Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Jackie DeShannon got her start singing gospel at home and in church as a child in her native Kentucky, and then singing country songs in her teens on her own weekly radio show, followed by rockabilly in the late 1950s. But her career really started in full swing after she moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s and signed to Liberty Records and its song publishing arm, Metric Music, where she would write on her own as well as in collaboration with Sharon Sheely, Randy Newman, Jack Nitzsche, and Jimmy Page.

Best Of…1958-1980: Come and Get Me is a generous collection of Jackie DeShannon's biggest hits, important album cuts, and obscure non-LP singles. The keys to DeShannon's talent lie not only in her own songwriting and ability to handle non-originals as if they were her own compositions, but her versatility as a performer. DeShannon's arsenal of orchestrated pop, rockabilly, the Phil Spector-inspired girl group sound, soul, gospel, folk-rock, and country-pop is rivaled by few. She could also pull off sentimental ballads and was believable when in the singer/songwriter mode. There are many peaks in this anthology, including the proto folk-rock of "Needles and Pins" (written by Sonny Bono and Jack Nitzsche) and "When You Walk in the Room" (a sole composition from 1964 that sounds like a Byrds tune as carried out by the Ronettes), as well as the soulful rocker "It's Love Baby" (which features a hot guitar solo) and the initial recorded version of "Bette Davis Eyes" (co-written by DeShannon and later a number one hit for Kim Carnes). A 4,000-word essay by longtime fan Glenn A. Baker rounds out the package.

Jackie DeShannon’s status as a singer is assured. Her vocal range, diversity and skill, as exemplified by her original and stunning performances of ‘Needles And Pins’, ‘When You Walk In The Room’, Bacharach and David’s ‘What The World Needs Now Is Love’ and the generational anthem ‘Put A Little Love In Your Heart’, will be well known to readers of this article. But her status as a songwriter also deserves to be celebrated – something that Ace have done for us with this 27-track cracker, “Break-A-Way”.

Comprising performances of songs from the Ray Charles repertoire, the very belated release of what would have been the young Jackie’s first album, plus 13 rare bonus Liberty masters. Between October 1960 and July ’61, Jackie DeShannon released three Liberty singles which, although excellent performances, had not dented the US Hot 100. So it was a major leap of faith for the company to book Jackie into Fine Recording Studios in New York with producer Clyde Otis to record an album of songs written by or closely associated with Ray Charles. Once completed, Liberty scheduled the release of her “Hits Of The Genius” LP in January 1962. However, in November 1961, not long after Jackie’s sessions, Bobby Darin also recorded an album’s worth of Ray Charles songs. When Atlantic Records announced the release of “Bobby Darin Sings Ray Charles”, this effectively put the kibosh on Liberty’s plans.

2011 collection from the American singer/songwriter. The success of the Complete Jackie DeShannon Singles Vol. 1 would have prompted a follow-up even if we hadn't already been planning one. Singles Vol. 2 picks up from where that ended. It moves US from the end of 1964 to early 1967, with Jackie moving from Liberty to it's sister label Imperial and expanding her musical horizons in all sorts of ways. 1964-66 was Jackie's most successful period in terms of overall chart profile, and it's during these years that some of her biggest hits like 'What the World Needs Now Is Love' and 'When You Walk in the Room' made their vinyl debuts. They and others of comparable quality are here in this collection of 26 tracks. Ace.

2009 collection of digitally remastered recordings from the ultra-talented singer and songwriter. With the looks and voice of an angel and the songwriting chops that equaled those of her contemporaries, DeShannon was one of the most talented artists to emerge in the '60s. While her songwriting has been celebrated over the years, her original recordings have often been overlooked. This first volume of her original singles issued on the Liberty label will hopefully set the record straight! 26 tracks including 'When You Walk in the Room', 'Heaven Is Being with You', 'Needles And Pins', '500 Miles' and many more. Ace.

UK collection from the Pop singer/songwriter. Keep Me in Mind completes our reissue program of the singles recorded by Jackie DeShannon for the Liberty and affiliated Imperial labels. Jackie spent 10 mostly glorious years at the company, recording everything from folk-rock and R&B to Bacharach sophistication and beyond. The first two volumes of our series covered the years 1960 to 1967 and comprised 100% mono single mixes. This third volume takes US into the stereo era. Tracks 1 to 18 are mono, the rest are stereo, mirroring how the singles were released at the time. The set commences with the endearingly kooky 'Changin' My Mind' and concludes with a previously unissued edit of Jackie's reading of Leonard Cohen's 'Bird on the Wire', a cancelled single from 1970. In between are included such self-penned gems as 'I Keep Wanting You', 'Nicole', 'Laurel Canyon', 'Mediterranean Sky' and Jackie's signature song 'Put a Little Love in Your Heart', plus her versions of the Bands' 'The Weight', Bobby Womack's 'What Is This' and John Sebastian's 'Didn't Want to Have to Do It', another cancelled single. Ace.

Two shiny silver discs of newly discovered recordings from the legendary singer-songwriter when she was performing country music under her birth name, Sherry Lee Myers. Recorded by her mother directly from the radio! Includes three non-LP bonus tracks. Two honky tonk platters of newly discovered recordings from the legendary singer-songwriter when she was performing country music under her birth name, Sherry Lee Myers. Recorded by her mother directly from the radio! You probably know the great Jackie DeShannon as the California-based pop singer who in the 1960s, when America seemed to be coming apart at the seams, proclaimed that “What the World Needs Now Is Love” and urged us all to “Put a Little Love in Your Heart.”

It takes a few spins to understand, and it is one of this prolific singer's many, many recordings, but when you spend some quality time with You Know Me, it starts unraveling its secrets in ways that only a truly great recording can. "Any Heart" is pure power, with the band weaving textures around Jackie DeShannon's distinctive vocal, the guitar relentless as it sustains the wall of sound. A true labor of love, few artists can produce a song this strong, and the fact that it follows three equally powerful compositions is evidence of the majesty that sweeps across all 14 tracks. "Steal the Thunder" opens the album with authority – the resonating grandeur Eric Carmen's "Hungry Eyes" contained, with a better hook. DeShannon places everything in perfect order, the vocal gliding over a groove that is rock-solid. "Wing Ryder" changes the pace, and you get the idea that this major songwriter is building an album more complex than Carole King's Tapestry – sheer art for art's sake. It ebbs and flows with an elegance younger musicians are too impetuous to seek out. The keyboards and guitars in "Wing Ryder" fuse styles that Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles were employing.

This exciting set from Real Gone Music gathers all of singer-songwriter Jackie DeShannon's rootsy, soulful material from her short period on the Capitol label from 1970-1971, encompassing her sessions at Chips Moman's American Studios and more, and including five previously unreleased tracks.

Jackie DeShannon's work is actually too diverse to be satisfactorily captured on an anthology, even one that includes 28 tracks, as this one does. Still, considering how hard the one DeShannon anthology that might be better than this one is to find (the Australian import Pop Princess), this has to be cited as the recommended first purchase. Focusing on her output for Liberty between 1959 and 1970, it has all the essentials: her two Top Ten hits, the minor hits like "A Lifetime of Loneliness," and the original versions of "Needles and Pins" and "When You Walk in the Room," and a host of fine girl group, ballad, folk-rock, and singer/songwriter flop singles. From the collector's viewpoint, the most interesting songs are the rarities. The six previously unreleased tracks include the exuberant "Breakaway," a hit for Irma Thomas; the rocker "Dream Boy," cut in 1964 in Britain with Jimmy Page on guitar; and a cover of Tim Hardin's "Reason to Believe." A couple of interesting rarities are "For Granted" (from the little-seen movie C'mon, Let's Live a Little) and the 45 version of "Splendor in the Grass," a somewhat sloppy folk-rock performance on which DeShannon was backed by the Byrds.

Rockin' Bones: 1950's Punk & Rockabilly is a 2006 4CD box set focusing on the roots of rock & roll through rockabilly and the attitude involved that helped to form what became punk rock. This was released by Rhino.

Tunesmith: The Songs Of Jimmy Webb is a 2CD 2003 compilation from Australia honoring the music and songwriting of Jimmy Webb. Raven Records made this.