Part One
Welcome to another edition of On That Note. A weekly music thread alternately posted by @cyclones500 or me.
One of the goals of this 'thing' we do is to generate input and response for discussion and even education.
After some of our first offerings we were, dare I say it, disappointed with the responses. Okay, it's a music forum on a sports web site... what should we have expected?
So slowly we drifted into a pattern of topics that by their very nature led to good responses. We felt better.
Now I'm going to do something completely antithetical to that drift. A whole posting on a single somewhat obscure artist, filled with 'interesting' facts and bio details.
So, I'll take the hit this week.
JACKIE DESHANNON
Before I delve into this for real, let me explain a bit. I take a fascination with people who maybe don't get to be superstars but still had major influences on the music industry and maybe SHOULD be better known. And if they've popped up in music over several decades I like it even more. I wrote a small ditty about Sonny Curtis a couple months ago. He fits this mold. As does Jackie DeShannon. They've done enough cool things (any one of which I'd LOVE to have done) that they seem a cut above the average pop star.
Jackie was born Sharon Lee Myers in Hazel KY, just a stone's throw from the Tennessee border and 8 miles south of Murray, KY. Where CSP spend some time very recently. So there is an ISU tie-in, sorta.
She and her family moved to the Chicago suburbs prior to her teenage years. She attended Batavia High School and began appearing on local radio and television shows, mostly performing in the Country/Western genre.
After a few released misses, under several artist names, she moved to Southern California where she was signed with Liberty records in 1960. And about this time she settled on the professional name Jackie DeShannon.
Her first big break was being teamed with Sharon Sheeley as a songwriting team. (Sidebar: Sharon Sheeley was Eddie Cochran's girl friend and was seriously injured in the UK auto accident that took his life in 1960.) Sheeley was already a successful songwriter (Poor Little Fool, Something Else (w/Cochran)). While DeShannon's recording career languished the pair did have writing success with a few Brenda Lee releases Dum Dum (#4 1961) and Heart in Hand (#15 1962). Additionally they wrote The Great Imposter (The Fleetwoods, #30 1961) that was given another push when included in the triple platinum 1973 film Soundtrack of American Graffiti.
Eventually by late 1963 her recordings started to be marginally successful. Both the Sonny Bono/Jack Nitzsche penned Needles and Pins (later a huge hit for the Searchers) and her own composition When You Walk In the Room made the lower reaches of the Billboard chart. Both were actually bigger hits in Canada where her version of Needles and Pins topped the charts.
Then, suddenly a relatively unknown artist is flung into the middle of the biggest musical explosion of the 1960's. Along with the Righteous Brothers, Frogman Henry, the Bill Black Combo and the Exciters, Jackie was invited to participate as an opening act on the Beatles Summer/Fall 1964 US Tour.
There she is playing Monopoly with George on the floor of their hotel
A fun side story covers a diversion of the tour due to Hurricane Dora which decided to hit Florida the same time they were scheduled to fly into Jacksonville for a concert on Sept 11. Accompanied by Miami newsman Larry Kane on the tour, he suggested they fly instead to Key West to wait out the storm. Creating one of those few "I wish I'd have been there Beatles doing nothing but hanging out moments." As reported by Paul:
Jackie's next album released (her second) was titled to capitalize on her tour with the Beatles, called Breakin It Up On the Beatles Tour the record actually contained songs previously released as singles prior to the tour. It contained nothing from the tour or the Beatles.
Her big break in recorded music came when she recorded the Bacharach/David composition What the World Needs Now Is Love. The song was initially turned down by Dionne Warwick (who later did record it.) A perfect fit for her singing style and the times the single peaked at #7 in the US. And again charted top position in Canada.
This is where my current interest in Jackie DeShannon was kindled. Somewhere along the line I picked up a box of LP's containing her album containing the song. I put it aside for later listening. Probably a couple years. Finally one day I when 'putting things away' I came across the LP and decided to finally play it as I worked. Expecting little beyond the hit, while listening I was continuously pleasantly surprised with the record. Liberty was a major label at the time so sprung for top level production and musical orchestration on the songs deserving the same. It slowly became one of my favorite LPs. One of those, "Hey MeanDean, name an album that is underappreciated." "This Is Jackie DeShannon" from 1965 is my instant answer.
The entire album can be heard here starting with the hit. Other showcases are Hellos and Goodbyes, Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying, and I Remember the Boy. It's one of those albums you can put on and not somewhere during the listen suddenly say, "Ooo, I hate that one." An excellent showcase for her voice and several other well known songwriters - herself included.
What The World Needs Now Is Love - YouTube
www.youtube.com
Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group North America What The World Needs Now Is Love · Jackie DeShannon This Is Jackie DeShannon ℗ 1965 Capitol ...
Welcome to another edition of On That Note. A weekly music thread alternately posted by @cyclones500 or me.
One of the goals of this 'thing' we do is to generate input and response for discussion and even education.
After some of our first offerings we were, dare I say it, disappointed with the responses. Okay, it's a music forum on a sports web site... what should we have expected?
So slowly we drifted into a pattern of topics that by their very nature led to good responses. We felt better.
Now I'm going to do something completely antithetical to that drift. A whole posting on a single somewhat obscure artist, filled with 'interesting' facts and bio details.
So, I'll take the hit this week.
JACKIE DESHANNON
Before I delve into this for real, let me explain a bit. I take a fascination with people who maybe don't get to be superstars but still had major influences on the music industry and maybe SHOULD be better known. And if they've popped up in music over several decades I like it even more. I wrote a small ditty about Sonny Curtis a couple months ago. He fits this mold. As does Jackie DeShannon. They've done enough cool things (any one of which I'd LOVE to have done) that they seem a cut above the average pop star.
Jackie was born Sharon Lee Myers in Hazel KY, just a stone's throw from the Tennessee border and 8 miles south of Murray, KY. Where CSP spend some time very recently. So there is an ISU tie-in, sorta.
She and her family moved to the Chicago suburbs prior to her teenage years. She attended Batavia High School and began appearing on local radio and television shows, mostly performing in the Country/Western genre.
After a few released misses, under several artist names, she moved to Southern California where she was signed with Liberty records in 1960. And about this time she settled on the professional name Jackie DeShannon.
Her first big break was being teamed with Sharon Sheeley as a songwriting team. (Sidebar: Sharon Sheeley was Eddie Cochran's girl friend and was seriously injured in the UK auto accident that took his life in 1960.) Sheeley was already a successful songwriter (Poor Little Fool, Something Else (w/Cochran)). While DeShannon's recording career languished the pair did have writing success with a few Brenda Lee releases Dum Dum (#4 1961) and Heart in Hand (#15 1962). Additionally they wrote The Great Imposter (The Fleetwoods, #30 1961) that was given another push when included in the triple platinum 1973 film Soundtrack of American Graffiti.
Eventually by late 1963 her recordings started to be marginally successful. Both the Sonny Bono/Jack Nitzsche penned Needles and Pins (later a huge hit for the Searchers) and her own composition When You Walk In the Room made the lower reaches of the Billboard chart. Both were actually bigger hits in Canada where her version of Needles and Pins topped the charts.
Then, suddenly a relatively unknown artist is flung into the middle of the biggest musical explosion of the 1960's. Along with the Righteous Brothers, Frogman Henry, the Bill Black Combo and the Exciters, Jackie was invited to participate as an opening act on the Beatles Summer/Fall 1964 US Tour.
There she is playing Monopoly with George on the floor of their hotel
A fun side story covers a diversion of the tour due to Hurricane Dora which decided to hit Florida the same time they were scheduled to fly into Jacksonville for a concert on Sept 11. Accompanied by Miami newsman Larry Kane on the tour, he suggested they fly instead to Key West to wait out the storm. Creating one of those few "I wish I'd have been there Beatles doing nothing but hanging out moments." As reported by Paul:
"We were in Key West in 1964. We were due to fly into Jacksonville, in Florida, and do a concert there, but we'd been diverted because of a hurricane. We stayed there for a couple of days, not knowing what to do except, like, drink. I remember drinking way too much, and having one of those talking-to-the-toilet bowl evenings. It was during that night, when we'd all stayed up way too late, and we got so pissed that we ended up crying - about, you know, how wonderful we were, and how much we loved each other, even though we'd never said anything. It was a good one: you never say anything like that. Especially if you're a Northern Man." Paul McCartney, June 2004 The Guardian
I also particularly love this account from a military man stationed at Key West at the time. http://www.meetthebeatlesforreal.com/2014/09/im-just-here-to-pick-up-chicks.html
Jackie's next album released (her second) was titled to capitalize on her tour with the Beatles, called Breakin It Up On the Beatles Tour the record actually contained songs previously released as singles prior to the tour. It contained nothing from the tour or the Beatles.
Her big break in recorded music came when she recorded the Bacharach/David composition What the World Needs Now Is Love. The song was initially turned down by Dionne Warwick (who later did record it.) A perfect fit for her singing style and the times the single peaked at #7 in the US. And again charted top position in Canada.
This is where my current interest in Jackie DeShannon was kindled. Somewhere along the line I picked up a box of LP's containing her album containing the song. I put it aside for later listening. Probably a couple years. Finally one day I when 'putting things away' I came across the LP and decided to finally play it as I worked. Expecting little beyond the hit, while listening I was continuously pleasantly surprised with the record. Liberty was a major label at the time so sprung for top level production and musical orchestration on the songs deserving the same. It slowly became one of my favorite LPs. One of those, "Hey MeanDean, name an album that is underappreciated." "This Is Jackie DeShannon" from 1965 is my instant answer.
The entire album can be heard here starting with the hit. Other showcases are Hellos and Goodbyes, Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying, and I Remember the Boy. It's one of those albums you can put on and not somewhere during the listen suddenly say, "Ooo, I hate that one." An excellent showcase for her voice and several other well known songwriters - herself included.
What The World Needs Now Is Love - YouTube
www.youtube.com
Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group North America What The World Needs Now Is Love · Jackie DeShannon This Is Jackie DeShannon ℗ 1965 Capitol ...
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