Walter Jackson
Walter Jackson was '60s Chicago soul at its sweetest and, occasionally, most mainstream. In the mid-'60s, he had a brace of solid R&B hits -- "Suddenly I'm All Alone," "It's an Uphill Climb (To the Bottom)," "Speak Her Name," "Welcome Home," "A Corner in the Sun" -- without ever rising higher than the lower reaches of the Top 100. Recording for the OKeh stable, which was home to the top Chi-Town soul talent, he benefited for a time from the production services of local masters Carl Davis and Curtis Mayfield, who handled the Impressions, Major Lance, Gene Chandler, and others. His sides employed similar punchy brass and strings, but in a smoother, more urbane fashion; Jackson was also comfortable with occasional outings into pure supper-club pop with nary a trace of R&B.
Jackson had already recorded for Columbia (and unsuccessfully auditioned for Motown) when OKeh A&R director Davis saw him at a Detroit piano bar in 1962. Stricken with polio as a young boy, Jackson had never let his disability get in the way of his musical ambitions, performing on crutches. Impressed with his commanding voice, Carl Davis thought of Walter as a Nat King Cole type of singer, and procured material for Jackson from Mayfield, Van McCoy, Chip Taylor, and other top-notch songwriters.
Despite the obvious pop crossover potential of Jackson's recordings, he remained obscure to white listeners. During the latter part of his stay with OKeh, he was reassigned from Davis' stable to producer Ted Cooper. Jackson had a few hits with Cooper, but there was little success after the late '60s, although he recorded for a few more labels before dying of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1983.
© Richie Unterberger /TiVo
Discografía
9 álbum(es) • Ordenado por Mejores ventas
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The Walls That Separate Us
Soul - Editado por Usa Records el 08-08-1971
Disponible en24-Bit/96 kHz Estéreo -
Speak Her Name (Expanded)
R&B - Editado por Epic - Legacy el 27-03-1967
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Welcome Home / The Okeh Years
R&B - Editado por Epic - Associated - Legacy el 04-06-1996
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
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Welcome Home: The Many Moods of Walter Jackson
R&B - Editado por Columbia - Legacy el 02-10-2015
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
I Want to Come Back as a Song
Soul - Editado por Crimson el 01-01-1977
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
The Best of Walter Jackson
Soul - Editado por Send Music Almena el 15-11-2024
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
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