Soul crooner Walter Jackson was ‘60s Chicago soul at its sweetest. “He was the master of the love ballad,” noted Robert Pruter in his book Chicago Soul. Discovered by legendary producer Carl Davis when he was working in Detroit. Jackson’s soulful ballad stylings found him enjoying a string of hits in a period from 1965-67 including “It’s All Over,” “Suddenly I’m All Alone,” “Welcome Home,” “It’s an Uphill Climber to the Bottom” and “Speak Her Name.” Stricken with polio, while a youth, it never deterred Jackson, serving to make him more determined to pursue his musical career.
Born in Florida Jackson (3/19/38-6/20/83) was raised in Detroit. While in high school, his rich baritone voice leads various vocal groups. Having contracted polio, Jackson’ mobility was limited and he relied on the use crutches or a wheelchair. But that didn’t distract him from his positive outlook on life. “In fact, he viewed singing as a means to attract girls who might otherwise have chosen to ignore ‘the crippled kid,’” notes author David Cole. It was during this period he formed The Velvetones and recorded a lone single “Stars of Wonder” b/w “Who Took My Girl” on the Deb label. The Velvetones would go their separate ways after high school with Jackson embarking on a solo career on a circuit that took him from Detroit to Buffalo, New York to Cleveland, Ohio.
Performing back in Detroit at the Twenty Grand club he was heard by renowned record producer Carl Davis, who at the time was working as an A&R (Artist and Repertoire) man for Columbia Records. Impressed by his powerful rich baritone, Davis would convince Jackson to come to Chicago and record. Jackson accepted the invitation with Davis securing a deal with Columbia. Davis would mold Jackson’s ballad stylings with an R&B flavor. Initially, they missed the mark. Columbia would issue three singles that fell on deaf ears. Davis would then bring on Curtis Mayfield moving Jackson over to the more genre friendly Okeh label, scoring a hit with “It’s All Over” https://youtu.be/0nDQUy_9Obc which rose in the Cashbox R&B chart Top 10 in 1964.
Jackson, who would consider himself a pop performer rather than an R&B singer, went on with a string of hits including “Suddenly I’m Alive,” “Welcome Home” and “Funny;” crossing over in his middle-of-the-road styling. Davis would leave Columbia and move over to the Brunswick label where producer Ted Cooper would take over the reins and impart a more upbeat flavor to Jackson’s cabaret-style crooning, scoring another hit with “Uphill Climb to the Bottom.”
1967 “ended a remarkable three-year period for Jackson in which he, with his producers, created a formidable and enduring body of work that easily ranked with the best soul music of the day,” noted Pruter in Chicago Soul.
But musical styles were changing, and Jackson was unwilling to change with them. Cooper tried to push Jackson into a more aggressive rock sound. Jackson balked. Instead he chose to cover ballads such as “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” and “The Look of Love.” His career faded.
After a run of more than a dozen singles on Okeh, the label folded and Columbia re-assigned Jackson to their Epic label. He had a minor hit there with “Anyway That You Want Me,” but Epic was headed more into rock and Jackson didn’t fit. A move to the Atlantic Records subsidiary Cotillion didn’t fare much better, ending with similar results. Cotillion issued one single, shelving eight other songs he had recorded at Muscle Shoals as they were also moving into a rock direction.
Still, there was one man who continued to believe in Walter Jackson – Carl Davis! In 1973, with Davis now A&R Director for the Brunswick label, the two would be back working with each other and recording the single “Easy Evil” b/w “I Never Had It So Good.” After that release, Jackson fell out of sight for a number of years, rumored to be in ill health. But Carl Davis wouldn’t quit. And in 1976, with Davis now running his own Chi-Sound label, Jackson enjoyed a resurgence. His interpretation of Morris Albert’s “Feelings” reached #9 on the R&B charts, crossing over onto the pop charts. His follow-up, a take of Peter Frampton’s “Baby, I Love Your Way” also reached Top 20 on the R&B charts.
Davis, who from the beginning always believed Jackson was an “album artist,” having released three albums while with Okeh, and would release a half dozen more during his Chi-Sound days from 1976-81 including Feeling Good, I Want to Come Back as a Song, Good to See You, Send in the Clowns and Tell Me Where It Hurts.
While Jackson suffered from failing health, Davis was also suffering from lack of effective distribution for his Chi-Sound label. For a period, the label would be handled by 20thCentury Fox, then by United Artists. Still believing in Walter Jackson, Davis went back to Columbia licensing Jackson’s material to the label for release. But the label put no efforts behind promoting the records leaving Davis to issue one last Walter Jackson single on the Kelli-Arts label, another small independent label Davis had formed.
Sadly, Walter Jackson passed away in 1983 having suffered a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 45. Davis commemorated him with the posthumous release A Portrait of Walter Jackson. And since then numerous compilations of his work have been issued. Looking back, without Carl Davis, Walter Jackson may never have been able to enjoy the career he had. But, on the other hand, with Carl Davis, the continued revolving door of record labels Jackson may have never gotten the opportunity to become an even more popular recording artist than he was.
Discography
ALBUMS
1964 It’s All Over (Okeh 12107)
1965 Welcome Home: The Many Moods of Walter Jackson (Okeh 12108)
1966 Speak Her Name (Okeh 12120)
1976 Feeling Good (Chi-Sound/United Artists LA656)
1977 I Want to Come Back as a Song (Chi-Sound LA733)
1978 Good to See You (Chi-Sound LA844)
1979 Send in the Clowns (Chi-Sound/20thCentury Fox T586)
1981 Tell Me Where It Hurts (Columbia 37132)
1983 A Portrait of Walter Jackson (Chi-Sound CH-2009)
SINGLES
1962 I Don’t Want to Suffer b/w This World of Mine (Columbia 42528)
1963 Then Only Then b/w Starting Tomorrow (Columbia 42659)
1963 Opportunity b/w It Will Be the Last Time (Columbis 42823)
1964 It’s All Over b/w Lee Cross (Okeh 7204)
1964 That’s What Mama Say b/w What Would You Do (Okeh 7189)
1964 It’s All Over b/w Sloop Dance (Okeh 7204)
1965 Special Love b/w Suddenly I’m All Alone (Okeh 7215)
1965 Welcome Home b/w Blowin’ in the Wind (Okeh 7219)
1965 Where Have All the Flowers Gone b/w I’ll Keep on Trying (Okeh 7229)
1966 Funny (Not Much) b/w One Heart Lonely (Okeh 7236)
1966 It’s an Uphill Climb to the Bottom b/w Tear for Tear (Okeh 7247)
1966 After You There Can Be Nothing b/w My Funny Valentine (Okeh 7256)
1966 A Corner in the Sun b/w Not You (Okeh 7260)
1967 Speak Her Name b/w They Don’t Give Medals (To Yesterday’s Heroes) (Okeh 7272)
1967 Deep in the Heart of Harlem b/w My One Chance to Make It (Okeh 7285)
1967 My Ship is Comin’ In b/w A Cold, Cold Winter (Okeh 7295)
1967 Everything Under the Sun b/w Road to Ruin (Okeh 7305)
1968 The Bed b/w The Look of Love (Epic 10337)
1968 No Butterflies b/w Ad Lib (Epic 10408)
1969 Anyway That You Want Me b/w Life has It’s Ups and Downs (Cotillion 44053)
1971 The Walls That Separate Us b/w A Fool for You (USA 104)
1972 No Easy Way Out b/w I’m All Cried Out (Wand 11247)
1973 Easy Evil b/w I Never Had It So Good (Brunswick 55498)
1976 Feelings b/w Words (Are Impossible (Chi-Sound CH-XW908)
1976 Baby, I Love Your Way b/w What Would You Do (Chi-Sound CH-XW964)
1978 Good to See You b/w Manhattan Skyline (Chi-Sound SP-176) 12” single
1979 Magic Man b/w Golden Rays (Chi-Sound/20th Century Fox TC-2426)
1981 Tell Me Where It Hurts b/w When I See You (Columbia 02037)
1981 What If I Walked Out on You b/w Come to Me (Columbia 02294)
1982 If I Had a Chance b/w Touching in the Dark (Kelli-Arts 1006)