Wednesday, June 03, 2020

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

So for a variety of reasons, I have been listening -- obsessively of late -- to one of the great unheralded albums of our lifetime.

Del Shannon's posthumous -- produced by Tom Petty, Mike Campbell, and Jeff Lynne -- 1991 masterpiece Rock On.

Here's my critique of it from the Magazine Formerly Known as STEREO REVIEW.



In any event, I posted that on Facebook the other day and a friend sent me the link to this clip of Shannon on the Letterman show in 1987.



I think any objective person would have to concede that's one of the greatest rock-and-roll performances in the history of the music.

I mean seriously -- when Shannon did that, he had already performed "Runaway" more times than Judy Garland had done "Over the Rainbow," and yet he's absolutely not phoning it in.

Words fail me.

[h/t Trademark Dave]
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6 comments:

  1. John K6/03/2020 10:58 AM

    That's a great clip and, yes, Rock On! was really good. The desperation in Del's vocals is perfect for these desperate times.

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  2. elroy6/03/2020 1:19 PM

    Thanks for sharing that. That Late Night Letterman band was pretty good too...

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  3. FD13NYC6/03/2020 4:58 PM

    He was just great, and could have gone on. He was ready to be a Wilbury.

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  4. pete6/03/2020 8:39 PM

    That early-'60s white falsetto - DS, Lou Christie, Brian Hyland, et al - never fails.

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  5. Dave6/04/2020 12:34 AM

    Right you are, Pete. I'd also add Frankie Valli, Brian Wilson, and Jay Siegel of the Tokens.

    This is a wonderful clip of a performance I well remember.

    DF

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  6. Anonymous6/04/2020 3:23 AM

    That's a killer performance of one of the great rock & roll songs. Del's performance is strong, and the band are enjoying playing a classic with him.

    Thanks for reminding me about Rock On.

    - Paul

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