Del Shannon
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Del Shannon (December 30, 1934–February 8, 1990) (born Charles Weedon Westover) was an American rock and roller who launched into fame with the huge hit "Runaway" (1961), which he followed up with "Hats Off to Larry", another big hit, and the less popular "So Long, Baby", another song of breakup bitterness. "Little Town Flirt", released in 1962 reached #12 in 1963 as did the album of the same name. After these hits, Shannon was unable to keep his momentum in the US, but became a sensation in England. In 1963, he became the first American artist to record a cover version of a Beatles song with "From Me to You".
Shannon returned to the charts in 1964 with "Handy Man"," Do You Wanna Dance", "Keep Searchin'", and "Stranger in Town" (1965), with the latter two songs themed about flight from pursuit in a dangerous world. In the late 1960s after a dry spell of hits, he turned to production. In 1969 he discovered a group called Smith and arranged their hit "Baby It's You". He then produced his friend Brian Hyland's million seller "Gypsy Woman" in 1970.
In the 1970s, Shannon's career slowed down greatly; the hates and fears he had turned into art in his earlier songs were turning into full-blown mental illness, and he was self-medicating with alcohol. He finally put the bottle down in 1978, and he was able to return to mainstream audiences with "Sea of Love" in the early 1980s from the album "Drop Down And Get Me" produced by Tom Petty.
On February 8, 1990, while working on a comeback album with Jeff Lynne which was released after his death and titled "Rock On", Shannon fatally shot himself in the head with a .22 calibre rifle. His wife thought his death might have been related to his recent use of the prescription drug Prozac.
External links
- Delshannon.com (http://www.delshannon.com/)
- Del Shannon Rock On (http://d21c.com/Spacebeagle/delshannon.html)
- Del Shannon at Yahoo! groups (http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/RockonDelShannon/)de:Del Shannon