In 1977, radio listeners switching the dial might've thought they heard a "Say You Love Me"-like tune by
Christine McVie. It was
Jackie DeShannon performing her original composition "Don't Let the Flame Burn Out" from her album
You're the Only Dancer. Producer
Jim Ed Norman puts her in a
Jackson Browne/
James Taylor setting, far removed from her work with
Burt Bacharach,
Helen Reddy producer
Joe Wissert, and the late
Jack Nitzsche.
Norman puts the sweet sterling voice atop songs that
the Eagles could have written, "Your Love Has Got a Hold on Me," for example.
DeShannon co-wrote that tune with Dean MacDougall, and it sounds tailor-made for country radio.
DeShannon covers
Hugh Prestwood's "Dorothy" -- yet another Wizard of Oz-inspired tune --
Larry Gatlin's "Try to Win a Friend," and even the
Parker McGee/
Steve Gibson song "I Just Can't Say No to You." Anything
Jackie DeShannon touches always has a touch of class, and her interpretation of
the Bee Gees' classic "To Love Somebody" is listenable, it just isn't as inviting as her own material, like "Tonight You're Doin' It Right," which closes out this LP. Without the adult contemporary gloss of
Randy Edelman producer
Michael Stewart, so essential to
DeShannon's 1975 release,
New Arrangement,
DeShannon sounds like she's having fun experimenting with the sparse West Coast feel of this disc.
You're the Only Dancer is not the best Jackie Deshannon, but it is an important chapter in her legacy.