January 14, 2021 —– Chart #126
Happy Friday Music Friends,
Welcome to this week’s edition of Chart of the Week. Sometimes we feature iconic songs and generational artists and sometimes I am just having fun and pick something interesting. This week we are not going with Elvis or Led Zeppelin, but if you were around in the 60s and 70s I’ll bet you remember this one. “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” is a song originally performed in 1969 by Jackie DeShannon, who composed it with her brother Randy Myers and Jimmy Holiday. In the U.S., it was DeShannon’s highest-charting hit, reaching number 4 on the Hot 100 in August 1969 and number 2 on the Adult Contemporary charts. In late 1969, the song reached number one on South Africa’s hit parade. The song is used in the Gus Van Sant film Drugstore Cowboy. The song rivaled the success of her signature song, “What the World Needs Now Is Love”.
Jackie DeShannon (born Sharon Lee Myers, August 21, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter with a string of hit song credits from the 1960s onwards, as both singer and composer. She was one of the first female singer-songwriters of the Rock and Roll period. She is best known as the singer of “What the World Needs Now Is Love” and “Put a Little Love in Your Heart”, and as the composer of “When You Walk in the Room” and “Bette Davis Eyes”, which were covered by The Searchers and Kim Carnes, whose versions have been hits for both these acts. Since 2009, DeShannon has been an entertainment broadcast correspondent reporting Beatles band members’ news for the radio program Breakfast with the Beatles.
DeShannon was born in Hazel, Kentucky, the daughter of musically inclined farming parents, James Erwin Myers and the former Sandra Jeanne Laporte. By age six, she was singing country tunes on a local radio show. By age 11, she was hosting her own radio program. When life on the farm became too difficult, the family moved to her mother’s hometown, Aurora, Illinois, where her father resumed his other career as a barber.
After a year, they moved to Batavia, Illinois, where she attended high school. In May 1955, while in 8th grade, Sharon Lee Myers, then 13 years old, was featured in the local newspaper for her vocal talents and personal appearances at community gatherings, the local hospitals, and for assorted organizations. According to the Batavia Herald, she had her own Saturday morning radio show Breakfast Melodies on radio station WMRO. Further:
Though only 13, the youngster can boast almost 11 years of voice training and experience and in the past she has toured most of the south making personal appearances. Also she has sung on radio with a rhythm band for 2 years and has appeared on television 3 times.
In March 1956, “Sherry Lee Myers” made “another guest appearance on Pee Wee King’s popular Country and Western Television Show” on Saturday evening, March 3, on Channel 2—the CBS network affiliate in Chicago, Illinois. According to the Batavia Herald:
Sherry Lee is a busy young lady. Each Saturday morning at 9:30 she is on the WMRO radio show. She had made appearances with the Pee Wee King Show at Ottawa, Rockford and LaSalle in recent weeks. Following her television appearance this Saturday night, the young Batavia artist will appear at the West Aurora Junior High School auditorium on Sunday, March 4th for three shows, 2, 4, and 8 pm.
She attended Batavia High School for two years (1955–1957), leaving school after her second year. IMHO, if Jackie can become famous in music with a resume like this, there is still a glimmer of home for all of us weekend warriors!
She began to record under various names such as Sherry Lee, Jackie Dee, and Jackie Shannon, with mixed success. In 1960, DeShannon signed with Liberty Records, adopting the name Jackie DeShannon, believed to be the name of an Irish ancestor, after executives at Liberty thought the name Sharon Myers would not help sell records. DeShannon recorded many other singles that encompassed teen pop, country ballads, rockabilly, gospel, and Ray Charles-style soul that didn’t fare as well on the charts. During these years it was her songwriting and public profile rather than her recording career that kept her contracted to Liberty. DeShannon dated Elvis Presley and formed friendships with The Everly Brothers and Ricky Nelson. She also co-starred and sang with Bobby Vinton in the 1964 teen surf movie Surf Party.
DeShannon’s biggest break came in February 1964 when she supported The Beatles on their first US tour, and formed a touring band with guitarist Ry Cooder. DeShannon co-wrote “Breakaway” with Sharon Sheeley, which was recorded by Irma Thomas in 1964, and by Tracey Ullman in 1983. She also wrote “Don’t Doubt Yourself Babe” for Mr. Tambourine Man, the 1965 debut album of The Byrds. Her music at this stage was heavily influenced by the American West Coast sounds and folk music. Staying briefly in England in 1965, DeShannon formed a songwriting partnership with Jimmy Page, which resulted in the songs “Dream Boy” and “Don’t Turn Your Back on Me”.
Moving to New York City, DeShannon co-wrote with Randy Newman, producing such songs as “She Don’t Understand Him Like I Do” and “Did He Call Today Mama?”, as well as writing “You Have No Choice” for Delaney Bramlett. In March 1965, DeShannon recorded Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “What the World Needs Now Is Love”, which led to club tours and regular appearances on television and went to No. 7 on the US charts and No. 1 in Canada. (DeShannon’s recording of the song was subsequently used in the 1969 film Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice). She appeared in the 1967 film C’mon, Let’s Live a Little, with Bobby Vee, as a folk singer.
DeShannon continued writing and recording, but it was not until 1969 that she scored her next smash single and album, both entitled “Put a Little Love in Your Heart“. The self-penned single (co-written with her brother, Randy Myers and Jimmy Holiday) sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” was performed as the closing number at the Music for UNICEF Concert, broadcast worldwide from the United Nations General Assembly in 1979, and was covered in 1988 as a duet by Annie Lennox and Al Green (reaching No. 9 in the Billboard Hot 100), and by Dolly Parton in 1993. The single “Love Will Find a Way” from the same album was also a moderate hit.
So there you have it. A song and an artist that you probably have not thought about in many years. Play the tuner on your acoustic guitar and sing, it will make you feel good whether you like the song or not.
Annie Lennox & Al Green: https://youtu.be/S3J_3mcOwdQ
Peace,
Stan