Del Shannon - Del Shannon - Greatest Hits

These 20 tracks include all the big early-'60s hits by this maverick artist, plus several obscure gems. Shannon was atypical of his era by virtue of age (26 when he had his first hit, "Runaway"), originality (he wrote most of his songs), aggression (unusually among white artists of the early '60s, most of his stuff rocked), and temperament (his songs weave an alarming pattern of misery, paranoia, desperation, vengeance, and despair). Not to mention musical innovation--"Runaway" contains what could be called the first pop synthesizer solo, "Little Town Flirt" casts the mold for the entire British Invasion, "From Me to You" was the first American version of a Beatles song, "Handy Man" transforms the bouncy Jimmy Jones novelty into a rock maelstrom, "Do You Want to Dance" anticipates the Beach Boys' subsequent rockin' reworking, "Keep Searchin'" and "Stranger in Town" could have been the soundtrack to The Fugitive, and "Sister Isabelle" is the ultimate boy-loses-girl song--Del's gal becomes a nun, and he rails at God for beating his time. It's not 100% brilliant--"Sue's Gotta Be Mine" is a blatant Four Seasons ripoff and "The Swiss Maid" is, as the title might warn, far from yodel-free--but this package is a neat summation of the career of a tragically overlooked artist. --Ken Barnes Amazon.com

A Song Is Missing

Not a bad Del Shannon cd but a Del Shannon tune is not on it. The tune "I Go To Pieces" is not on it,you know it as a British Invasion hit. And after you hear it, you'll know why he didn't have a hit with it. February 9, 2008

must have music from the great Del Shannon

Del Shannon sure could sing out those great songs of his; and this album is guaranteed to bring back fond memories of those days when his tunes were always on the radio! The quality of the sound is excellent and the artwork is very nicely done.

"Runaway" starts the CD strong with Del Shannon showing off his broad vocal range. He jumps from tenor to falsetto effortlessly; and the musical arrangement shines like gold! There's also "Hats Off To Larry;" this was always one of my favorites by Del Shannon and whenever I hear this I always turn up the volume. Del Shannon again switches back and forth between tenor and falsetto; this impresses me a lot. The arrangement for "Hats Off To Larry" really has that early rock and roll flavor to it--awesome!

"Little Town Flirt" is another hit for Del Shannon; I really like the backup vocalists and Del Shannon sings this with heart and soul. His excellent diction bolsters his performance and I like the musical arrangement. "From Me To You" is a great cover of a song by The Beatles; Del Shannon pays tribute to them while putting his own stamp on this beautiful ballad.

"Two Silhouettes" has a great early rock flavor to it also; and the backup vocalists harmonize well. "That's The Way Love Is" impresses me as Del sings this with great passion. He is truly able to express all the feelings in this song.

"Do You Want To Dance" is another great ballad that Del Shannon puts his own stamp on; and the musical arrangement is performed rather well. "Keep Searchin' (We'll Follow The Sun)" gets the royal treatment from Del Shannon; I really like this ballad.

The album ends great with "Sister Isabelle;" Del Shannon sings this like a pro and the rockin' arrangement is awesome! Del Shannon never sings a superfluous note and I think you will enjoy "Sister Isabelle."
January 4, 2008

A R&R Hall Of Famer Gets The Rhino Treatment

Anyone who knows anything at all about Del Shannon is aware that, while in Germany with the U.S. Army, he had his own radio show [Get Up And Go], that he wrote hits for others [I Go To Pieces by Peter & Gordon is an example], and that he was inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame in 1999 - nine years after he committed suicide on February 8, 1990.

He also had 17 Billboard Pop Hot 100 hits from 1961 to 1982, some of them compulsory on any serious 1960s retrospective collection. Such as his first, the smash Runaway which spent four weeks at # 1 Hot 100, and hit # 3 R&B early in 1961, or the follow-up Hats Off To Larry [# 5 Hot 100 that summer].

His first nine hits were for Big Top [all here], including his last with that label, From Me To You. Written by the then relatively unknown duo Lennon and McCartney, it reached # 77 Hot 100 in July 1963. That year he formed his own label, Berlee, but had just the one hit there - Sue's Gotta Be Mine which topped out at # 71 Hot 100 in December. That too is here.

The following year he turned up with Amy and added five more Hot 100 hits there, including Handy Man [# 22] and Keep Searchin' (We'll Follow The Sun), which became his third-best hit ever at # 9 in December 1964, and Stranger In Town, a # 30 in early 1965.

For some reason, the producer at Rhino chose to leave off his only other Amy hit, Break Up, which made it to # 95 in June 1965, while including the uncharted flipside, Why Don't You Tell Him [another B-side is Kelly which backed Two Kinds Of Teardrops, a # 50 in May 1963]. They also left out his only hit with Liberty, 1966's The Big Hurt [# 94], and his final hit which came 15 years later for the Network label when Sea Of Love, produced by Tom Petty, reached # 25 Adult Contemporary and # 33 Hot 100 in early 1982.

Still, one of - if not THE - best Del Shannon hit collections, all originals which you will find yourself listening to over and over again. August 17, 2007

One of the Greatest!

Del Shannon had one of the most unique styles and voices of the early 60's. I love just about everything he did and this is a great collection! August 2, 2007

Dell Shannon songwriter

Del Shannon was one of the best songwriter of his era ,"Runaway" is a classic,"Hats off to Larry","Little town Flirt" and "Two Silhouettes" reflected the teen experience as it was. July 31, 2007

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