Del Shannon (December 30, 1934 — February 8, 1990) was an American rock and roll singer-songwriter who had a No. 1 hit, "Runaway", in 1961.Del Shannon was born Charles Weedon Westover in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He grew up in Coopersville, a small town near Grand Rapids. There he learned ukulele and guitar and listened to country and western music, including Hank Williams, Hank Snow, and Lefty Frizzell. In 1954, he was drafted into the Army, 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 in a furniture factory as a truck driver and selling carpets. He also found part-time work as a rhythm guitarist in singer Doug DeMott's group, 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 his band 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 persuaded Ann Arbor disc jockey Ollie McLaughlin to hear the band. In turn, 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, recording for Big Top. Balk suggested Westover use a new name, and they came up with Del Shannon, combining a friend's assumed surname with Del from his favorite car, the Cadillac Coupe de Ville.
He flew to New York City, but his first sessions did not produce results. McLaughlin 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 January 21, 1961, they recorded "Runaway", released as a single in February 1961. It reached #1 in the Billboard chart in April.
Shannon followed with "Hats Off to Larry", which peaked at #5 (Billboard) and #1 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 name. 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 Beatles song. "From Me to You" charted in the US before the Beatles.
By late 1963, Shannon's relationship with his managers and Big Top had soured and he formed his own label, Berlee, distributed by Diamond Records. Two singles were issued: the apparently Four Seasons-inspired "Sue's Gotta Be Mine" charted moderately, the second didn't. He patched up his relationship with his managers and was placed on Amy in early 1964.
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 originals, "Keep Searchin'" (#3 in the UK; #9 in the US), and "Stranger in Town" (1965). Shannon opened with Ike and Tina Turner at Dave Hull's Hullabaloo, in Los Angeles, California, on December 22, 1965.
Shannon signed with Liberty in 1966 and covered "The Big Hurt" and the Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb". Peter and Gordon released his "I Go To Pieces" in 1965. In the late 1960s, not having charted for several years, he 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.
In 1972 he 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 Shannon 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." 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."
Shannon's career slowed greatly in the 1970s, in part due to alcoholism. English rock singer, Dave Edmunds, produced the Shannon single, "And the Music Plays On", in 1974. In 1978 he stopped drinking, and began work on "Sea of Love", released 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 Shannon. RSO Records, which recorded Shannon, folded. The LP was recorded by Network Records and distributed by Elektra Records. Seven songs are Shannon originals with covers of the Everly Brothers, 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. 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." In the 1980s Shannon performed "competent but mundane country-rock"
Shannon enjoyed a resurgence after re-recording "Runaway" with new lyrics as the theme for the NBC-TV television program Crime Story. Producer Michael Mann felt this was definitive of the era in which the program was set. The new lyrics replaced "wishin' you were here by me... to end this misery" with “watchin’ all the things go by... some live, while others die,” reflecting the violent, mob-related show.
In 1988, Shannon sang on "The World We Know" with The Smithereens on their album Green Thoughts. Shortly after, in 1990, he recorded with Jeff Lynne of 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 by Warner Brothers, which had signed Shannon in 1984.
Suffering from depression, Shannon committed suicide on February 8, 1990, with a 22 caliber rifle. Following his death, the four surviving 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, and his contribution has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
Legacy
In 1990, the country band Southern Pacific covered Shannon's hit "I Go To Pieces" (also a hit in 1965 for Peter & Gordon), with the video dedicated in Shannon's memory.
Tom Petty referenced Shannon and his song "Runaway" on Petty's song "Runnin' Down A Dream" on Full Moon Fever.
In 2009 "Runaway" was used in the 21st episode of the 3rd season of the TV series, Heroes.
Filmography
- It's Trad, Dad! (aka Ring A Ding Rhythm) (1962)
- 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.
- Shindig! (1965)
- Hollywood A Go-Go (1965)
- Late Night with David Letterman (1986)
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