Walter Jackson (March 19, 1938 – June 20, 1983) was an American

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

singer who had a string of hits on the US

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

between the mid-1960s and early 1980s. His biggest successes included "It's All Over" in 1964, "It's An Uphill Climb to the Bottom" in 1966 and "

Feelings Feelings are subjective self-contained phenomenal experiences. According to the ''APA Dictionary of Psychology'', a feeling is "a self-contained phenomenal experience"; and feelings are "subjective, evaluative, and independent of the sensations ...

", a cover of the

Morris Albert Maurício Alberto Kaisermann (born 7 September 1951), better known by his stage name Morris Albert, is a Brazilian singer and songwriter best known for his 1974 single "Feelings". Biography Albert was born into an Austrian immigrant family. At ...

pop hit, in 1976.

Life and career

He was born in Pensacola, Florida, United States, and raised in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

. As a child he became ill with

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

and, as a result, he used

crutch A crutch is a mobility aid that transfers weight from the legs to the upper body. It is often used by people who cannot use their legs to support their weight, for reasons ranging from short-term injuries to lifelong disabilities. History Crutc ...

es for the rest of his life. He first recorded as a member of a vocal group, the Velvetones, on the Deb label in 1959 before turning solo, singing in Detroit nightclubs. After failing an audition for Motown, he was discovered performing in a club by Columbia Records' A&R man,

Carl Davis Carl Davis, (born October 28, 1936) is an American-born conductor and composer who has lived in the United Kingdom since 1961. He has written music for more than 100 television programmes, but is best known for creating music to accompany si ...

, who was impressed with his powerful voice and persuaded him to move to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in 1962 and sign for the label. His first solo record, "I Don't Want To Suffer" was not a hit and, after a few more releases, he transferred to the subsidiary label,

OKeh Okeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name was spelled "OkeH" from the initials of Ott ...

, which Davis was running. There, Jackson had his first hit with "It's All Over", written by

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

and produced by Mayfield and Davis, which made no. 67 on the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1964. Davis continued to provide songs for Jackson from such writers as Mayfield and

Van McCoy Van Allen Clinton McCoy (January 6, 1940 – July 6, 1979) was an American musician, record producer, arranger, songwriter, singer and orchestra conductor. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful song " The Hustle". He has approximat ...

and he had a string of hits on the R&B chart in the mid-1960s, although none rose above the lower reaches of the pop chart. Among the most successful were "Suddenly I'm All Alone" (no. 13 R&B, no. 96 pop, 1965), "Welcome Home" (no. 15 R&B, no. 95 pop, 1965), "It's An Uphill Climb to the Bottom" (no. 11 R&B, no. 88 pop, 1966), and "Speak Her Name" (no. 22 R&B, no. 89 pop, 1967). Davis also promoted Jackson as an album artist and three LPs by him were released on OKeh – ''It's All Over'', ''Welcome Home'' (1965), and ''Speak Her Name'' (1966). The latter was produced by Columbia staff producer, Ted Cooper, following Davis' departure from the company. A greatest hits collection was also issued. He moved to Atlantic subsidiary

Cotillion Records Cotillion Records was a subsidiary of Atlantic Records (from 1971 part of WEA) and was active from 1968 through 1985. The label was formed as an outlet for pop, R&B, and jazz. Its first single, Otis Clay's version of "She's About a Mover", re ...

in the late 1960s and then on to the Brunswick label, with diminishing commercial success, with either Cooper or Davis producing. There were also short stays at Wand Records and small Chicago label, USA Records before, in the mid-1970s, he moved to Davis' new Chi Sound label and had one of his biggest hits with a version of Morris Albert's 1975 pop hit "Feelings". Jackson's version reached no. 9 on the R&B chart and no. 93 on the pop chart in 1976. The following year, his version of Peter Frampton's "

Baby, I Love Your Way "Baby, I Love Your Way" is a song written and performed by English singer Peter Frampton, released as a single in September 1975. It first featured on Frampton's 1975 album, '' Frampton'', where it segues from the previous track "Nassau". A ...

" reached no. 19 on the R&B chart, but later releases were less successful. Jackson died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1983 at the age of 45.

References

External links

Soul Cellar: Walter Jackson
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Walter 1938 births 1983 deaths American soul singers Musicians from Pensacola, Florida Okeh Records artists Singers from Florida 20th-century American singers People with polio Singers from Detroit 20th-century American male singers