About once a year, Jerry Wexler tries to bring a fundamentally soulful white female pop singer up to the minute. Sometimes it works (Dusty in Memphis, the all-time rock-era torch record), sometimes it doesn't (Cher, Lulu). This one almost works, not because DeShannon is such a terrific singer--although she's a lot more terrific with Wexler and friends pushing her from the bottom--but because for the first time in a while she's written a few terrific songs. Nothing wrong with her up-to-the-minute country-soul covers of Van Morrison, Neil Young, and their lessers, and nothing just right either. When she launches into her own "Vanilla 'Olay" or "Anna Karina," though, she sounds like time is on her side. B
>>130139331I wouldn't say her "The Weight" beats Aretha's and she should have never attempted "Sunshine of Your Love."
>>130139331Hello Grok, give me a more adult Brenda Lee who can write songs.
>>130139331Another boring Christagu review
>>130139487https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7C4ultNibkJust if you were wondering this was Jackie's first-ever single from 1959 and she does get rather Brenda-like at points especially in the last verse.
>>130139437https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKhuEkYCN4sArrangements are better and it's faster.
>>130139437>if Aretha was a Millenial she would be Lizzo>if Jackie was a Millenial she'd be Miley Cyrus and both would perform some generic Martin/Antonoff slopThat's a depressing thought.
>>130139331Golly I wonder just what that cover art was stolen from.
this board never hardly mentions Jackie DeShannon though
>>130139331call it what you will but i find her early 60s teenybopper records more listenable than the adult pop she made in 65 onward
>>130140703She quit at the right time and thankfully didn't make horrible 80s pop with synths and giant drums.
>>130140703Agreed, I actually really enjoy her early 60's stuff, but after What the World Needs Now became a smash hit, she became just another boring adult contemporary singerHer Capitol and Atlantic recordings represent a bit of an upswing though, like Cuckgau said she got back to writing decent songs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pfDbDJefnIThis was her first charting hit although as anon said she'd recorded since 59 and yeah she was half a Brenda Lee clone in the early days.
>>130141112Blatant copy of Patsy's versionhttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v51davRH9rQ
>>130139331>Sometimes it works (Dusty in Memphis, the all-time rock-era torch record),why critics worshiped that thing so much i'll never know
>>130141142There was a thread talking about it just last night (you were probably in it since this board has like 20 users outside of Kpop)IMO it's the least Memphis-sounding record ever recorded at American Sound Studios, basically the only actually soulful-sounding song on it is Preacher Man
>>130139487Liberty were ok with her writing for other people but they insisted she be strictly an interpreter on her own recordings. made no sense really.
>>130141020Here's my Jackie collection by the way, I'm still searching for a copy of her Capitol album on CD