Walter Jackson
(The Sophisticated Gent of Chicago Soul)
The sweet sounds of Chicago soul interjected a
new flavor of
sophistication that polished the rough edges of
R&B music in
the 1960's. The discovery of this gentleman's
talent was not
only Chi-townss precious weight in solid gold
soul but one of
the most heartfelt underrated singers in music
history.
Mr. Walter Jackson.
Born on March 19, 1938 in Pensacola, Florida,
Walter at the
age of 5, was stricken with polio. He moved to Detroit
and
recorded as a member of the Velvetones for Deb Records
in 1959. Jackson embarked on a solo career and failed
an audition at Motown. He signed with Columbia Records
in 1962 and released an uncharted single,
'Starting
Tomorrow'
b/w 'Then Only Then'.
Walter was discovered by Carl Davis, (head A&R honcho
of Columbia's subsidiary label Okeh) in a Detroit
nightclub.
Carl brought Jackson to Chicago and assigned him to
Chicago's gifted songwriter, Curtis Mayfield.
With a stroke of pen, Curtis composed a great double
sided
single 'That's What Mama Say'
(answer song to Jan Bradley's
62' smash 'Mama Didn't Lie') and a lovely ballad
entitled,
'What Would You Do'. While the song received airplay in
the
east coast region, Walter's next single
'It's All Over'
(penned by
Mayfield) b/w 'Lee Cross' (originally recorded by
Aretha Franklin
on Columbia and written by Ted White, Aretha's
ex-husband),
placed him at the No.10 position on Cashbox's R&B Top
50 chart,
the week ending, Sat Nov 21, 1964. Billboard deleted
the R&B
charts from the magazine, from Nov 21, 1963 til Jan 30,
1965.
A self-titled LP 'It's All Over' was released in 1965.
Carl Davis continued to produced two more charted
singles on
Jackson: the tear jerking 'Suddenly I'm All Alone' (written by
the late Van McCoy) (No.13 R&B March 13, 1965) and the
gorgeous
'Welcome Home' (by Chip Taylor, composer of the
quintessential
pop hit 'Wild Thing' by the Troggs) (No.15 R&B July 3,
1965).
Walter's sophomore LP release on Okeh was
'Welcome
Home':
The Many Moods Of Walter Jackson in 1965.
'Suddenly I'm All Alone' was personal favorite of Bill
Cosby's and
was featured in an 1985 episode, of
'The Cosby Show'.
Cliff
Huxtable finds himself alone in the basement of his
brownstone,
grinding to the song, on an old phonograph.
After a disagreement with Okeh president Len Levy,
Carl Davis
departed from the label in late 1965 and signed with
Brunswick.
Ted Cooper would take over production using the
established
Chi-town Davis formula and produced more chart hit
singles
in 1966: 'It's An Uphill Climb To The Bottom' (No.11
R&B
July 23, 1966) the upbeat Gene Chandler remake
'Tear
For Tear'
'After You There Could Be Nothing' b/w
'My Funny
Valentine'
(No.40 R&B Oct 15, 1966) 'A Corner In The Sun' b/w
'Not
You'
(No. 46 R&B Nov 26, 1966) and 'Speak Her Name' b/w
'They
Don't Give You Medals' (No.22 R&B April 15, 1967).
A 3rd LP entitled ‘Speak Her Name was
released in early 1967.
Riley Hampton orchestrated the beautiful string
arrangements on
Walter recordings while the Kitty Haywood Singers
provided
those gorgeous harmonic angelic voices in the
background.
After one more chart entry 'Deep In The Heart Of
Harlem'
(No.43 R&B July 22, 1967) a beautiful remake of the
1965 Jimmy Radcliff hit 'My Ship Is Comin' In'(1967)
and 'Road To Ruin' b/w 'Everything Under The Sun' (1968),
Walter Jackson parted ways with Okeh and inked with
Cotillion Records and released 'Anyway That You Want
Me'
(No.37 R&B Dec 13, 1969).
After a three year hiatus, Jackson signed with
Brunswick
in 1973 and recorded two singles, 'I Never Had It So
Good'
b/w Easy Evil (June 1973) and 'It Doesn't Take Much'
(No.91 R&B Nov 24, 1973). He became inactive from the
music industry for two years.
Walter reunited with Carl Davis on Chi-Town in 1976 and
scored his first top ten R&B single with a remake of
Morris Albert's international hit 'Feelings' (No.9 Jan
22, 1977),
including several other singles, 'Baby, I Love Your
Way'
Peter Frampton's remake (No.19 R&B May 14, 1977) a
remake
of his 64' classic 'It's All Over' (No.75 R&B Sept 24,
1977) and
'If I Had My Way' (No.68 March 1978).
'Tell Me Where It Hurts' on Columbia (No.28 June 1981)
and 'If I Had A Chance' on Kelli-Arts (No.83 Jan 1983)
were Jackson's last recordings before he succumbed
to a cerebral hemorrhage, on June 20, 1983.
Walter Jackson was a handsome singer who baritone
voice,
pierced though the hearts of music fans, from all walks
of life.
He never let his performance on stage as a handicapped
diminish
his gifted abilities as an entertainer. The late Luther
Vandross
would claim that Walter Jackson was his favorite
singer.
So if suddenly you're all alone and you've cried tear
for tear and
you feel like it's all over...just put on the smooth
groove sounds
of Walter Jackson and find peaceful corner in the sun
to relax to
because after Walter...there can be nothing.
Soulfully Yours,
Mike Boone
(Chancellor of Soul)
(Feb 2008)
Materials should not be used or altered without the
expressed
Permission of the author, Mike Boone (Chancellor of Soul)
