George Jackson (songwriter)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

George Jackson
Birth nameGeorge Henry Jackson
Also known asBart Jackson
Born(1945-03-12)March 12, 1945
R&B, soul, rock, pop
Occupation(s)Songwriter, singer
Years active1963–2000s
LabelsPrann, Goldwax, Hi, Decca, Fame, MGM, Malaco, Hep Me

George Henry Jackson (March 12, 1945 – April 14, 2013) was an American blues, rhythm & blues, rock and soul songwriter and singer. His prominence was as a prolific and skilled songwriter; he wrote or co-wrote many hit songs for other musicians, including "Down Home Blues," "One Bad Apple", "Old Time Rock and Roll" and "The Only Way Is Up". As a southern soul singer he recorded fifteen singles between 1963 and 1985, with some success.

Biography

Jackson was born in

James Carr, and recorded with Dan Greer as the duo George and Greer. After the Ovations split up in 1968, he recorded briefly for Hi Records, and also for Decca using the pseudonym Bart Jackson.[3][6] As a singer, he had a versatile tenor that was influenced by Sam Cooke, and released many records over the years, for a host of different labels, but his recordings never made him a star.[7]

At the suggestion of record producer

Muscle Shoals in the late 1960s, Alabama, where he wrote for leading singers including Clarence Carter – whose "Too Weak To Fight" reached no.13 on the pop chart and no.3 on the R&B chart in 1968 – Wilson Pickett, and Candi Staton. Some of Jackson's songs for Staton, including her first hit in 1969, "I'd Rather Be An Old Man's Sweetheart (Than A Young Man's Fool)", are "widely regarded as examples of some of the finest southern soul ever recorded by a female artist, with lyrics that were full of meaning and innuendo, a hallmark of Jackson's best work."[3] Jackson also recorded for Fame Records, and had his first chart success as a singer in 1970 with "That's How Much You Mean To Me", which reached no. 48 on the R&B chart.[5] The Osmonds visited the FAME studio in 1970, and heard and liked Jackson's song "One Bad Apple", which he had originally written with The Jackson 5 in mind.[6] The Osmonds recorded the song, and it became the group's first hit, rising to the top of the Hot 100 in February 1971; it also reached no.6 on the R&B chart.[5]

In 1972 he briefly rejoined the Hi label, and had his second and last solo recording success with "Aretha, Sing One For Me", an

Billboard dance chart, in 1988.[8][10]

In 1983, Jackson formed his own publishing company, Happy Hooker Music, before joining Malaco Records as a staff songwriter.[6] There he wrote hits for Johnnie Taylor, Bobby Bland, Latimore, Denise LaSalle, and Z.Z. Hill.[1][4] He recorded an album of his own songs, Heart To Heart Collect, in 1991 for Hep' Me Records.[3][4] In 2011, a compilation CD of his FAME recordings, Don't Count Me Out, was released.[2]

Jackson died on April 14, 2013, at his home in Ridgeland, Mississippi, from cancer at the age of 68. He left a son and two grandchildren.[1]

Samples and interpolations

In 2018 Kanye West sampled "I Can't Do Without You" in the song "Come Back Baby" on Pusha T’s album Daytona. In 2000 Ghostface Killah sampled "Aretha, Sing One for Me" in the song "Child's Play" on the album Supreme Clientele.

Discography

Albums

  • 1991 : Heart To Heart Collect
  • 2002 : George Jackson in Muscle Shoals
  • 2006 : What Would Your Mama Say
  • 2009 : In Memphis 1972–77
  • 2010 : All Because Of Your Love
  • 2011 : Don't Count Me Out: The Fame Recordings (Volume 1)
  • 2012 : Let the Best Man Win: The Fame Recordings (Volume 2)
  • 2013 : Old Friend: The Fame Recordings (Volume 3)

References

  1. ^ a b c d "George H. Jackson Obituary", Clarion Ledger, 18 April 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2013
  2. ^ a b c The Independent, George Jackson: Songwriter who penned hundreds of soul, rock and r'n'b tunes, 23 April 2013. Retrieved April 26, 2013
  3. ^ a b c d Colin Larkin, The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, "George Jackson Biography", reprinted at oldies.com. Retrieved April 26, 2013
  4. ^ a b c Biography by Ed Hogan at Allmusic.com. Retrieved April 26, 2013
  5. ^ a b c Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–1995. Record Research. p. 215.
  6. ^ a b c George Jackson at Malaco Records Archived April 4, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 26, 2013
  7. ^ Martin Goggin interview with George Jackson, Juke Blues No. 50
  8. ^
    ISBN 0-89820-155-1
    .
  9. ^ New York Times, George Jackson, Rock Songwriter, Dies at 68, 15 April 2013. Retrieved April 26, 2013
  10. ISBN 0-00-717931-6
    .

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Jackson_(songwriter)&oldid=1218511004"