An open, smiling face with very lively, clear eyes - this is exactly what fans remember about the American singer, composer and actor Del Shannon. For 30 years of creativity, the musician has known worldwide fame and experienced the pain of oblivion.
The song Runaway, written almost by accident, made him famous. And a quarter of a century later, shortly before the death of its creator, she received a second life.
The childhood and youth of the Shannon Case at the Great Lakes
Charles Whiston Westover was born on December 30, 1934 in Grand Rapids, Michigan's second largest city. From early childhood, he fell in love with music, and music fell in love with him. At the age of 7, the boy independently learned to play the ukulele - a four-string guitar, the so-called in the Hawaiian Islands.
At the age of 14 he played the classical guitar and again without assistance. During his military service in Germany, he was the guitarist for The Cool Flames.
After the army, Westover left for the city of Battle Creek in his native state of Michigan. There, he first got a job at a furniture factory as a truck driver, and then he sold carpets. He did not leave music. At this time, his idols were: "the father of modern country" Hank Williams, Canadian-American performer Hank Snow.
Upon learning that a country band playing at the local Hi-Lo club needed a rhythm guitarist, Charles got a job there. Appreciating the unusual voice with a signature falsetto, the leader of the group Doug DeMott invited him to be the vocalist. In 1958, DeMott was fired and Westover took over. He changed the name of the ensemble to The Big Little Show Band, and took the pseudonym Charlie Johnson for himself.
Birth of the legend Del Shannon
The turning point in the life of the musician was 1959, when Max Kruk was accepted into the team. For many years, this man became Shannon's colleague and best friend. In addition, he was a talented keyboardist and self-taught inventor. Max Kruk brought with him a muzitron, a modified synthesizer. In rock and roll, this musical instrument was not used at that time.
The creative keyboardist took up the "promotion" of the group. After recording several songs, he persuaded Ollie McLaughlin to listen to them. He sent the musical compositions to the Detroit firm Embee Productions. In the summer of 1960, friends signed a contract with Big Top. It was then that Harry Balk suggested that Charles Westover take a different name. This is how Del Shannon appeared - a combination of the name of the favorite Cadillac Coupede Ville model and the name of the wrestler Mark Shannon.
At first, performances in New York went unnoticed. Then Ollie McLaughlin convinced the musicians to rewrite Little Runaway, relying on a unique musictron.
Following the Runaway
Surprisingly, the song that became a hit came about by accident. At one of the rehearsals at the Hi-Lo club, Max Crook began to play two chords, which attracted the attention of Shannon. It was out of the usual, boring "Blue Moon harmony", as Del Shannon called it, that the melody was picked up by all members of the group.
Despite the fact that the owner of the club did not like the motive, the musicians finalized the song. The very next day, Shannon wrote a simple touching text about a girl who ran away from a guy. The song was called Little Runaway ("Little Runaway"), but then it was shortened to Runaway.
At first, the owners of the recording company Bell Sound Studios did not believe in the success of the composition. It sounded too unusual, "as if three different songs were taken and put together." But McLaughlin was able to convince of the opposite.
And on January 21, 1961, the song was recorded. In February of the same year, the single Runaway was released. Already in April, he won the American chart, and two months later, the English one, remaining at the top for four weeks.
This composition turned out to be so strong that its cover versions were sung by Ratt Bonnie in the hippie style, the rock band Dogma in the metal genre, etc. And the most famous one is Elvis Presley.
Why such popularity? A simple text combined with a beautiful melody, the original sound of the musicron, an unusual minor for rock and roll and, of course, a bright characteristic performance by Del Shannon.
Continuing your creative journey...
Other hits appeared on the crest of fame: Hats Off To Larry, Hey! Little Girl, which no longer aroused such reverent admiration as Runaway. After a series of failures in 1962, the artist released Little Town Flirt and hit the top again.
In 1963, the musician met with the beginning, but already popular British four The Beatles and recorded a cover version of their song From Me To You.
Over the years, Shannon wrote some more great songs: Handy Man, Strangerin Town, Keep Searchin. But they weren't like the Runaway song. By the end of the 1960s, he had become a good producer, bringing Brian Hyland and Smith onto the scene.
Oblivion Del Shannon
The 1970s were a period of creative crisis for the Shannon Case. The re-released composition Runaway did not even make it into the top 100, new names appeared in the USA. Only a tour of Europe, where he was still remembered, consoled him. Alcohol also helped.
Return
It wasn't until the late 1970s that Del stopped drinking. A significant role in this was played by Tom Petty, who helped release the album Drop Down and Get Me. In the early 1980s, Del Shannon traveled the world with concerts, gathering huge halls.
In 1986, the song Runaway returned, which was re-recorded for the TV series Crime Story. The album Rock On was being prepared for release. But the singer could not cope with depression. On February 8, 1990, he shot himself with a hunting rifle.
The name of a simple Michigan boy who has become an idol for generations has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And the song Runaway will sound for more than one decade.
