Bet you don’t know who Jackie Shane is.I didn’t know... until Toronto-based music writer David Dacks (an occasional commenter here at UBM) reached out.
Jackie Shane was a popular performer in Toronto’s R&B clubs during the 1960s. He was openly gay, and his flamboyant stage persona invited comparisons to Little Richard and Esquerita.
David Dacks worked on a radio documentary called “I Got Mine: The Story of Jackie Shane” for the CBC, Canada’s national broadcaster. This one-hour documentary airs today... and you can hear it streaming live on the Web at 3 p.m. Eastern Time.
[UPDATE (02/28/10): This was a great show! Turns out you have a couple more chances to hear it today. It’s re-playing at 3 p.m. in each time zone. So follow this link and look for “Inside the Music” in the “Listen Live” directory.]
Jackie Shane had only one hit single – “Any Other Way” (1963). To hear it on my Vox blog, click here. And to see the man in action with your very own eyes, check this:
This is weird. Maybe I haven't seen a an old performance in awhile. Just feels emotionless. Now, I have to go look up some more music.
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the title of this post I thought, "There was female Little Richard?" I really that Jackie Shane was a woman.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this piece of music history.
Wow! I can't believe that he got away with such flamboyance in 1963. He'd raise eyebrows even today. Still it was great to hear that old style of music.
ReplyDeleteJust a couple days ago I came across a post about Jackie on metafilter. This comment shed some light on what happened to her.
ReplyDeleteGood post UBM!
Oops - I see your first link quotes that comment! Anyhow, good post.
ReplyDeleteI read about Jackie & Esquerita over @ http://thehoundblog.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeletethis blog covers the blues/rock history pretty well.
Thanks for posting this UBM. Much to my surprise, CBC has already made this doc available for streaming. You can catch it here: http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/programs/insidethemusic/itm_listenagain/2010/03/01/i_got_mine_the_story_of_jackie_1.html
ReplyDeletelol the face of that person.....scary.
ReplyDeleteWell done, Dacks.
ReplyDeleteOne of the names mentioned regarding the Toronto music scene -- Dianne Brooks -- rang a bell. There's a P-Funk connection there.
She recorded a duet with George Clinton, the Motown cover "Every Little Bit Hurts," in the early '70s.
Hey, I wonder if that's a good subject for a radio doc... P-Funk's Toronto connection? Catfish Hodge told me about seeing George and Fuzzy Haskins playing chess in the lobby of Manta Sound to pass time during the recording of "America Eats Its Young."
around 1976/77 the "new mickey mouse club" recorded this song. i was listening to it one day, and my grandfather walked in and asked "girl, what the hell are you listening to?" then quickly put me on the right track re: mr. shane's version... :)
ReplyDeleteIf you'd like to be kept up to date with the attempts currently being made to organize a 70th birthday celebration for Jackie in Nashville mid-May, please visit http://www.jezebelmusic.com/6886/jackie-shane.
ReplyDelete^ He's alive? Awesome.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, Jeremy.
Jackie is alive and well -- please see my comment today at
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jezebelmusic.com/6886!