Saturday, December 8, 2007

Chuck Jackson


Chuck Jackson is a US soul and r 'n' b singer from Latta, South Carolina. He was born Charles Jackson on 22nd July 1937.

He was a regular visitor to the R&B charts (and an occasional one to the pop listings) in the early '60s with such early pop-soul concoctions as "I Don't Want to Cry," "Any Day Now," and "Tell Him I'm Not Home." His records were very much of a piece with New York pop/rock-soul production, with cheeky brass, sweeping strings, and female backup vocalists. Those production trills make his work sound dated to some listeners, and his hoarse, emotional vocals weren't as subtle or commanding as peers like Ben E. King or Wilson Pickett. On its own terms, though, his best work is quite good, whether you prefer pop to soul or vice versa.He started out as a gospel singer in The Raspberry Singers. He was in the Dell-Vikings from 1957 to 1959.

After recording as Charles Jackson for the Clock label in 1959 he signed with Wand Records in 1961. He was immediately successful with his first single I Don't Want to Cry which reached No. 5 R&B, No. 36 Pop. He was with Wand through most of the sixties, scoring several R&B and Pop hits. In 1969 he moved to Motown but didn't do so well there. He continued to record throughout the seventies for labels like ABC, All Platinum and EMI America, scoring his last R&B hit in 1980.

Although never hugely successful his rich, soulful voice resulted in 23 R&B top 100 singles and the same number of Pop 100 hits over the course of 20 years. Several of Jackson's songs later became successful hits for other artists; Ronnie Milsap covered "Any Day Now" in 1982, and reached #1 on the Country and Adult Contemporary charts, and Michael McDonald (formerly of The Doobie Brothers) had a hit that same year with "I Keep Forgettin'." He remains a favorite on England's "Northern soul" scene. Visit his website at: www.videovault.com/link/chuckj/chuckj2.html

Info gathered at: www.allmusic.com & www.lastfm.com


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