- Jackie DeShannon (aka Sharon Lee Meyers) -- vocals

- The Cajuns with Jacquie Shannon

- Jackie de Shannon

- Jackie Dee

- Sherry Lee

- Jackie Shannon

Genre: pop

Rating: 3 stars ***

Tiitle:  Songs

Company: Capitol

Catalog: ST-772

Year: 1971

Country/State: Hazel, Kentucky

Grade (cover/record): NM / NM

Comments: still in shrink; cut out hole top right corner

Available: 2

GEMM catalog ID: 5424

Price: $10.00

I've always been amazed that an artist with Jackie DeShannon's talent had such a hard time finding a stable label during the 1970s.  Pairing her with Capitol should have been a sure thing, but the partnership only lasted for about a year which equated to one album and a pair of obscure singles.

Co-produced by DeShannon, Eric Malamud, and John Palladino, 1971's "Songs" has always been a mystery to me.  To my ears the mix of mixture of covers and original tunes made for one of her most likeable sets.  That said, today the album's largely unknown outside of a circle of hardcore fans.  Gifted with one of those instantly recognizable voices, this time out DeShannon seemed determined to expand her repertoire beyond top-40 pop with a mix of stripped down ballads ('Sunny Days' and 'Salinas') and some surprisingly hard hitting rock tracks ('Bad Water' and a rockin' cover of the old gospel classic 'Down By The Riverside').  While it may not have appealed to all of her old fans, to my ears the results proved surprisingly impressive.   Elsewhere one of the most interesting tracks was the ballad 'Show Me'.  Produced by Chips Moman, the song was apparently salvaged from an earlier album that had been abandoned.  Personal favorite was the spare ballad 'West Virginia Mine'.  Capitol also tapped the album for the single:

- 1971's 'Keep Me Warm' b/w 'Salinas' (Capitol catalog number 3130)

"Songs" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) Keep Me Warm   (Johnny Christopher) - 2:19
2.) Lay, Baby, Lay   (Bob Dylan) - 3:40
3.) West Virginia Mine   (Jackie DeShannon) - 3:20
4.) Show Me   (Johnny Christopher) -1:52
5.) Down By The Riverside   (traditional arranged by Randy Edelman) - 3:20

(side 2)
1.) International   (Benny Gallagher - G. Lyle) - 3:17
2.) Sunny Days   (Randy Edelman) - 2:36
3.) Salinas   (Jackie DeShannon) - 3:46
4.) Bad Water   (Jackie DeShannon) - 4:10
5.) Ease Your Pain   (Hoyt Axton) - 3:12

One more single for Capitol (1971's 'Stoned Cold Soul' b/w 'West Virginia Mine' (Capitol catalog number 3185) and DeShannon was off to another label.

Genre: pop

Rating: 3 stars ***

Tiitle:  Your Baby Is a Lady

Company: Atlantic

Catalog: SD 7303

Year: 1974

Country/State: Hazel, Kentucky

Grade (cover/record): VG / VG

Comments: minor ring wear

Available: SOLD

GEMM catalog ID: SOLD

Price: SOLD

Following her Atlantic debut Jackie DeShannon began working with Van Morrison.  The initial fruits of the collaboration were heard on Morrison's "Hard Nose To the Highway".  The collaboration continued with Morrison producing what was planned as DeShannon's second Atlantic LP.  Unfortunately the tracks were subsequently shelved, the only exception being an obscure single:

- 1973's 'Sweet Sixteen' b/w 'Speak Out To Me' (Atlantic catalog number 45-2919)

Backed by an all-star cast of New York sessions players, 1974's "Your Baby Is a Lady" found Jackie DeShannon showing off her soul roots.  Some folks will certainly blanch at the thought, but every time I listen to the LP I'm reminded of the classic "Dusty In Memphis".  Yeah, I know the Dusty Springfield comparison drives DeShannon fans insane, but it provides a fairly accurate description of the direction DeShannon seemed to be pursuing on this one.  The fact DeShannon wasn't all but swallowed up by her all-star cast spoke volumes for her talent.  Critics weren't particularly kind to the album and sales proved minimal, which was unfortunate since DeShannon's voice was ideally suited for blue-eyed soul like the title track, 'You Touch And You Go', the pretty ballad 'The Other Side of Me', and 'You've Changed'.  Personal favorite - the breezy closer 'I Don’t Know What’s The Matter With My Baby'. DeShannon seldom sounded as vulnerable and playful at the same time.  Elsewhere Atlantic pulled a pair of singles off the LP:

- 1974's 'Your Baby Is A Lady' b/w '(If You Never Have A Big Hit Record) You’re Still Gonna Be A Star' (Atlantic catalog number 45-2994)

- 1974's 'Jimmie, Just Sing Me One More Song' b/w 'You've Changed' (Atlantic catalog number 45-3041)

I'll be the first to admit it isn't her best album (even hardcore fans seem to have mixed feelings about it), but it's one that's readily grown on me the more I've listened to it.

"Your Baby Is a Lady" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) Small Town Talk   (Bobby Charles - Rick Danko) - 2:45
2.) Jimmie, Just Sing Me One More Song   (Wendy Gell - Vicki Gellman) - 2:35
3.) I Won’t Let You Go   (Ralph MacDonald - William Salter) - 2:54
4.) (If You Never Have A Big Hit Record) You’re Still Gonna Be A Star   (Doc Pomus - Myles Chase) - 3:04

5.) Your Baby Is A Lady   (Jackie DeShannon - Donna Weiss) - 3:29

(side 2)
1.) You Touch And You Go   (Jackie DeShannon - Vini Poncia) - 2:50

2.) The Other Side Of Me   (Neil Sedaka - Howard Greenfield) - 2:37
3.) That’s What I’m Here For   (Steven Schwartz) - 3:45
4.) You’ve Changed   (Jackie DeShannon - Vini Poncia) -2:45
5.) I Don’t Know What’s The Matter With My Baby   (Ralph MacDonald - William Salter) - 2:58

DeShannon apparently recorded material for a projected fourth Atlantic album (including the earlier shelved Van Morrison set), but it was also shelved, effectively ending her partnership with Atlantic.  

Genre: pop

Rating: 3 stars ***

Tiitle:  You're the Only Dancer

Company: Amherst

Catalog: AMH-1010

Year: 1977

Country/State: Hazel, Kentucky

Grade (cover/record): VG / VG

Comments: cut out notch along spine

Available: 1

GEMM catalog ID: 

Price: $20.00

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"You're the Only Dancer" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) Don’t Let The Flame Burn Out
2.) I Just Can’t Say No To You
3.) Just To Feel This Love From You
4.) I Don’t Think I Can wait
5.) To Love Somebody

(side 2)
1.) You’re The Only Dancer
2.) Try To Win A Friend
3.) Dorothy
4.) Your Love Has Got A Hold On Me
5.) Tonight You’re Doin’ It Right

SHUFFLING OFF TO BUFFALO
This writer has never understood the politics and policies of the major record labels, and probably never will. Why Columbia did not hold on to a major talent, in peak form, at this time is a mystery, but Jackie was to find herself fairly smartly in the supportive home of the small Amherst label of Buffalo, New York. Her two albums for Amherst are real treats, especially for us in the UK who have been denied them (Amherst lacking worldwide distribution) until Edsel Records purchased the rights and put them both out on CD, in 1995. This record deal also put Jackie back in the US Hot 100 for the first time in five years, via Don’t Let the Flame Burn Out from the 1977 LP, You're the Only Dancer.  This and the follow-up album, Quick Touches, were helmed by Nashville producer Jim Ed Norman, and both feature a content and relaxed DeShannon, perhaps not pushing herself to the limits, but having fun performing a selection of her own songs, and some favourites from other writers. Interestingly, it’s at this time that Jackie does her first version of a song by her touring co-stars of fourteen years previously, a twangy rendition of Lennon-McCartney’s Things We Said Today, as well as a should-have-been-a-hit version of the Gibb brothers’ To Love Somebody. On these two albums, Jackie is clearly a woman at ease, at peace, happy, and very much in love.

In 1977, radio listeners switching the dial might've thought they heard a "Say You Love Me"-like tune by Christine McVie. It was Jackie DeShannon performing her original composition "Don't Let the Flame Burn Out" from her album You're the Only Dancer. Producer Jim Ed Norman puts her in a Jackson Browne/James Taylor setting, far removed from her work with Burt Bacharach, Helen Reddy producer Joe Wissert, and the late Jack Nitzsche. Norman puts the sweet sterling voice atop songs that the Eagles could have written, "Your Love Has Got a Hold on Me," for example. DeShannon co-wrote that tune with Dean MacDougall, and it sounds tailor-made for country radio. DeShannon covers Hugh Prestwood's "Dorothy" — yet another Wizard of Oz-inspired tune — Larry Gatlin's "Try to Win a Friend," and even the Parker McGee/Steve Gibson song "I Just Can't Say No to You." Anything Jackie DeShannon touches always has a touch of class, and her interpretation of the Bee Gees' classic "To Love Somebody" is listenable, it just isn't as inviting as her own material, like "Tonight You're Doin' It Right," which closes out this LP. Without the adult contemporary gloss of Randy Edelman producer Michael Stewart, so essential to DeShannon's 1975 release, New Arrangement, DeShannon sounds like she's having fun experimenting with the sparse West Coast feel of this disc. You're the Only Dancer is not the best Jackie Deshannon, but it is an important chapter in her legacy.

 

Don't Let The Flame Burn Out	I Don't Think I Can Wait	September 1977	Amherst	AM-725
Don't Let The Flame Burn Out	Don't Let The Flame Burn Out	January 1978	Amherst	AM-2 12"
To Love Somebody Remix	Just To Feel This Love From You	January 1978	Amherst	AM-728
You're The Only Dancer	Tonight You're Doin' It Right	May 1978	Amherst	AM-733
Things We Said Today	Way Above The Angels	August 1978	Amherst	AM-737

Genre: pop

Rating: 3 stars ***

Tiitle:  Quick Touches

Company: Amherst

Catalog: AMH-1016

Year: 1978

Country/State: Hazel, Kentucky

Grade (cover/record): VG / VG

Comments: minor ring wear

Available: 1

GEMM catalog ID: 5425

Price: $10.00

Jackie DeShannon's sophomore album for the Amherst label found her continuing her partnership with producer Jim Ed Norman.  Sporting a stunning photo of the singer, 1978's "Quick Touches" was interesting for a number of reasons.  While not her most creative release, the collection appeared to spotlight DeShannon's growing confidence as a songwriter.  While DeShannon typically only included one or two originals on an album, this time out five of the ten tracks were originals.  (Two of the five covers were penned by husband/keyboardist Randy Edelman.)  Musically tracks like 'Baby, Won’t You Let Me Know', 'Dangerous' and 'Hearts On Fire' sported a clear commercial orientation that would have sounded great on top-40 radio.  The opener 'You’re So Good' even featured a disco rhythm.  Other highlights included her Beatles cover 'Things We Said Today' and the Philadelphia International-flavored soul ballad 'Don’t Let Go Of Me'.   A fun release that should have sold better.  Amherst tapped the album for a single in the form of:

- 'Things We Said Today' b/w 'Way Above the Angels' (Amherst catalog number AM-737)   

"Quick Touches" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) You’re So Good   (Fred Freeman - Harry Nehs) -  
2.) Baby, Won’t You Let Me Know    (Jackie DeShannon) - 
3.) Dangerous    (Jackie DeShannon) - 
4.) I Can’t Stay Away    (Jackie DeShannon) - 
5.) Don’t Let Go Of Me   (Randy Edelman) - 

(side 2)
1.) Things We Said Today   (John Lennon - Paul McCartney) - 
2.) Way Above The Angels    (Jackie DeShannon) - 
3.) Blue Street   (Randy Edelman) - 
4.) More Than A Trace    (Jackie DeShannon) - 
5.) Hearts On Fire   (Eddie Rabbitt - Even Stevens - Dan Tyler) -