Arts & Entertainment
The Gospel According To Preacher Jack
Malden native Preacher Jack Coughlin 'boogies in the name of Jesus' at Absolutely Fabulous
With his long white hair and beard, Preacher Jack Coughlin looks like a prophet, or a wild man.
The 68-year-old Coughlin, a Malden native who lives in Salem, has been channeling the sound and fury of a higher power through his fingertips and his baritone voice for more than 50 years.
These days he's a travelling piano man, playing honky-tonk, rockabilly and blues at bars and clubs around the North Shore and greater Boston.
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On Saturday night, Coughlin brought his unique style to the barroom of Absolutely Fabulous on Main Street, filling the room with his versions of classics like "I Can't Stop Loving You," by Ray Charles, "One Night With You," by Elvis Presley, and tunes by Hank Williams, Sr. and Jerry Lee Lewis.
At the bar, one patron sounded a note of skepticism, observing, "He's no Ray Charles."
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Maybe so. But Coughlin is a legend in his own right.
In the 1970s, a younger Coughlin, often fueled by Budweisers, banged out boogie-woogie tunes at the Shipwreck Lounge on Revere Beach Boulevard, where he was spotted by George Thorogood.
He's since kicked the drinking habit, and now he sips a Coke between songs.
At Ab Fab, many of his friends and long-time fans joked and bantered with Coughlin as played. Dedicating songs to his wife and his manager, Peter Levine, Coughlin also punctuated his performance with shouts of "Praise Jesus!"
After playing one of his original compositions, Coughlin explained that he improvises without the benefit of sheet music.
"I never play a song the same way twice," Coughlin said. "I don't work by arrangements. I work by the soul of my body. I work in the name of God. Believe me, I work in the name of God."
Seated at the baby grand piano in a recessed corner of the bar, under a stained glass window and lit by a single lamp over the keys, Coughlin seemed to be playing in a chapel -- the church of the blues.
"I boogie for Jesus," Coughlin said. "The devil can't have any of that good rhythm."
Preacher Jack will play at Absolutely Fabulous again on Saturday, Aug. 21 and Friday, Sept. 17.
