del shannon: home and away appreciation thread

from delshannon.com

Del Shannon was touring Britain in late January and early February 1967 to promote his latest single "She" where, at the BBC Studios, he bumped into Andrew Loog Oldham, producer of the Rolling Stones. Oldham expressed how much he had loved Shannon's version of the Stones' "Under My Thumb" and wanted to record him. Shannon put an overseas call in to Liberty Records in Los Angeles and was told, "Yes, whatever the expense. Go cut with Andrew!"

Shannon was excited at the prospect of recording his dream album. Andrew Oldham was at the pinnacle of the business in Britain, and this was Shannon's big chance to be involved with the cream of England's music scene. Unprepared to record an album, Shannon brought "He Cheated" to the table, and Shannon with Dan Bourgoise (later to become his manager) sat down and hashed out "Silently" one night in their hotel room. Oldham was bent on re-recording "Runaway" despite Shannon thinking it wasn't a great idea. Oldham talked him into it, and "Runaway '67" was born, complete with a full blown orchestra that included John Paul Jones, Nicky Hopkins, Jimmy Page, and many other British session stalwarts. Mick Jagger and the Small Faces stopped in at Olympic Studios in London to see the session evolve. Oldham had a tight family of artists, and had Immediate Records artists Billy Nicholls, Andrew Rose, David Skinner, and Jeremy Paul Solomons contribute songs for the album. Nicholls submitted "Cut and Come Again," "Led Along," and "Friendly With You." He was a young songwriter somewhat like a British version of a Brian Hyland. Rose and Skinner, who recorded as the duo Twice As Much, were like a Peter & Gordon, and they contributed "It's My Feeling," "Easy To Say," "and the power-ballad "Life Is But Nothing" which Del really shaped into his own and belted out for all it was worth. Jeremy Paul Solomons donated "Mind Over Matter" to the cause, and Shannon brought in "My Love Has Gone," a song he truly enjoyed by a writer named Ross Watson. P.P. Arnold and Madeline Bell made up Shannon's vocal chorus, and Arthur Greenslade arranged the session. The sessions were a painstakingly crammed four-day run, from February 23rd through 26th, 1967.

"Led Along" become the first single released from the bunch, but failed to chart in America. "Mind Over Matter" became the U.K. single with "Led Along" as it's B-side. Still, the single failed to make a noise. "Runaway '67" was released in August, getting some great exposure, but not rekindling the magic of the original. "Runaway '67" made #112 on the U.S. charts, but incredibly, it made the Top 20 in Australia! With the failure of the singles, the album was scrapped by Liberty before it was even pressed. Oldham had the LP ready to go, with Shannon and Bourgoise titling it "Home and Away" after a baseball game had inspired their parallels of being at home and away on tour. The album was shelved...for 10 years. It was released as a compilation with three other tracks in the late 1970's as "And The Music Plays On," but the tracks were remixed and not released in their original intended form.

Just a few years ago, Andrew Oldham, who now lives in Vancouver, Canada, attempted to release the sessions in the original intended format. Talks began. Andrew Lauder's Evangeline Records in the U.K. was rumored to be the record company to release it. When it didn't happen, we took the title for the Del Shannon Box Set in 2004: "Home and Away".

In late 2006, nearly 40 years after the session was recorded, EMI decided to finally release the album as a 16 track CD (11 album tracks plus 5 bonus tracks), complete with the album jacket intended for the album.

on a par with SMiLE, in terms of great lost albums of the 60s.

share the love for this lost masterpiece!

 

I really dig this record. Many great songs, but to me the killer is "My Love Has Gone." Total lump-in-the-throat greatness.

 

Another fan here...great mid sixties pop! 'It's My Feeling' is one of my faves.

 

This is a great album! I love the more obscure and forgotten stuff by early 60's artists - like the late 60s/Early 70s stuff by Dion, The Everly Brothers, Lou Christie, Teh Four Seasons etc.... albums when they are stretching out and trying new things. At the time it seems like they are floundering (and maybe they were) but in retrospect there's some good stuff.

 

I'll be getting this. Del Shannon's work with Oldham is dead classic, no arguments. It has always amazed me that the material wasn't released in the day. It was very contemporary, if leaning more pop than rock. "Cut And Come Again" is just sublime.

I wonder about the sound quality of this release? I wonder if it improves on Ron Furmanek's job on Del Shannon The Liberty Years?

Dale

PS: Here's a link to the allmusic review:

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gcfixq8dldse

 

I recognize some of these titles, and see they are on a BGO 2fer issued in 1995 featuring this album, and LIVE IN ENGLAND..

Life Is But Nothing is pretty heavy.

 

So does this Home and Away release actually feature the ORIGINAL mix? I have the Liberty Years comp which has the entire Home and Away album; however, the credits indicate Furmanek and Walsh remixed the pretty much everything on this compilation. If anyone has both the Liberty Years and this Home and Away cd, is there a significant difference in the mixes?

 

I've got both the Liberty comp and the UK "Home and Away" release. I've not directly compared them but the "Home and Away" cd sounds nicer to my ears. The Liberty cd sounds kinda muffled or muddy to me and I do think some of the tracks were remixed. The "Home and Away" cd sounds right for the time period in which it was recorded.

 

This, and the "Charles Westover" follow-up LP, are both completely amazing. I was knocked out a couple years back to discover both, and spent a month or so listening to nothing else.

The guy was completely underrated during that era.