James Beaty: OPINION: Rambln': In search of Jackie DeShannon

Nov. 19—These days with female artists such as Taylor Swift and Beyoncé ruling the charts with every new release and with women dominating the recent Grammy nominations, it's easy to forget there was a time when female singer/songwriters had a tougher time.

Even during the classic rock era, there wasn't exactly a proliferation of women who wrote and recorded their own songs.

Asked to name a female singer-songwriter of the classic rock era and lots of music fans would understandably think of Joni Mitchell, who has a string of masterpiece albums, including "Ladies of the Canyon," "Blue," "Hejira" and "Court and Spark."

Joni's been hitting the charts again with her 2023 album "Joni Mitchell at Newport," recorded with Brandi Carlile and other friends as she continued her recovery from an aneurysm.

They might think of Carole King, who started out as a Brill Building songwriter with her then-husband Gerry Goffin in the 1960s, co-writing hits for others, such as "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" and "Up on the Roof," before releasing her phenomenally successful solo album "Tapestry" in 1971.

Or when mentioning female singer/songwriters who started in the classic rock era, some may think of Carly Simon, whose biggest self-penned recording "You're So Vain" hit #1 in the U.S. in 1973 and started a decades-long guessing game about who Simon referenced in the song.

All of the above are well-deserving of the respect they've gained from their fans and their peers alike, but there's another pioneering female singer/songwriter who hit the charts before any of them.

Born Sharon Lee Myers in Hazel, Kentucky, she would later change her name to Jackie DeShannon for show business purposes.

I've been running across DeShannon's name the past few weeks, on everything from new interviews to the discovery of what was considered a long-lost recording of a blues and folk concert she performed in 1963.

A prolific songwriter herself, I first heard of one DeShannon's songs when I was a kid, on an EP I had of Brenda Lee, one of the most dynamic singers of any era.

Although Brenda Lee is considered a country music artist these days and going back to at least the late 1960s, at the beginning of her career she was considered a rockabilly powerhouse.

That EP — an extended play 45rpm record that contained four songs instead of the usual two on singles — included a song called "Dum Dum."

While the lyrics may not look like much — something like "A-dum-dum-a-diddly-dum — it's what Brenda Lee did with them that made all the difference.

It rocketed all the way to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961.

I would learn only this week that Jackie DeShannon cowrote the song with another female writer, Sharon Sheeley, then the girlfriend of early rock 'n' roll star Eddie Chochran, who wrote and performed the original version of "Summertime Blues."

It was Cochran who gave DeShannon one of the biggest breaks of her career, when he convinced her to move to California to write songs with Sheeley. They wrote another song recorded by Brenda Lee, "Heart in Hand," which hit #15 in 1962.

In 1963, DeShannon joined a growing number of young people who became enamored with folk music and traditional blues songs.

She recorded and released a folk album in 1963, which included the song "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" by a then up-and-coming songwriter named Bob Dylan.

While no one will ever top Dylan's own version from his "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" album, DeShannon performs a heartfelt rendition of the song, bringing a lot more grit than the version by Peter, Paul and Mary that hit #9 on the Hot 100.

Come to think of it, I can tell by the chord changes that DeShannon is basing her song on the original Dylan version rather than the smoother Peter, Paul and Mary version.

While DeShannon herself is a gifted songwriter, she had no aversion to coverings songs by others.

In addition to the early Dylan covers, she also covered several Peter, Paul and Mary songs, such as "Puff (The Magic Dragon)" and "If I Had a Hammer," written by Pete Seeger.

Her 1963 recordings also included the song, "Needles and Pins," written by Jack Nitzche and Sonny Bono — yes, that Sonny Bono.

It proved to be a minor hit, making it to #84 in the U.S. For some reason, Canadians were much more receptive to the recording, pushing it all the way to #1 north of the border.

DeShannon followed it with a song she'd written herself, titled "When You Walk in the Room," barley making it inside the Hot 100, peaking at #99 in the U.S., but climbing to 26 in Canada.

I hadn't known DeShannon had a folk music album, so I've been intrigued listening to the tracks this week, but in 1964, things were about to change in a big way, thanks to the so-called British Invasion, when first The Beatles, and then a slew of other British bands began dominating the U.S. charts.

Not only was DeShannon adaptable to the change — she herself influenced one of the Liverpool bands scoring in the U.S.

The British band The Searchers had obviously been listening to DeShannon; they even recorded a couple of the songs she'd released in 1963.

When The Searchers released their version of "Needles and Pins" in 1964, it hit #1 in the UK and #13 in the U.S.

Showing the fact that they'd recorded a song previously recorded by DeShannon hadn't been a coincidence, they followed it up with another song DeShannon had earlier written and recorded herself, "When You Walk in the Room."

It hit #3 in the UK and broke the Top 40 in the U.S, peaking at #35.

Along with the songs, the accompaniment on DeShannon's recordings proved highly influential, with the jingle-jangly guitar accompaniment that not only would be utilized by The Searchers, but also emulated in the U.S. by The Byrds on their records, including their breakthrough #1 recording of Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man."

Anyone doubting DeShannon's influence on the sound of The Byrds need only look at their first album, named after their hit single, "Mr. Tambourine Man."

Along with three more Dylan songs, a Pete Seeger song and originals written mainly by Gene Clark and Jim McGuinn — who would later change his first name to Roger — is a song written by Jackie DeShannon, "Don't Doubt Yourself Babe."

DeShannon not only influenced the sound of the British bands, she went on tour as one of the opening acts on The Beatles first U.S. tour in 1964.

Her biggest break though, would come the following year, when Dionne Warwick rejected a song written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach.

DeShannon, who knew a great song when she heard one, enthusiastically recorded it herself.

"What the World Needs Now Is Love" shot all the way to #7 in the U.S,. in 1965, a time when the U.S. charts were still being dominated by the British bands.

She would top that milestone four years later, with her 1969 release of "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" — a song she wrote herself, along with her brother Randy Myers and another writer, Jimmy Holiday.

DeShannon's music has lived on through herself as well as other artists

Pam Tills took DeShannon's song "When You Walk in the Room" to the top of the country charts in the 1990s.

And rockers Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks teamed up for a sizzling live version of "Needles and Pins."

DeShannon is still active today, recently granting a series of interviews regarding her career.

When I think of outstanding women songwriters of the rock era, I'm including Jackie DeShannon as one of the best.

I'm not alone. Her many honors include a 2010 induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

She's also just released a new album called "The Sherry Lee Show" — based on those early radio programs from the beginnings of her career.