DEL SHANNON: KEEP SEARCHIN By Alan L.

Chrisman
Del Shannon was one of the great rockers and songwriters between Elvis and The
Beatles. Probably hes best known for his classic 1961 hit, Runaway, with its
high-pitched falsetto vocals and haunting, keyboard riffs. Shannon was to have
several other follow up hits with his distinctive sound throughout the early 60s,
like, Keep Searchin, Little Town Flirt, Hats Off To Larry, Handy Man, etc.
Actually he was the first American artist to cover a Beatles song, From Me to
You before The Beatles version was released there. Shannon (actually Charles
Westover, but name taken from a local wrestler and a Cadillac Coupe de Ville)
was born in Michigan, where he met keyboardist , Max Crook (who had made his
own early version of a synthesizer) and the two of them were to create their
unique sound. He was also a producer and produced an early Bob Seger and
Bryan Hylands Gypsy Woman. And he wrote the hit I Go to Pieces for Peter
and Gordon. When his career started to fade a bit in the U. S. with the British
Invasion, ironically, he maintained his popularity in the U.K. In fact, several British
musicians, would help produce his albums there, Like The Rolling Stones
producer, Andrew Loog Oldham, who did his version of their Under My Thumb
in 1967. Shannon released the Live in England LP in 1973. And Dave Edmonds
would produce the single And the Music Plays On in 74.
He was probably the closest in song writing and subject to the great Roy Orbison.
Like him, his songs usually had an almost tragic opera to them, with heart-
wrenching vocals and words. For example these are some of the lyrics to
Runaway: As I walk along I wonder / what went wrong? Im walking in the
rain/ tears are falling and I feel the pain/wishing you were here by me/to end this
misery. And I wonder/ I wah-wah-wah-wah wonder/ Why Why Why? , Did you
go Away/ My Little Runaway Boy, does that capture teenage love/angst or
what? And behind that is theirscreeching, but captivating keyboards, always.
In fact, when Orbison, died in late 1988, after the big success of supergroup, The
Traveling Wilburys 1
st
album, Shannon was rumoured to be his replacement for
their next album. Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers had already produced and
played on a comeback album for Shannon, 1981s, Drop Down and Get Me with a
re-make of Phil Phillips classic, Sea Of Love and seven originals, which is
recomended . And fellow Wilbury, Jeff Lynne of ELO, produced an album for him,
Rock On, which was released in 91. So he was well respected and influenced
these and many other musicians.
But Del Shannon played his last concert on Feb. 3, 1990, at a tribute concert in
Fargo, North Dakota, for the 31
th
anniversary of the plane crash that killed
legends, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper. A week later, Del
Shannon was found dead of suicide. He had long suffered from depression and
was on the drug, Prozac, which some have linked to deaths. Del Shannon was
inducted into the RocknRoll Hall of Fame in 1991, with a tribute performance
from Billy Joel of his classic song, Runaway. And the Traveling Wilburys did
their own version of Runaway as a tribute to him. Del Shannon, one of the
greats, at expressing both the pain and exhilaration of being young and
alive.Keep on Searchin (Well Follow the Sun).

See DEL SHANNON doing RUNAWAY on David Letterman Show, 1986.
http://youtu.be/nSkV9pdzLgo
See TRAVELING WILBURYS do DEL SHANNONS RUNAWAY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEPx9bkpkh8