Del Shannon

Del Shannon
Del Shannon promo photo
Background information
Birth name	Charles Weedon Westover
Born	December 30 1934(1934--) Coopersville, Michigan, U.S.A.
Died	February 08 1990 (aged 55)
Genre(s)	Rock, Country Music
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals, Guitar
Years active	1961 - 1990

For Dell Shannon, the pen name of a police procedural novelist, see Elizabeth Linington.

Del Shannon (December 30, 1934 [[1]] [[2]] [[3]] ^[1] – February 8, 1990) (born Charles Weedon Westover in Grand Rapids, Michigan) was an American rock and roller who launched into fame with the No. 1 hit "Runaway" (1961). The song introduced the musitron, an early form of the synthesizer played by "Runaway" co-writer and keyboardist Max Crook. Shannon took his stage name from a friend, Mark Shannon, and the Cadillac Coupe de Ville car. In 1960 a Grand Rapids, Michigan disc jockey brought a Shannon tape to a Detroit, Michigan label, Big Top Records.^[1]

Biography

Shannon followed his first hit with "Hats Off to Larry", which peaked at #5 (Billboard) and #2,on Cashbox, and the less popular "So Long, Baby," another song of breakup bitterness. Both Runaway and Hats Off to Larry were recorded in a single day.^[2] "Little Town Flirt", released in 1962, also reached #12 in 1963, as did the album of the same name. After these hits, Shannon was unable to keep his momentum in the U.S., but continued his run of success in England, where he had always been more popular. In 1963, he became the first American artist to record a cover version of a Beatles song. It was with "From Me to You ", which charted in the US before the Beatles first ever hit.

Shannon returned to the charts in 1964, with "Handy Man" (a 1960 hit by Jimmy Jones), "Do You Wanna Dance" (a 1958 hit by Bobby Freeman), and two more originals "Keep Searchin'" (#3 in the UK; #9 in the US) and this single was to be Shannon's final Top 10 hit in both countries in early '65, and "Stranger in Town" (1965), both themed about flight from pursuit in a dangerous world. During the m Shannon opened with Ike and Tina Turner at Dave Hull's Hullabaloo, in Los Angeles, California, on December 22, 1965. The teen-age nightclub was formerly named Moulin Rouge.^[3]

A 1966 chart offering was Shannon's cover of the Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb". Peter and Gordon released the Shannon composition, I Go To Pieces, in 1966.^[1] In the late 1960s, after a dry spell of hits, he turned to production. In 1969, he discovered a group called Smith and arranged their hit "Baby It's You," which had previously been a smash hit for the Shirelles in 1963. He then produced his friend Brian Hyland's million seller "Gypsy Woman" , a cover of Curtis Mayfield & the Impressions', original ,in 1970. Crocodile Rock 1973 by Elton John was an update of the Runaway sound.^[1]

In June 1973 Live In England was released. The music was recorded the previous year. Reviewer Chris Martin critiqued the album favorably, saying that Shannon never improvised, and was always true to the original sounds of his music. His deadpan delivery was evident on both Runaway and Hats Off To Larry. Only Lou Christie rivaled his falsetto voice.^[4] In April 1975 Shannon signed with Island Records.^[5]

A 1976 article on Shannon's concert at The Roxy Theatre, described the singer's performance as personal, pure and simple rock 'n' roll, dated but gratifyingly undiluted. Shannon sang some of his new rock songs along with classics like The Endless Sleep and The Big Hurt. Writer Richard Cromelin said Shannon's haunting vignettes of heartbreak and restlessness contain something of a cosmic undercurrent which has the protagonist tragically doomed to a bleak, shadowy struggle.^[6]

In the 1970s, Shannon's career slowed down greatly in part due to alcoholism.^[7] English rock singer, Dave Edmunds, produced the Shannon single, And The Music Plays On, in 1974.^[1] He finally put the bottle down in 1978, and he was able to return to mainstream audiences with "Sea of Love" in the early 1980s.

This song came from Shannon's album "Drop Down And Get Me", produced by Tom Petty. The album took two years to record and featured Petty's Heartbreakers backing up Shannon. During this time Petty was involved in legal wrangles with his record company, MCA. RSO Records, which recorded Shannon, folded. The LP was recorded by Network Records and distributed by Elektra Records. Seven of the songs are Shannon originals with quality cover renditions of tunes by the Everly Brothers, Rolling Stones, Frankie Ford, and Sea of Love by Phil Phillips. It was Shannon's first album in eight years.^[2]

In February 1982 Shannon appeared at the Bottom Line. He performed a mix of pop-rock tunes and his old hits. New York Times reviewer, Stephen Holden, described Shannon as possessing an easygoing pop-country manner. He was not an anachronism, yet there seemed no comparison with the newer songs and the best of his vintage material. On Runaway and Keep Searchin Shannon and his band rediscovered the sound in which his keen falsetto played off against airy organ obbligatos. The 1980s Shannon performed competent but mundane country-rock^[8]

In December, 1983, Shannon served as Grand Marshal of the Coopersville, Michigan, Christmas parade and also performed a benefit concert at Coopersville High School.

Shannon enjoyed a resurgence in audience interest after re-recording a portion of his song "Runaway" (with new lyrics), as the theme song for the television program Crime Story. Producer Michael Mann felt that this was one of the definitive songs of the era in which the program was set.^{[citation needed]}

In 1990, Shannon recorded a comeback album with Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra and there were unconfirmed rumors he would join The Traveling Wilburys after Roy Orbison's death.^[9] Previously, in 1975, Shannon recorded some tracks with Lynne, along with In My Arms Again, a self-penned country song.^[10] This tune was recorded by Warner Brothers, which signed Shannon in 1984.^[1]

Death and legacy

On February 8, 1990, Shannon committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a .22 caliber rifle. Shannon's wife, Bonnie, found his body at 11:25 P.M. in their Santa Clarita, California home, 35 miles north of Los Angeles. The rifle was found next to his body in the den. His wife has expressed the opinion that his death might have been related to his recent use of the prescription drug Prozac.[4] His final album was released after his death, titled Rock On!.

During the summer of 1990, the country band Southern Pacific released a cover of Shannon's hit "I Go To Pieces" (also a hit back in 1965 for Peter & Gordon), with the song's video being dedicated in Shannon's memory.

Shannon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, and his pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.

Film Appearances

• It's Trad, Dad! (aka Ring A Ding Rhythm) (1962)

TV Appearances

• Shindig! (1965)
• Hollywood A Go Go (1965)

Hit singles

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Del Shannon, a '60s Songwriter, Dies at Home in Apparent Suicide, New York Times, February 10, 1990, Page 31.
2. ^ ^{a b} Shannon's Back-It's On The Record, Los Angeles Times, December 20, 1981, Page M92.
3. ^ Del Shannon, Guests, Slated at Hullabaloo, Los Angeles Times, December 22, 1965, Page E6.
4. ^ Del Shannon's River Still Flows, Los Angeles Times, December 23, 1973, Page H51.
5. ^ Pop News, Los Angeles Times, April 6, 1975, Page M59.
6. ^ At The Roxy-Undiluted Aura of Del Shannon, Los Angeles Times, January 21, 1976, Page E11.
7. ^ Del Shannon Biography, http://www.delshannon.com/delbio.htm
8. ^ Pop:Del Shannon, 60's Teen-Age Star, New York Times, February 22, 1982, Page C16.
9. ^ Del Shannon Biography, http://www.delshannon.com/delbio.htm
10. ^ Del Shannon Rock On!, http://d21c.com/Spacebeagle/delshannon.html

External links

• Delshannon.com
• Del Shannon MySpace
• MaxCrook.com
• Del Shannon Rock On
• Del Shannon at Yahoo! groups
• German Del-Shannon-Portrait

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