Del Shannon

Del Shannon (born Charles Weedon Westover; December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990) was an American rock and roll and country musician, and singer-songwriter who is best known for his 1961 No. 1 Billboard hit "Runaway".

Westover was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and grew up in nearby Coopersville. He learned ukulele and guitar and listened to country and western music, including Hank Williams, Hank Snow, and Lefty Frizzell. He was drafted into the Army in 1954, and while in Germany played guitar in a band called "The Cool Flames". When his service ended, he returned to Battle Creek, Michigan, and worked as a carpet salesman and as a truck driver in a furniture factory. He found part-time work as a rhythm guitarist in singer Doug DeMott's group called "The Moonlight Ramblers", working at the Hi-Lo Club.

When DeMott was fired in 1958, Westover took over as leader and singer, giving himself the name Charlie Johnson and renaming the band into The Big Little Show Band. In early 1959 he added keyboardist Max Crook, who played the Musitron (his own invention of an early synthesizer). Crook had made recordings, and he persuaded Ann Arbor disc jockey Ollie McLaughlin to hear the band. McLaughlin took the group's demos to Harry Balk and Irving Micahnik of Talent Artists in Detroit. In July 1960, Westover and Crook signed to become recording artists and composers on the Bigtop label. Balk suggested Westover use a new name, and they came up with "Del Shannon", combining Mark Shannon—a wrestling pseudonym used by a regular at the Hi-Lo Club—with Del, derived from the Cadillac Coupe de Ville, his favorite car.

Success

He flew to New York City, but his first sessions were not successful. McLaughlin then persuaded Shannon and Crook to rewrite and re-record one of their earlier songs, originally called "Little Runaway", using the Musitron as lead instrument. On 21 January 1961, they recorded "Runaway", which was released as a single in February 1961, reaching #1 in the Billboard chart in April. Shannon followed with "Hats Off to Larry", which peaked at #5 (Billboard) and #2 on Cashbox in 1961, and the less popular "So Long, Baby", another song of breakup bitterness. "Runaway" and "Hats Off to Larry" were recorded in a day. "Little Town Flirt", in 1962 (with Bob Babbitt), reached #12 in 1963, as did the album of the same title. After these hits, Shannon was unable to keep his momentum in the U.S., but continued his success in England, where he had always been more popular. In 1963, he became the first American to record a cover version of a song by the Beatles: his "From Me to You" charted in the US before the Beatles' version.

Berlee Records and move to Amy

By August 1963, Shannon's relationship with his managers and Bigtop had soured, so he formed his own label, Berlee Records, named after his parents and distributed by Diamond Records. Two singles were issued: the apparently Four Seasons-inspired "Sue's Gotta Be Mine" was a moderate hit, attaining #71 in the US, and #21 in the UK (where Shannon's records continued on the London label). The second single, "That's the Way Love Is", did not chart, and Shannon patched things up with his managers soon after. In early 1964, he was placed on Amy (Stateside in the UK) and the Berlee label disappeared.

He returned to the charts immediately with "Handy Man" (a 1960 hit by Jimmy Jones), "Do You Wanna Dance?" (a 1958 hit by Bobby Freeman), and two originals, "Keep Searchin'" (#3 in the UK; #9 in the US), and "Stranger in Town" (#40 in the UK). In late 1964, Shannon produced a demo recording session for a young fellow Michigander named Bob Seger, who would go on to stardom much later. Shannon gave acetates of the session to Dick Clark (Del was on one of Clark's tours in 1965), and by 1966, Bob Seger was recording for Philadelphia's famed Cameo Records label, resulting in some regional hits which would eventually lead to a major-label deal with Capitol Records. Also in late 1964 Shannon paid tribute to one of his own musical idols with Del Shannon Sings Hank Williams (Amy Records 8004). The album was recorded in hardcore country honky-tonk style and no singles were released. Shannon opened with Ike and Tina Turner at Dave Hull's Hullabaloo in Los Angeles, California, on December 22, 1965.

Moves to Liberty, United Artists and Island

Shannon signed with Liberty in 1966 and revived Toni Fisher's "The Big Hurt" and the Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb". Peter and Gordon released his "I Go to Pieces" in 1965. Shannon also discovered country singer Johnny Carver, who was then working in the Los Angeles area. He got Carver a contract with Liberty Records' subsidiary Imperial Records, writing, producing and arranging both sides of Carver's debut single "One Way or the Other"/"Think About Her All the Time". Carver went on to have nearly 20 Country-chart hits during the late 1960s and 1970s. The liner notes to his debut Imperial album acknowledge Shannon's role in his being brought to the label.

In the late 1960s, not having charted for several years, Shannon turned to production. In 1969, he discovered Smith and arranged their hit "Baby, It's You", which had been a hit for the Shirelles in 1963. In 1970, he produced Brian Hyland's million-seller "Gypsy Woman", a cover of Curtis Mayfield's hit.

During Shannon's Liberty Records tenure, success on a national scale eluded him, but he did score several "regional" US chart hits with "The Big Hurt", "Under My Thumb", "She", "Led Along" and "Runaway" (1967 version). That version (recorded in England and produced by Rolling Stones producer Andrew Loog Oldham) also did well on Canadian and Australian pop charts. In early 1967 Shannon recorded the album Home and Away in England, with Oldham at the helm. Intended by Oldham as the British answer to Pet Sounds, Home and Away was shelved by Liberty Records, although a handful of singles were issued. It was not until 1978 that all of the tracks were eventually issued (with three non-related tracks) on a British album titled And The Music Plays On. In 1991, all of the tracks were released in the US as part of the Del Shannon--The Liberty Years CD. In 2006, 39 years after it was recorded, Home and Away was finally released as a stand-alone collection by EMI Records in the UK. This CD collected the 11 original tracks in stereo and the five single releases (US, UK and Philippines) in their original monaural mixes.

In September 1967, Shannon began laying down the tracks for The Further Adventures of Charles Westover, which would be highly regarded by fans and critics alike, despite disappointing sales. The album yielded two 1968 singles, "Thinkin' It Over" and "Gemini" (recently the subject of a Pilooski remix). In October 1968, Liberty Records released their tenth (in the US) and final Del Shannon single, a cover of Dee Clark's 1961 hit "Raindrops". This brought to a close a commercially disappointing period in Shannon's career. In 1972, he signed with United Artists and recorded Live In England, released in June 1973. Reviewer Chris Martin critiqued the album favourably, saying that Shannon never improvised, was always true to the original sounds of his music and that only Lou Christie rivaled his falsetto. In April 1975, he signed with Island Records.

After he and his manager jointly sought back royalties for Shannon, Bug Music was founded in 1975 to administer his songs.

A 1976 article on Shannon's concert at the Roxy Theatre described the singer as "personal, pure and simple rock 'n' roll, dated but gratifyingly undiluted." Shannon sang some of his new rock songs along with classics like "Endless Sleep" and "The Big Hurt". The Los Angeles Times wrote, "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."

Later career

Shannon's career slowed greatly in the 1970s, owing in part to his alcoholism. Welsh rock singer Dave Edmunds produced the single "And the Music Plays On" in 1974. In 1978 Shannon stopped drinking and began work on "Sea of Love", released in the early 1980s on his album Drop Down and Get Me, produced by Tom Petty. The album took two years to record and featured Petty's Heartbreakers backing Shannon. However, RSO Records, to which Shannon was signed, folded. Further work on the LP was done for the Network Records label (which was distributed by Elektra Records). Seven songs are Shannon originals with covers of the Everly Brothers, the Rolling Stones, Frankie Ford and "Sea of Love" by Phil Phillips. It was Shannon's first album in eight years.

In 1986, Luis Cardenas, drummer for the band Renegade, made his version of Shannon's hit "Runaway". The video for the song featured stop animation dinosaurs, and Del Shannon had a cameo in the video, appearing at the end of the video as the police officer.

In February 1982, Shannon appeared at the Bottom Line. He performed pop-rock tunes and old hits. New York Times reviewer Stephen Holden described an "easygoing pop-country" manner. On "Runaway" and "Keep Searchin'", Shannon and his band rediscovered the sound "in which his keen falsetto played off against airy organ obbligatos." In the 1980s, Shannon performed "competent but mundane country-rock". In 1986 he enjoyed a top-ten hit as a songwriter when pop-country singer Juice Newton released a single of her cover of Shannon's "Cheap Love", which reached #9 on the Billboard Hot Country chart.

Shannon enjoyed a resurgence after re-recording "Runaway" with new lyrics as the theme for the NBC-TV television program Crime Story. In 1988, Shannon sang "The World We Know" with the Smithereens on their album Green Thoughts. Two years later, he recorded with Jeff Lynne of the Electric Light Orchestra, and there were rumors he would join the Traveling Wilburys after Roy Orbison's death. Previously, in 1975, Shannon had recorded tracks with Lynne, along with "In My Arms Again", a self-penned country song recorded for Warner Brothers, which had signed Shannon in 1984.

Death and legacy

Suffering from depression, for which he was taking Prozac, Shannon took his own life on February 8, 1990, killing himself with a .22-caliber rifle at his home in Santa Clarita, California. He was cremated, and his ashes were scattered. Following his death, the Traveling Wilburys honored him by recording a version of "Runaway". Lynne also co-produced Shannon's posthumous album, Rock On, released on Silvertone in 1991.

Del Shannon Memorial in Coopersville, Michigan

Shannon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.

Filmography

• It's Trad, Dad! (aka Ring A Ding Rhythm) (1962)
• "Daytona Beach Weekend" (1965)
• The Best of Del Shannon, Rock 'N' Roll's Greatest Hits in Concert, (Live from the Rock & Roll Love Palace, Kissimmee, Florida, 1988). a television program hosted by Wolfman Jack.

Television

• American Bandstand (1961)
• Milt Grant Show (DC) (1961)
• The Buddy Deane Show (1962)
• Shindig! (1965)
• Hulaballoo (1965)
• The Lloyd Thaxton Show (1965)
• Shivaree (1965)
• The Merv Griffin Show (Monday, August 16, 1965)
• Hollywood A Go-Go (1965)
• Where the Action Is (1966)
• Late Night with David Letterman (1986)
• The Swingin Kind ABC Television with Lee Alan
• "Let's Rock Tonight" PBS Host Fabian (1989)

Runaway/ Jody. (1961) Hats off to Larry/ Don't Gild The Lilly,Lilly. (1961) So Long Baby/ The Answer To Everything. (1961) Hey! Little Girl/ You Never Talked About Me. (1962) Cry Myself To Sleep/ I'm Gonna Move On. (1962) The Swiss Maid/ Ginny In The Mirror. (1962) Little Town Flirt/ The Wamboo. (1962) Two Kinds Of Teardrops /Kelly. (1963) Two Silhouettes/ The Wild One. (1963) Sues Gotta Be Mine/ Since She's Gone. (1963 Thats The Way Love Is/ Time Of The Day. (1964

• AMY 905. Handy Man/ Give Her Lots Of Lovin'. (1964)
• AMY 911. Do You Wanna Dance/ This Is All I have To Give. (1964)

Mary Jane/ Stains On My Letter. (1964 Keep Searchin' (we'll follow the sun)/ Broken Promises.( 1964) Stranger In Town/Over You. (1965)

• 1,661 Seconds With Del Shannon (1965)
• This is My Bag (1966)
• Total Commitment (1966)
• The Further Adventures of Charles Westover (1968)
• Live in England (1972)
• ...And The Music Plays On (1978)
• Drop Down and Get Me (1982)
• Runaway Hits! (1986)
• Greatest Hits (From The Original Master Tapes) (1990)
• Rock On! (1991)
• Home and Away (Originally recorded in 1967 and released in 2006)

Singles

• APeaked at #56 on Hot Country Songs.

• "Discography". Delshannon.com. Retrieved 2014-04-23. 
• Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 494. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 

• Bak, Richard (July 2011). "Del Shannon's Runaway Success Led to his Downfall". Hour Detroit. Retrieved August 17, 2011. 
• DeWitt, Howard A. (2001). Stranger in Town: The Musical Life of Del Shannon. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publ. ISBN 978-0-7872-8854-9.