they have made a great fist of trying to keep the club in the second tier this season.
Jackson says his match-up with Bowyer has been perfect.
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He added: "Lee and I were thrown together. He came in under Karl Robinson and I was still playing at the time. We didn’t know each other before.
"When Karl left and Lee stepped up, I went from player coach to assistant manager.
"But it couldn’t have worked out any better. We’re really close now and I love working with him. It's been some ride so far."
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