The 2015 Real Gone Music anthology
All the Love: The Lost Atlantic Recordings brings together all of singer/songwriter
Jackie DeShannon's 1973 recordings for Atlantic. Best known for such hits as "What the World Needs Now" and "Put a Little Love in Your Heart,"
DeShannon was an adept performer whose career bridged the gap between the fun-loving pop of the '50s, the socially aware folk of the '60s, and the reflective country and soul of the '70s. These cuts are recordings
DeShannon made on the heels of her 1972 Atlantic debut,
Jackie. Produced by
Tom Dowd, the cuts have remained largely unreleased save for inclusions on the 2003 Rhino reissue of
Jackie. Here, we get all of her 1973 sessions with
Dowd, including four rarely heard compositions
DeShannon wrote with
Van Morrison, who also appears on the tracks. As with
Jackie, these sessions found
DeShannon and
Dowd continuing in a rootsy country and folk vibe, but also expanding their approach to encompass such sounds as blue-eyed soul, AM pop, and gospel.
Dowd had already helmed similar productions for such icons as
Aretha Franklin and
the Allman Brothers and here, he brought in songs by such like-minded talents a
Fleetwood Mac's
Christine McVie,
Bob Dylan, and longtime
DeShannon collaborator/songwriter
Donna Weiss.
Dowd,
DeShannon, and engineer
Keith Olsen also set aside some of the more grandiose production flourishes of
Jackie, such as orchestral strings, choosing instead a loose, soulfully fertile, small group approach accented by twangy guitars and a resonant, shimmery organ. While
DeShannon never had as robust a voice as contemporaries like
Dusty Springfield, or the commercial success of such similarly inclined artists as
Linda Ronstadt, she had a soft, earthy sweetness all her own, as evidenced on
All the Love: The Lost Atlantic Recordings. ~ Matt Collar