When You Walk in the Room

Jackie Deshannon (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 27, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rockbeat Records
• ASIN: B0057OOPX2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,960 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Virtually all of the revisited Jackie DeShannon classics featured on this package are like mile markers on pops journey through the decades. When You Walk In The Room written by Jackie, and Needles And Pins written for Jackie by Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono, represent her early 1960s work. Jackie achieved a top ten hit in 1965 with her exquisitely soulful rendition of Burt Bacharach and Hal David s What The World Needs Now Is Love. The recording which earned three Grammy nominations, was a recent induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Jackie firmly established herself with a song of her own with Put A Little Love In Your Heart, bringing her another Best Contemporary Female Vocal Grammy nomination. Her work with Donna Weiss took DeShannon into the 80s with Bette Davis Eyes breaking Kim Carnes as a major artist of that decade and earned Jackie the 1982 Grammy Award for Song of the Year.

On this collection of revisited favorites, nothing but an acoustic guitar and bass- with splashes of strings and an electric guitar or two- are needed whenever a vocalist this expressive is involved.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sixties singer DeShannon provides stripped down versions of her hits and the ones she wrote for others. September 29, 2011

By Steven I. Ramm TOP 100 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

This has been a year of female singers from the sixties making comebacks. A few months ago it was a new album with new songs by Marianne Faithful. Now comes this new release by Jackie DeShannon on the newly formed Rock Beat label, a division od S'more Entertainment founded by former Rhino exec Arny Schorr. James Austin, former A&R man for Rhino co-produced the CD.

All of the 11 tracks on this album were either written, or co-written, by DeShannon. The exceptions are her hits "What The World Needs Now" (Bachrach-David) and the Jack Nitzsche-Sonny Bono penned "Needles and Pins". And the final track - "Will You Stay in My Life" - is a new DeShannon song, making it's debut here.

What makes this different than an "oldies" album is that the production is stripped down to just DeShannon, her voice and acoustic guitar, with accompaniment on a second acoustic guitar by Steve Luxenberg. (There is a bass and drums on a few of the tracks but these musicians are - surprisingly - not identified on the albums cover).

While it's hard not to hear DeShannon's original take on "Put A Little Love In Your Heart", the other tracks have a nice different feel. Listening to the DeShannon composition "Bette Davis Eyes" without Kim Carnes' coarse vocal makes the song "new". And DeShannon's slowed down version of "Breakaway" is a nice departure.

It's nice to have DeShannon back on the scene after all these years and the voice is still there - along with her writing chops. Like the Faithful CD I loved a few months ago, I'm glad to see these favs of mine from the sixties are still producing great music.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS THE TIMELESS TALENT OF JACKIE DeSHANNON September 27, 2011

By FAN OF THE GREAT STUFF

Format:Audio CD

With a rich, musically diverse catalogue of songs ranging from rhythm and blues to soft rock, Jackie DeShannon has proven herself to be one of the most accomplished and appealing female singer-songwriters, blazing a trail since her teen years in Kentucky for others to follow.

This album represents both a long-overdue return to the recording studio of a heritage artist that one critic has called "the Garbo of rock" and a wonderful re-imaging of ten of DeShannon's signature songs -- plus an evocative new composition ("Will You Stay In My Life"). The title track has been performed by everyone from British Invasion band The Searchers to Bruce Springsteen, but hearing Jackie reclaim "When You Walk In The Room" as her own -- delivered in an imtimate, stripped-down style -- is just about as honest and heartfelt as music gets.

The entire album is refreshingly simple -- Jackie's elegantly earthy vocals framed in clean, acoustic arrangements that allow the songs to shine in a straightforward glory. DeShannon classics such as "Put A Little Love In Your Heart," "Come & Stay With Me" (a hit for Marianne Faithfull) and "Bette Davis Eyes" (the Kim Carnes smash that earned Jackie and co-writer Donna Weiss a Grammy for Best Song) have never sounded more powerful yet in a personal way. The tender "Heart In Hand" (an early '60s success for Brenda Lee) and the folk-flavored "Don't Doubt Yourself Babe" (originally recorded by DeShannon allies The Byrds) are further revelations that are new to Jackie's recorded repertoire. She's turned the barnstorming belter "Breakaway" into a beautiful ballad while the bluesy "Bad Water" remains a testament to her Southern-born soulfulness.

The only selections not from DeShannon's songwriter pen are the Burt Bacharach-Hal David evergreen "What The World Needs Now Is Love," which made Jackie an international pop star when she released her original orchestral version in 1965. She was the first to record rock standard "Needles & Pins," written by her close musical associate Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono. Now, she revisits the song with the reflection and restrained intensity that only a mature and sensitive artist can deliver with real conviction.

It's reassuring to know that Jackie DeShannon was inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame in 2010 and that the Grammys have honored her substantial contribution to music. Now, it's time for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to step up -- as well as the legion of listeners who have been touched over the years by Jackie's songs -- DeShannon is back!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Intimate Jackie October 6, 2011

By Anonymous

Format:Audio CD

What a treat to get a new album from Jackie DeShannon! And this is the most intimate and stripped-down we've ever heard her. Jackie revisits her catalogue of hit songs (both for her and for other artists) and reimagines them in laid-back acoustic versions that really bring out the lyrics. It's like hearing her in your living room or in a small club. No auto-tune, no slick production - just Jackie, an acoustic guitar and occasional subtle textures of bass, percussion and electric guitar. All of the songs work to various extents in this new setting. When You Walk in the Room is the most "produced" of the tracks, with synth strings behind the acoustic guitars. But Jackie's vocal is upfront and vulnerable. The slow tempo turns the song from a youthful anticipation to a mature appreciation. Put A Little Love In Your Heart keeps the same mid-tempo pace as her original recording, but has a more country feel to it. Bette Davis Eyes is closer to Kim Carnes' arrangement than to Jackie's honky-tonk original, and the slowed-down arrangement gives it a simultaneous spooky and pretty feeling, as musically subversive as it is lyrically. Heart In Hand is a welcome surprise, and is given a nostalgic, schoolgirl reading that works wonderfully. Come And Stay With Me is one of the most successful reworkings. Of all the versions recorded over the years, by Jackie and others, this may be the best. The arrangement is contemporary and Jackie's vocals are strong. Don't Doubt Yourself Babe is also one of the strongest cuts here. The simple arrangement really bring out the excellent message of the lyrics, which was often lost in the Byrds' more frenetic version. Needles & Pins is probably the least successful track here, just because the slow tempo doesn't really match the feeling of the lyrics in my opinion. But it is still well-done. Breakaway is the most radical shift. The original was a breakneck dance number. Here it becomes a sad, resigned ballad. What the World Needs Now works great in its acoustic version, and Jackie's vocals are as soulful as ever. Bad Water is another surprise, and a great song. There are some hints of the Blues in this version, but I wish Jackie would have gone further in this direction, speeding the tempo up a notch and making it a bit tougher. But the highlight of the whole collection is definitely the sole new composition, Will You Stay In My Life. Thoroughly contemporary, this great song shows that Jackie doesn't need to rely on her past - she is still one of the best songwriters around. Here's hoping that we'll hear more NEW songs from Jackie in the near future.

In the past decade, Jackie has finally been getting the respect and credit she deserves for all her accomplishments over the past 5 decades. For fans, once you get past the sometimes radical reworkings of these old favourites, this is a collection you will not be able to stop listening to. Thank you Jackie for this intimate gift to your fans.