THE BARGAIN BUY: Del Shannon; The Essential Collection 1961-1991

 |   |  2 min read

Del Shannon: The Big Hurt
THE BARGAIN BUY: Del Shannon; The Essential Collection 1961-1991

The dates on this collection look slightly strange: the start date is perfect (his classic Runaway and excellent Hats Off To Larry both date from '61), but a depressed Del  Shannon committed suicide at age 55 in February '90 although there had been rumours that through his friendship with Jeff Lynne he might have been invited to replace the late Roy Orbison in the enorously successful Traveling Wilburys.

But the final two tracks in this chronological double-disc are Callin' Out My Name and Walk Away which were indeed posthumous releases lifted from his Rock On album which was produced by Lynne and featured Tom Petty and Heartbreaker Mike Campbell.

Shannon's career -- his early Sixties hits were real rays of light in their period -- was more interesting than most might think. He was the first US artist to cover a Lennon-McCartney song (From Me To You included here which almost sounds written for his style); he missed out on having a hit with His Latest Flame (also here) when Elvis released his version; the exciting Keep Searchin' and catchy Handy Man in '64 showed he wasn't phased by the British Invasion and could hold his own.

He covered songs made famous by the Searchers (Needles and Pins), the Box Tops (The Letter), Boyce and Hart (She) and the Stones (Under My Thumb) but mostly wrote his own material (Runaway, Hats Off To Larry, Cry Myself to Sleep, the wonderful Little Town Flirt, Keep Searchin', the jangle-pop Why Don't You Tell Him and the dramatic (with phasing!) Big Hurt all came from his pen).

He also wanted to poach Ray Columbus' Invaders after a New Zealand tour with them. 

His ambitious but ignored album Home and Away in '67 was recorded in London with Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham (three songs from that here as well as his slow and orchestrated Runaway '67), moved into production (young Bob Seger, Bryan Hyland) and later worked with Dave Edmunds of Rockpile . . . then Lynne and Petty.

He even took on What's a Matter Baby, a signature song for the great Timi Yuro

The master of the two-minute-and-little-more pop song which has a catchy hook or distinctive delivery (he brought real hurt or fury to many of his songs, just check him on his co-write with Doc Pumus on Ginny in the Mirror), Del Shannon was a classy songwriter and a singer with a signature sound on songs of betrayal. His concise pop of I Go To Pieces in '65 was picked up by Peter and Gordon in a rare reversal of the British Invasion.

He reached back to doo-wop (Cry Myself to Sleep), looked across to the Four Seasons' style (Rag Doll) and did an album of Hank Williams songs as Beatlemania swept the US . . . but also understood and paralleled the increasing sonic complexity and songs of Brian Wilson as the Sixties rolled out (two songs from his largely ignored album The Further Adventures of Charles Westover, his real name).

Okay, not everything is great -- the Buddy Holly hiccup'n'yodel on The Swiss Maid a prime offender -- but his slide between gutteral tones and falsetto on songs like Runaway and its many offspring certainly set him apart.

JB_HZ_CHEAP_longDel Shannon songs were made for radio and these 52 -- a mere $20 from JB Hi-Fi stores here -- are perfect in a car because so many of them are about getting away, running away (Stranger in Town) or have some urgent forward momentum.

Great pop. And this week's Bargain Buy. 

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   The Bargain Buy articles index

THE BARGAIN BUY: The Sony "Original Album Classics" series: Pop with a twist

THE BARGAIN BUY: The Sony "Original Album Classics" series: Pop with a twist

Even when it was exciting and happening all around you didn't have to be too bright to observe that punk was mostly just pop wound up tight and with more furious lyrics, that New Wave was just pop... > Read more

THE BARGAIN BUY: Tom Waits: The Original Album Series (Rhino)

THE BARGAIN BUY: Tom Waits: The Original Album Series (Rhino)

Although Tom Waits' dramatic change of musical direction after 1980, curated by his wife Kathleen Brennan who help him forge connections with the avant-garde, has lead to his music being much... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

THE RONNIE WOOD SHOW, a chat-radio/film series hosted by Ronnie Wood

THE RONNIE WOOD SHOW, a chat-radio/film series hosted by Ronnie Wood

Christopher Sandford's recent book about the Rolling Stones, Fifty Years, clarified a little of what we all wonder about: what do these people do when they aren't being Rolling Stones? Which is... > Read more

The Skatalites: Anthology (Primo/Southbound)

The Skatalites: Anthology (Primo/Southbound)

This 35-track double disc pulls together essential Skatalite material alongside work that appeared under the names of some the group's members (Rolando Alphonso, Baba Brooks, Don Drummond, Tommy... > Read more