Jackie DeShannon

Technically speaking, this very rare LP is unreleased. In the mid-1960s, DeShannon recorded at least five albums of demos for Metric Music, almost certainly intended for circulation among publishers and the music business, whether to solicit cover versions or just to make her songwriting better known in general. All five of those albums are listed, with catalog numbers and tracks, in the discography of the liner notes to the EMI CD What the World Needs Now Is...Jackie DeShannon: The Definitive Collection. This LP is given the date of May 27, 1965 in the discography; whether that means it was recorded on that date or pressed on that date is not known. In any case, it's a very interesting recording for DeShannon fans and also for folk-rock scholars, as it contains solo acoustic guitar versions of a dozen tunes with a definitive folk bent. Included among the material are unplugged versions of songs that are more familiar in studio versions, by other artists, or DeShannon herself: "It's Gonna Be All Right" (retitled "Don't Doubt Yourself, Babe" and covered on the Byrds' first album), "With You in Mind" (covered by Marianne Faithfull), and "Splendor in the Grass" (redone by DeShannon). DeShannon was rapidly maturing as a writer at this point, delving into far more serious and introspective moods, and more ambitious wordplay, on efforts like "What's It All About," "New Thoughts," and "To Be Myself." Musings on finding a new identity or attempting to make sense of the world abound on these songs in particular, although others are tempered with the pop romanticism more typical of her output during the mid-1960s. It sounds as though DeShannon was extremely influenced by Bob Dylan and other Greenwich Village folkies at this particular juncture, and this session seems to be an attempt to incorporate much of that sensibility into her own writing. In truth it could often do with more of the melodic hooks DeShannon's pop outings boasted. Too, the production is basic (as would be expected from demos) and the execution occasionally a tad unpolished. Still, the singing is usually excellent and heartfelt, and the composing is interesting and sometimes exciting. Also, the very existence of this document is an intriguing peek into how folk was impacting performers such as DeShannon to form a folk-rock style. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide