Long Ago and Far Away

As a musician, producer, and song publisher, Erik Jacobsen spent a long, rewarding career finding and nurturing young unknown singer-songwriters, helping them realize their full artistic potential and commercial success. After 30 years of making hit records, he has since focused on producing short films about his extensive travels. What began as an effort to write an autobiography blossomed into the full-blown creative pursuit of storytelling through video production.
Erik was born in Chicago in 1940. As a student at Oberlin College, he learned to play the five-string banjo. After graduating, he toured the country for several years with his bluegrass band, "The Knoblick Upper 10,000". After hearing the Beatles for the first time, he decided to change his career direction. Jacobsen quit the group, went back to Greenwich Village, and began trying to produce records as well as publish music. In 1963, he discovered his first artist, the singer-songwriter Tim Hardin. He produced Hardin’s first recordings and published his songs, including “If I Were a Carpenter" and "Reason to Believe." Both went on to great success when they were covered by well-known artists. Teaming up with John Sebastian in 1964, they assembled the group "The Lovin' Spoonful". Jacobsen produced and published all their hits, including "Do you Believe in Magic?", "Summer in the City" and "Daydream". In 1967, he recorded “Hello Hello” with the group The Sopwith Camel. It went on to be the first hit emanating from the burgeoning psychedelic San Francisco music scene. In 1969, he worked with a schoolteacher named Rita Abrams, along with her third-grade class, and recorded a song called "Mill Valley," she wrote about her hometown. In 1970, It reached #1 on the national adult contemporary charts.
In 1968, Jacobsen met Norman Greenbaum at The Troubadour’s open mic night, and together, they made the iconic recording of his song, "Spirit in the Sky." It became a worldwide phenomenon and 1970’s #1 best seller in the USA.
Erik’s writer and publishing partner, Brian Elliot, wrote Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" in 1986, selling over 100,000,000 copies. In the mid-eighties, Jacobsen began a long creative partnership with Chris Isaak. Together, they recorded seven albums, including the multi-platinum hit, "Wicked Game," in 1987. The song's video, made with director Herb Ritz, was voted "Sexiest Male Video of the 20th Century” by Billboard Magazine.
Retiring from the recording studio, Erik began work on an autobiographical website (AllAboutErik.com) and became fully engrossed in storytelling through video production. He has traveled extensively to exotic places and is now making films utilizing the pictures and video footage from these trips.