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Although often lumped in with other young male singers of the early sixties as a teen idol, Del Shannon was more of a singer-songwriter who wrote most of his hits himself, as did Tommy Roe and Lou Christie. What he shared with them was a career of sporadic big hits. The early sixties was the Wild West as far as the pop music scene was concerned, crowded with innumerable small labels, aggressive record promoters, powerful disc jockeys and artists trying to make it. Only superstars like Elvis and Connie Francis had every release become a hit and everybody else had to do the best they could. Thus Del Shannon has two big hits in 1961, one in 1962, two in 1964 and two in 1965. That doesn't speak to the quality of his releases which were good all the way through just a fickle record buying public. Like a number of other young male American singers he was much bigger in Britain than here and had more hits there; this happened in enough cases that one wonders why the American audience was so slow to pick up on some real talents. His touring Britain was the reason he picked up on The Beatles fast enough to be the first American to record one of their songs (and also why it was Chris Montez who introduced them to lapel-less jackets).
Shannon had one of the more distinctive voices in pop music and was even capable of a truly high falsetto which he tended to use as an accent in his songs rather than singing entire songs that way. He does do a full Four Seasons on Sue's Gotta Be Mine. His first big hit and one of rock's real classics was Runaway, number 1 for four weeks in the Spring of '61. It featured major Shannon traits like a minor key melody and a theme of loss. It also had the remarkable solo bridge by his keyboardist, Max Crook on the Musitron, his own hyped-up version of a Clavioline, the instrument on Telstar by the Tornados. It would become a feature on many of his hits.
Though From Me To You wasn't a hit for him, he survived the British Invasion initially with a rocking version of Jimmy Jones' Handy Man and Bobby freeman's do You Want To Dance in 1964. (Freeman himself was coincidentally having his last hit, C'mon and Swim, at around the same time in late Summer '64). Early '65 saw his last Top Ten hit, the dramatic Keep Searchin' with its almost spooky chorus of "if we got to keep on the run we'll follow the sun." At the very same time Del's I Go To Pieces was also in the Top Ten with Peter & Gordon's version. They did an excellent job with that song with its keyboard hook and open harmony; I'm sure Del was pleased with the royalties even if he didn't release it as a single.himself. All of Del's single A-sides are on Disc 1, which ends with nice covers of The Searchers' Needles and Pins and The Four Seasons' Rag Doll, two notable hits of 1964. This makes this truly a definitive collection of Del Shannon's hit period.
The second disc is a real gift because it contains many very rare tracks from his later career. Stranger In Town made #30 and was really Del's last appearance in the Top 40. It's a shame he didn't get that one last big hit much later on like Lou Christie (I'm Gonna Make you Mine), Brian Hyland (Gypsy Woman), Bobby Darin (If I Were a Carpenter) or Tommy Roe (Dizzy). It wasn't from want of trying. Del Shannon was a dedicated composer and performer and wasn't about to settle for playing the Oldies circuit. He tried an almost garage rock sound on Move It On Over, a jet-streamed version of The Big Hurt, Under My Thumb from the Stones' Aftermath album, and She by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart.
Most interesting here are four tracks from his collaboration with Andrew Loog Oldham, the Rolling Stones' former producer. The result was Home and Away, an album full of the complex arrangements of 1967's baroque-psychedelic-pop. This was recorded slightly before Sgt. Pepper was released and had at least as much hit potential as groups like The Left Banke, but was not released by Liberty Records. It's obvious a lot of work went into his and that must have been very difficult for him. Cut and Come Again is a real knockout, and Led Along, Mind Over Matter and Runaway '67 are good. The rest of the disc includes some tracks from The Further Adventures of Charles Westover (his real name), and his collaboration with Tom Petty. All in all the second disc is fascinating, full of good music and a real gift to Shannon fans.
The collection, by Music Club, has incredible sound. It's a very clear choice for any Del Shannon fan. For the more casual fan, I admit this is a huge amount of Del Shannon and most fans who want just the big hits would probably be happy with "Runaway: the Very Best of Del Shannon" with the blue cover on Collectables, though Collectables sound and presentation can be iffy. For everyone else, this is it.
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 9, 2023
直いい親父
デル・シャノンの主なヒット曲がほぼ網羅されています。音質も取り立てて悪くなく、お買い得ではないかな、と思います！！
Reviewed in Japan on November 9, 2015