Jackie De Shannon Puts Palm Desert In Her Heart

Jackie De Shannon is one of the most talented singer-songwriters of the 1960's era, who is still going strong in 2011.

Besides writing hits like "Put A Love In Your Heart," "When You Walk In The Room," and "Bette Davis Eyes" (which earned her two Grammy awards in 1982) Jackie toured with the Beatles in 1964, acted in movies and wrote hits for many of the top artists of the '60s and '70s era including Randy Newman, Van Morrison, Lesley Gore, and Marianne Faithfull to name a few.

Jackie De Shannon is a vital, gifted songstress whose voice and musical raison d'etre continue to flourish after 50 years of being a woman in the record business who can write, sing, and produce her own records.

"Back in the '60s, they didn't know what to do with me" Jackie jokes on the phone with me. "I was doing what Carole King, Carly Simon, and Joni Mitchell all did after me I was just very early to the party."

Jackie laughs with that honeysuckle Kentucky drawl that you hear in many of Jackie's sweet vocals like "What The World Needs Now Is Love" and "Brighton Hill."

This month, Jackie released her newest CD collection, "When You Walk In The Room," a tribute to her own vast song catalog redone as acoustic pop songs with just guitar and piano backing on most of the tracks.

"I wanted to revisit my past as a songwriter," Jackie told me, adding, "but I wanted to reinvent some of these songs in a whole new way." 

The new CD includes reworkings of "Put A Little Love In Your Heart," "Breakaway," "Needles and Pins" and "Bette Davis Eyes." Jackie's voice sounds as ebullient and evocative as ever on the collection, which she produced with Glen Matisoff, who also engineered the project.

Jackie was picked by the Beatles to accompany them on their first ever tour of the United States in 1964, as she was fresh off the success of "Needles and Pins" and "When You Walk In The Room" which the British group The Searchers had big hits with. Jackie was an EMI records label-mate of the Fab Four as well.

"I had such fun on the tour. Of course, all the kids wanted to see the Beatles so we had to keep our sets short. But I got to expose my music to a huge audience that summer!"

Jackie even spent some down with the Beatles back stage, playing Monopoly with George Harrison (see attached photo) and teaching John Lennon the guitar licks in "When You Walk In The Room." Even Bruce Springsteen covered that tune in his live show.

Jackie De Shannon lives with her husband Randy Edelman, one of Hollywood's most talented film composers in Beverly Hills. The two have been together over 35 years and have a grown son, Noah who works in the entertainment business.

"I am so proud of him. He even takes the time to manage my career when I need it," says a proud Mom Jackie. Jackie has kept very busy in recent years and she and Randy love to visit Palm Desert often and use the time "to breakaway from the L.A. scene," says Jackie. 

"You know in Hollywood it's the I, me, mine show a lot of the time and when Randy and I are in the desert it's slow, easy, and very spiritual. Just what we like to regroup. After a few days, we feel so relaxed, we always say, let's stay here longer ... but work usually pulls one or both of us back home to Los Angeles."

I will say that my favorite spa is at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in nearby Rancho Mirage and I love shopping at El Paseo. I love that there's a Saks Fifth Avenue in the desert with a completely different feel than the one in Beverly Hills. It's the best of both worlds coming here."

Jackie also tells me she loves stopping off at Hadley's Fruit Orchards on the way to Palm Desert for a pack of dried apricots or some of their natural cereals.

"I guess from living in Laurel Canyon in the '60s I got on the health food bandwagon early and I am still riding that train," Jackie says,
"but don't think I don't have a date shake once in awhile."

Visit Jackie's web site at: JackieDeShannon.com.