Only three four five days late....
There's a good chance that had Tom Petty not produced the album this week's tune is featured on that I never would have heard it (and, Lord, what a shame that would have been). Petty was hitting his stride as an artist at the time, having back-to-back top ten albums. I'd become a huge fan in 1979 so it was only natural that I'd be drawn to any project with which he was involved. Petty nailed his producer role--the album as a whole was terrific; sadly I was one of the few who ever heard it....
When I jotted down Del Shannon for this week's featured post two or three years ago, little did I know that I would be in the midst of having been listening to Shannon's early hits for the past two months (wonderful talent--pretty sure there's at least one more Shannon tune coming....). Shannon--a Michigan native--began his musical career in 1954 in a band while he was in the army. He returned home and took on some regular jobs while continuing to play in bands around Battle Creek, Michigan. He was signed to a record contract in 1960 and had his first (and biggest) hit the next year. He had several hits throughout the sixties, but his musical fortunes began to fade in the seventies (much of it due to alcoholism). He went through rehab, sobered himself up, made the record with Petty, and toured throughout the eighties. Sadly, he was working on a new album and planning a tour when he took his own life in 1990 (a bad reaction to a prescribed drug may have played a part). Shannon was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. He released twelve albums during his lifetime and had three more LPs released after his death. He also released thirty-nine singles, with one of them hitting #1 and two more reaching the top ten.
Kind of Sad Fact: Rumor had it that Shannon was being considered for Roy Orbison's spot (Orbison had died of a heart attack) in the Traveling Wilburys when he committed suicide.
"Drop Down and Get Me" was on Shannon's 1981 comeback album, amazingly enough also entitled Drop Down and Get Me. The song was not released as a single (it should have been!), while the album, which was the last original music released in his lifetime, peaked at #123. As an aside, Shannon did a killer version of Phil Phillip's "Sea of Love" on the album, which reached #33 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.
Since Tom Petty produced it and the Heartbreakers were Shannon's backing band, it's not a stretch to say that "Drop Down and Get Me" is a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' song sung by Del Shannon (Shannon did write it, though). Nothing wrong with that! From the jangly guitars at the opening, to the "ooh oohs" in the backing vocals, to the guitar solo (Hello, Mike Campbell!) Tom Petty signed, sealed, and delivered (to steal a phrase) this one. However, let it be said that Del Shannon (who has a distinct falsetto) absolutely killed the vocals--impassioned and defiant, with all the courage of a man staring down his demons while giving his all for just one more shot. And forty-three years down the road it sounds every bit as good as it did when I was a twenty-two-year-old who was falling madly in love with rock and roll.
Lyric Sheet: (In a rarity, I was unable to find lyrics for this one, so be warned I'm notoriously bad at hearing lyrics--which is why I'm a devotee of lyric sheets....) "Well, they tell me there is a heaven/They could be right 'cause I know there's a hell/I've been living too long without you/I know a lot but I'll never tell..."
Enjoy:
Republicans = Nazis
Peace,
emaycee
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