GEORGE, SING ONE FOR ME

but unfortunately George Jackson doesn’t sing live anymore.  He passed away on Sunday, April 14 in 2013, at 68.  The cause was a throat cancer, for which he had been receiving treatment for almost one year. 

I talked to George over the phone many times, and he always left an impression of a friendly and kind, sort of easy-going fellow. 

Although never receiving the status of a super-star, George Jackson is and always will be one of the best writers in popular music.  He has written thousands of songs, and without exception they stand out; and they’ve stood the test of time.

Besides composing, George was also great at interpreting songs.  His pleading and soulful voice is in its own way distinctive and easily recognizable, and he always charged his songs with a lot of emotion, soul.

I did my first feature on George almost twenty years ago, in 1994 - of course, some new information has been unearthed since – and the story of his career at that point, in his own words is available here: George Jackson Interview 1994

Fortunately, Ace/Kent in the U.K. in recent years have done a great job by releasing George’s less-known recordings and demos, many of which were actually finished.  My review and George’s comments on the CD, In Memphis 1972-77, can be found at http://www.soulexpress.net/deep110.htm#georgejackson.

Another U.K. label, Soulscape, released in 2010 a CD entitled, All Because Of Your Love, a collection of masters and demos that George cut at Muscle Shoals Sound in the 70s, and he comments on some of them at http://www.soulexpress.net/deep310.htm#georgejackson.

Finally, George talks shortly about some songs on a Kent compilation called Don’t Count Me Out/The Fame Recording, vol.1 at http://www.soulexpress.net/deep1_2012.htm#georgejackson.

R.I.P. George Jackson!

Heikki Suosalo