From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Mon Jul 22, 2002  1:12 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Chuck Jackson
 
CHUCK JACKSON

Born Charles Jackson, 22 July 1937, Latta, South Carolina

R&B singer. Jackson travelled the traditional '50s route into soul music,
via a spell in the gospel group, the Raspberry Singers. In mid-1957, he
joined the reformed Del-Vikings (the group led by Kripp Johnson that kept
recording for Fee Bee), singing lead on some of their 1958-59 recordings.
His strong baritone vocals enabled him to launch a solo career with
Beltone Records in 1960, before signing to the more prestigious Wand label
the following year. Jackson's early '60s singles for Wand epitomized the New
York uptown soul style, with sophisticated arrangements - often crafted by
Burt Bacharach - supporting his sturdy vocals with female vocalists and
orchestras. He enjoyed enormous success in the R&B market for several years
with a run of hits which have become soul classics, like I Don't Want To
Cry, I Wake Up Crying, Any Day Now and Tell Him I'm Not Home, though only
the majestic Any Day Now, co-written by Bacharach, crossed into the USA Top
30. In 1965 he was teamed with Maxine Brown on a revival of Chris Kenner's
R&B favourite, Something You Got, the first of three hit duets over the next
two years. Their partnership was severed in 1967 when Jackson joined Motown,
a decision he later described as 'one of the worst mistakes I ever made in
my life'. Although he notched up a minor hit with Freddie Scott's Are You
Lonely For Me Baby? in 1969, the majority of his Motown recordings found him
pitched against unsympathetic backdrops in a vain attempt to force him into
the label's formula. Jackson left Motown in 1971 for ABC, where again he
could muster just one small hit, I Only Get This Feeling in 1973. Another
switch of labels, to All-Platinum in 1975, produced the chart entry I'm
Needing You, Wanting You in his traditional style. In 1980, he joined EMI
America, where his most prominent role was as guest vocalist on two hit
albums by Gary U.S. Bonds. In the late '80s Jackson was one of many
ex-Motown artists signed to Ian Levine's Motor City label, with whom he
released two singles.

Homepage: http://www.videovault.com/vv/chuckj.html
CD recommendation : 1961-67 : Very Best Of Chuck Jackson (Varese Sarabande)