It's All Over: The OKeh Years, Vol. 1

by Walter Jackson

Overview

Born in Florida, where he was stricken with polio as a young child, Walter Jackson spent his young adulthood in Detroit, where he never let his need for crutches prevent him from performing whenever he could, and by the time Columbia Records signed him and relocated him to Chicago in the early '60s, Jackson had developed into a thoroughly professional singer with an incredibly controlled and emotive baritone. Placed on Columbia's OKeh subsidiary and given songs to work with from songwriters like the great Curtis Mayfield, Jackson quickly became the epitome of what was then called big-city soul, turning out records marked by strong production, orchestration, horns, and full massed backup vocals. His voice was so strong, however, that it easily became the central anchor in any production he was involved with, and there really is no singer in the history of soul, uptown or otherwise, quite like Walter Jackson. This wonderful set contains Jackson's complete debut album from 1965, It's All Over, with ten bonus tracks added in, and given the quality on display here, it is truly amazing that Jackson didn't enjoy more high chart action than he did. His voice and approach, which really had more in common with singers like Nat King Cole than the deep soul singers of the day, anticipates the so-called uptown soul movement by some three decades, and if soul singers can be said to croon, well, Jackson invented the technique. The It's All Over album was itself cobbled together from whatever singles and B-sides OKeh had on hand when Jackson's version of the title tune, Curtis Mayfield's gorgeous "It's All Over," went Top Ten on the R&B charts in 1965, but largely because of Jackson's huge, steady vocals, the album now seems much more unified in concept than it actually was. Not surprisingly, some of the best songs here were written by Mayfield, including the aforementioned "It's All Over," the brilliant "That's What Mama Say," and a pair of previously unreleased Mayfield gems, "It's Hard to Believe" and "Tell the World." It would be unfair to think of Jackson as simply a Mayfield interpreter, though, since whatever he sang he made completely his own. Nearly forgotten these days, Jackson is due for a rediscovery, and Kent seems committed to bringing his complete body of work back into print. It's All Over is a great start. ~ Steve Leggett

Product Details

Release Date:	06/27/2006
Label:	Kent
UPC:	0029667226325

Tracks

1. It's All Over
2. A Blossom Fell
3. That's What Mama Say
4. It Will Be the Last Time
5. Opportunity
6. I Don't Want to Suffer
7. There Goes That Song Again
8. What Would You Do
9. Lee Cross
10. Then Only Then
11. This World of Mine
12. Funny (Not Much)
13. The Heartbreak Hour
14. Anything Can Happen
15. Blue Rose
16. It's Hard to Believe
17. Starting Tomorrow
18. Don't Play with Love
19. Tell the World
20. You Gotta Give
21. The Heartbreak Hour
22. It's Hard to Believe

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Walter Jackson   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Curtis Mayfield   Producer,Composer
Tony Rounce   Liner Notes
Fred Johnson   Composer
John Marascalco   Composer
Walter Jackson   Composer
Lee Pockriss   Composer
Marcia Neil   Composer
Hughie Prince   Composer
Gerry Goffin   Composer
Frederick Tobias   Composer
Leroy Kirkland   Composer
Robert Luke Harshman   Composer
Sammy Cahn   Composer
Norman Gimbel   Composer
Howard Barnes   Composer
Dominic John   Composer
Harold Cornelius   Composer
Lockie Edwards, Jr.   Composer
Ivy Jo Hunter   Composer
Pearl Woods   Composer
Ted White   Composer
Philip Broughton   Composer
Jule Styne   Composer
Richard Wylie   Composer