''Total Commitment'' is the eighth studio album by American rock and roll singer-songwriter Del Shannon, and his second for

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revival ...

, Released in October 1966. It includes multiple cover songs, including " Sunny", "

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", and " Time Won't Let Me", as well as the singles "Show Me" and " Under My Thumb", which reached number 128 on ''

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's''

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart and number 99 on the ''Cashbox'' singles chart.

Background

Liberty wanted to get Shannon back into the studio to record another album, and get another single or two in the mix. "What Makes You Run" and "I Can't Be True", both originals, "What Makes You Run" followed "Under My Thumb" in the sense of arrangement and instrumentation. He truly thought he had a winner with "Thumb" to be a hit." Dan Bourgoise reflected on the second batch of cover songs: "If Del never did cover songs, that would be one thing. But he was always one who would do a few cover songs on his albums... ewould find a song that he really liked that he thought he could add something to, to make it his own."

Critical reception

''Total Commitment'' received positive retrospective reviews. Bruce Eder of AllMusic said that "Total Commitment is almost a roots rock record compared with This Is My Bag, which preceded it, And even amid such classic compositions as 'Where Were You When I Needed You,' 'Time Won't Let Me,' and 'Summer in the City." Record Mirror called the album an "unpretentiously en-joyable Beat album". The Honolulu Advertiser stated that ''Total Commitment'' is soul supreme, "Under My Thumb" and "Sunny" are standout.

Track listing

Side one

Side two

Recording dates

* July 19, 1966 – " Under My Thumb", "She Was Mine", "Show Me" * July 26, 1966 – "What Makes You Run", "I Can't Be True", "

", "

The Pied Piper The Pied Piper of Hamelin (german: der Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany. The legend dates back to ...

", " Sunny", " Time Won't Let Me". * July 28, 1966 – " Summer in the City", "Where Were You When I Needed You" and " The Joker Went Wild"

References

{{Authority control 1966 albums Liberty Records albums Del Shannon albums