Del Shannon was an American rock and roll and country musician, and
singer-songwriter who is best known for his 1961 No. 1 billboard hit "Runaway".
Biography 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. 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 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, 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. 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 and the Berlee label disappeared.
He returned to the charts immediately with "Handy Man", "Do You Wanna Dance?",
and two originals, "Keep Searchin'", and "Stranger in Town". 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, 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. 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". That version 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 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 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". In October 1968, Liberty
Records released their tenth 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.
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 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 committed
suicide 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.
Shannon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.
Film and television = Filmography=
It's Trad, Dad! "Daytona Beach Weekend"
The Best of Del Shannon, Rock 'N' Roll's Greatest Hits in Concert,. a television
program hosted by Wolfman Jack. = Television=
American Bandstand Milt Grant Show
The Buddy Deane Show Shindig!
Hulaballoo The Lloyd Thaxton Show
Shivaree The Merv Griffin Show
Hollywood A Go-Go Where the Action Is
Late Night with David Letterman The Swingin Kind ABC Television with Lee
Alan "Let's Rock Tonight" PBS Host Fabian
Discography Runaway With Del Shannon
Hats off to Del Shannon Little Town Flirt
Handy Man Del Shannon Sings Hank Williams
1,661 Seconds With Del Shannon This is My Bag
Total Commitment The Further Adventures of Charles
Westover Live in England
...And The Music Plays On Drop Down and Get Me
Runaway Hits! Greatest Hits
Rock On! Home and Away
= Singles= APeaked at #56 on Hot Country Songs.
Literature Bak, Richard. "Del Shannon's Runaway
Success Led to his Downfall". Hour Detroit. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
DeWitt, Howard A.. Stranger in Town: The Musical Life of Del Shannon. Dubuque,
Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publ. ISBN 978-0-7872-8854-9.
References External links
Official website Del Shannon at the Internet Movie
Database Del Shannon at AllMusic
Del Shannon at Discogs