Jackie Wilson: Lonely Teardrops [Paperback]

Tony Douglas (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415974305 | ISBN-13: 978-0415974301 | Publication Date: May 21, 2005

To his many fans, he was known simply as "Mr. Excitement," a singer whose music and stage presence influenced generations of performers, from Elvis Presley to Michael Jackson. Jackie Wilson: Lonely Teardrops looks at the life and career of this deeply troubled artist. Published briefly in a limited edition in the United Kingdom, this Routledge edition makes available this definitive biography for Wilson's legions of fans. Also includes two 8-page photo inserts.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Brims with the reminiscences of Wilson's former wives and lovers, fellow musicians, bodyguards, and others. This is the portrait of a bigger-than-life personality.
–Benjamin Segedin, Booklist

A tremendous read. Four stars (highest rating).
–Q Magazine

Jackie was one of the most extraordinary performers with whom I've ever worked... Thanks so much, Tony, for helping to tell the world of his contributions.
–Dick Clark

About the Author

Tony Douglas is a writer/researcher on black American music. He lives in Australia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (May 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415974305
• ISBN-13: 978-0415974301
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #695,322 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Distorted Facts, July 14, 2006

By 

Monica Burns (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jackie Wilson: Lonely Teardrops (Paperback)

I was very disapointed with this book. I purchased it with the intention of learning more about the singer for a feature article I am working on. When I did some fact checking with family members, including Harlene, and people whom he recorded and worked with, it became apparent that many facts were omitted. Was the writer's intent merely to sell books rather than tell a story based on a balanced view of facts? I don't know. After doing a little digging myself, this book to me comes off like a tabloid, not a biography.

However, it does give way for a more balanced and factual based story which hopefully someone will tell some day.

24 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From the author, June 26, 2005

By 

Anthony J. Douglas (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jackie Wilson: Lonely Teardrops (Paperback)

Jackie Wilson whose honey-rich falsetto-tenor voice had thrilled millions throughout the world died in January, 1984; aged 49. For the preceding eight years and four months he had been in a vegetable-like state. He never uttered a word since suffering a heart attack while performing at the Latin Casino in Cherry Hill, New Jersey in September, 1975. Yet another indignity awaited Jackie. After a well-publicized funeral attended by around 1,500 relatives, friends and fans he was buried in an unmarked grave in his home city of Detroit. Effectively his burial was that of a pauper. Jackie was born in June, 1934. Using the name Jackie Wilson, he would reach the top of his chosen vocation - as a singer and performer. From humble origins he would grow up to become known around the world for his soaring and impassioned singing style and unequalled stage routine. His USA chart successes amounted to 55 Top 100 and 24 Top 40 hits. He was admired and emulated by many entertainers including Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley. Jackie's mother was a powerful influence on him. As Jackie was her only son, she doted on him. School wasn't for Jackie, he was an habitual truant. This was to land him in trouble and, twice, to detention in the Lansing Correctional Institute. There he learned how to box and he was skilled proponent. He even considered becoming a professional boxer. Jackie sang from the age of six and from his adolescent years he would sing both gospel and blues on the street. Even then could sing in perfect key and enriched many a soul with his voice. In his early teens Jackie formed a quartet, the Ever Ready Gospel Singers Group, which became a popular feature of churches in the district. Jackie wasn't religious, he just loved to sing and the cash came in handy for purchasing cheap wine. He also ran with a feared local gang called the Shakers. However, Jackie was more of an icon for the gang and they ensured that he wasn't harmed during his regular amateur performances in "unfriendly" neighborhoods. Jackie became a sweetheart of Freda Hood when he was ten and she was 11. He was good-looking, self confident to the point of being brash, and a favourite with the girls. He expressed to Freda from the earliest age his ambition to be an entertainer. He left school in the ninth grade, in 1950, aged 16. Freda was 17 and Jackie 16 when she became pregnant, so a marriage was hastily arranged in February, 1951. A daughter was born the next month. Jackie had no regular job to support his new family, but from the age of 15 Jackie was a regular performer at a local black nightclub. Being under-age, he had to perform using another's ID, the same ID he used to get married. The appearances brought in some cash, but family life was generally a struggle. At 17 Jackie obtained work at the Ford automobile foundry, close to where he lived with his mother (who had divorced Jack Snr) and her common-in-law husband, John Lee. He lasted only two weeks at the Ford plant. At the time he was practicing singing with a local group, which included Levi Stubbs (later lead singer of the Four Tops). Known then as the Royals they didn't record any songs with Jackie, but evolved as Hank Ballard and the Midnighters. A successful black group at the time was Billy Ward And The Dominoes, with Clyde McPhatter as lead singer. News reached Jackie that Ward was in Detroit and looking to replace a member of the group who had been drafted into the army. A contest was held to formerly choose a successor for the army draftee. 18-year-old Jackie won and became a member of the group, but within months Dominoes lead singer Clyde McPhatter left to form his own group (the Drifters) enabling Jackie to become the new lead. The group worked for many years, especially in Las Vegas, before white audiences. Despite some fabulous record releases featuring Jackie's tenor lead, his only recording success with the Dominoes was in June 1956 with "St Therese of The Roses" which reached #13 on the Pop charts. In 1957 Jackie decided to try a solo career. Al Green, who already managed singers Johnnie Ray, Della Reese and LaVern Baker, took over Jackie's management. Green went to New York and arranged with record executive Bob Theile to sign Jackie to the Decca label. The day before the deal was to be signed, Al Green died. Green's protege was Nat Tarnopol. Tarnopol convinced Jackie to let him become his manager, despite having no management experience. And so it was he who signed Jackie to the Decca stable. Jackie was, for years, the only singer on the subsidiary Brunswick label, so Tarnopol convinced the Decca bosses that he could successfully handle the label and attract more black talent and, as part of the agreement, he was given 50% ownership of the label. Aspiring songwriters Berry Gordy and Roquel "Billy" Davis met Jackie through the Flame Show Bar, a popular Detroit night spot, which Al Green had also managed. They had written numerous tunes, what they needed was a voice to bring the songs to life. In September, 1957, Jackie's first recording, "Reet Petite", was released. It was a Gordy and Davis composition to which Jackie added his own distinctive style. Although it achieved only #62 on the US Pop charts, it did better in the United Kingdom, climbing to #6. Jackie was on his way. In October 1958 Jackie, with another Davis/Gordy composition, "Lonely Teardrops", reached #7 on the Pop charts - his first million seller. The three musicians were now on their way to world recognition. One of Jackie's most important assets was his equal appeal to black and white audiences. Jackie trusted Nat Tarnopol implicitly and foolishly signed over power-of-attorney to him. Tarnopol was keen not to limit Jackie's career by concentrating on rock 'n' roll. He chose veteran band leader and Decca arranger Dick Jacobs to arrange and produce most of Jackie's recordings from 1957 through 1966. Jackie became a major star, often appearing on coast-to-coast television on national TV shows, New York's Copacabana and the Las Vegas nightclub circuit. He toured the country tirelessly before sell-out audiences. As a stage performer he only had to walk on stage to bring the house down, causing hysteria amongst females. He often courted danger by leaping into the audience where his clothes would be ripped to shreds. In the southern states he played to segregated audiences which, naturally, irked him. There were numerous racially based incidents which placed him in danger. During a performance in New Orleans in 1960, Larry Williams was performing and the police had ordered that he not make his traditional leap into the audience. Jackie urged Williams that he should do his normal performance, so things became extremely tense. When a policeman laid hold of Williams, Jackie saw red and knocked him down. Total pandemonium broke out and a riot ensued. Jackie was arrested and was severely beaten by the police before being ordered out of town. If there were still doubts about Jackie's vocal talents, his second million seller "Night" would dispel them. "Night" reached #4 on the Pop charts. Berry Gordy used his royalties on the nine hits he'd co-written for Jackie to establish his Motown recording label, while Davis joined Chess Records as A&R manager, song writer and producer. By 1961 Jackie was involved with Harlean Harris a glamorous Ebony magazine fashion model. Jackie was a womaniser all his life and had also been having a relationship with a young woman, Juanita Jones. Early in the morning of 15 February 1961, Jones waited for Jackie and when he returned with Harlean to his Manhattan apartment; she ambushed him and shot him twice. Despite his wounds, with one bullet lodged near his spine, Jackie made it downstairs to the street, with the revolver he'd snatched still in his hand. Fortunately a policeman raced him to the nearby hospital. Surgery and weeks of medical care saved him, although the bullet remained forever near his spine, being too inaccessible to be removed. He also lost a kidney and was fortunate to survive. Jackie's management and legal advisers decided that the incident would create a scandal. Being a married man having an affair with another woman, it may have also damaged his career. A story was concocted that portrayed Jones as a demented fan who had planned to shoot herself, but Jackie had intervened and, as a result, he was shot. Fortunately for Jones, the story was accepted and she got off scot-free. A month and a half later Jackie was discharged and, apart from a limp and discomfort for a while, he was quickly on the mend. He discovered that, despite being at the peak of success, he was broke. In arrangements that are not entirely apparent, Nat Tarnopol was controlled by a music industry mobster by the name of Gaetano "Tommy" Vastola. Vastola had at least part ownership of Queens Booking Agency, which was Jackie's and most other black artists' booking agency throughout the period. Jackie's touring manager, working under the auspices of Vastola, was a Mob enforcer named Johnny Roberts. Roberts employed a minder to look after Jackie. He was August Sims, a hulk of a black man weighing around 230 pounds. He provided protection as well as ensuring Jackie made his concert dates. In 1963 Jackie had a major hit on his hands with the dance groove, "Baby Workout", which reached #5 on the Pop chart. Around this time the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seized Jackie's Detroit family home. Freda said it was the first they knew of any unpaid taxes, as Tarnopol and his accountant were supposed to take care of such matters. The fact was Jackie was nearly broke. Fortunately Jackie made arrangements with the IRS to make restitution on the unpaid taxes and to re-purchase the family home at auction. However, Freda's patience had finally run out due to Jackie's notorious philandering and she filed for divorce. Jackie didn't contest it and so their thirteen year marriage... Read more ›

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Chock Full of Information and Problems, July 31, 2006

By 

Douglas Henderson (New York City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jackie Wilson: Lonely Teardrops (Paperback)

There is no doubt that Tony Douglas is a loyal Jackie Wilson fan. He has gone through extraordinary lengths to speak with the majority of the key role players in Jackie Wilson's life. However, the book is sloppily presented and filled with a number of glaring inaccuracies. For example, Elvis signed a picture of himself and Jackie, "You got yourself a friend for life." The picture is actually in the book. Yet, Douglas misquotes what Elvis wrote. There is no excuse for this. It calls into question other questionable passages by the author. In another part of the book, Douglas transcribes, "mark" instead of "mock." From the context, it was evident that the speaker meant and said the latter. In another display of sloppiness, Douglas repeatedly repeats certain passages throughout the book. One gets the impression that he thoroughly researched the topic, but just assembled, somewhat haphazardly, the information in the most convenient manner possible. I noticed that he seemed to take sides in the dispute over the Wilson estate. In all fairness, he should have quoted the other side's position, even if he disagreed with it. On the whole, because I was able to filter out the fiction from the non-fiction. In the interest of good taste and preserving Jackie's dignity, Douglas should have exercised his editorial powers and not included some rather disgusting quotes from those purportedly taking care of the incapacitated Wilson during his final days. In not doing so, Douglas commits an unpardonable crime. Unfortunately, most who read this book are not as well versed on Jackie Wilson's life to perform this task. Consequently, they will walk away with a jaundiced view of the greatest entertainer of the 20th century.