JeansMusicBlog

Chuck Jackson was born July 22 (although other sources mention june 22 or even july 27), 1937 in Latta, South Carolina and was raised in Pittsburg.

He's relatively forgotten today, and his brand of uptown soul is dismissed by the relatively vocal clique of critics who prefer their soul deep and down-home. But Chuck Jackson was a regular visitor to the R&B charts (and an occasional one to the pop listings) in the early '60s with such early pop-soul concoctions as I Don't Want to Cry, Any Day Now and Tell Him I'm Not Home. His records were very much of a piece with New York pop/rock-soul production, with cheeky brass, sweeping strings, and female backup vocalists. Those production trills make his work sound dated to some listeners, and his hoarse, emotional vocals weren't as subtle or commanding as peers like Ben E King or Wilson Pickett. On its own terms, though, his best work is quite good, whether you prefer pop to soul or vice versa.

On the right a videoclip on which Chuck Jackson sings at an Burt Bacharach special, 1965.
He performs the Burt Bacharach song Any day now, which later on became a huge hit by Elvis Presley.
But Chuck performed the original and in my opinion the best version !!
Note Burt Bacharach playing the organ himself !

Jackson sang with one of the best doo wop groups, the Dell-Vikings, for a while in the late '50s (although he doesn't appear on their hit singles). Spotted by Scepter Records while performing with Jackie Wilson's Revue, he started recording for the label in 1961. As was the case with labelmates Dionne Warwick and the Shirelles, Jackson's early-'60s arrangements blended pop, R&B, and New York-session professionalism. Like Warwick, Jackson was one of the first singers to successfully record Bacharach-David material; one of his best singles, I Keep Forgettin (1962), was written and produced by Leiber-Stoller. Jackson had some success with some duets with Maxine Brown in the mid-'60s, but he left Wand in 1967 for Motown, at the urging of Smokey Robinson. Jackson was (perhaps understandably) lost in the shuffle during his four years at Motown, and he's barely been heard from since, although he remains a favorite on England's "Northern soul" scene and Belgium's "Popcorn" scene.

I offer you a 'Greatest hits' LP.
Though this LP only features a dozen tracks it more than makes up in quality what it lacks in quantity. Starting with the brilliantly bittersweet Any Day Now, this album features many of Jackson's definitive tracks, including singles like I Don't Want to Cry, a slightly more hopeful song, as well as his rendition of Since I Don't Have You, which remains one of the best uses of his emotionally powerful voice. Along with the melancholy strain that runs through most of Jackson's songs, there's also plenty of playfulness and drama, both exemplified on I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near) and Hand It Over. Chuck Jackson worked with some of the best songwriters of the early '60s and he does justice to Bacharach and David's thrilling I Wake Up Crying and The Breaking Point, as well as Goffin & King's Drifters-esque Make the Night a Little Longer and Tell Him I'm Not Home.

If you like my offer why not buy the following great 2 LP's on 1 CD issue's.
KENT CDKEND 107 (1993) which contains I Don't Want To Cry (1961) & Any Day Now (1963) or KENT CDKEND 110 (1994) which contains Encore (1963) & Mr Everything (1965).

Look in the comment for the LP and the video.

EDIT 2007_october_01.
Sadly the original Youtube video isn't available anymore but you can still get it via the comments...
EDIT 2008_february_12.
This great video is viewable again...... (as well as in the comments...)