WALTER JACKSON

For twenty years, Walter Jackson's mellifluous baritone graced the Chicago soul scene.

He was born in Pensacola, Florida, on March 19, 1938, and grew up in Detroit. Jackson contracted polio as a child and had to use crutches for the rest of his life. In the Motor City, he recorded as a group member of the Velvetones for the tiny Deb label in 1959. He also auditioned (unsuccessfully) for Motown and recorded (also without success) for Columbia Records until Carl Davis, the Artists & Repertoire man at Columbia’s Rhythm & Blues subsidiary, OKeh, caught up with Jackson.

Looking for new talent, Davis had wandered into a Detroit piano bar one night in 1962. He remembered, “This young man came out on these crutches, and I was a little taken aback. Then he began to sing and I realized that in his mind, he wasn’t handicapped. You got so caught up in his delivery, you never saw the crutches!”

Davis instantly decided to bring his new discovery back to Chicago with him. Davis then caught up with the Windy City’s hottest young songwriter, Curtis Mayfield, and asked him to meet with Walter. Mayfield remembered Jackson as “a warm and down-to-earth person. Carl Davis asked me to write and produce some things for Walter. One of my favorite productions was ‘It’s All Over’.”

Also instrumental in Jackson’s sound was singer/songwriter/guitarist Billy Butler, who recalled, “The first time I saw Walter was in the studio...and it was mesmerizing. Walter was a very polished, very professional, no-nonsense singer. At the most, he might take five takes. He had some great pipes!”

Per Carl Davis, “Walter was a handsome young man. I remember he was onstage once—he had a way of dropping down on his crutches and catching himself. And the audience went ‘Aaaaaahhh!!!’”

When Jackson appeared on Sammy Davis, Jr’s TV show, Sammy walked into the green room and told his producer, “Go to a station break or something. I’m not going on after that young man.” Some thirty years after he had produced Jackson, Carl Davis met Luther Vandross, who told him, “Walter Jackson was my favorite singer!”

After OKeh, Jackson went on to record for several other labels with little success. He even left the music business for three years before reuniting with Carl Davis for a soulful remake of Morris Alpert’s “Feelings.” It became Jackson’s biggest hit, reaching #9 on the R&B chart in 1976.

Walter Jackson, 45, died of a cerebral hemorrhage on June 20, 1983.

Charted singles:

“That’s What Mama Say” (1964) R&B #44
“It’s All Over” (1964), R&B #10, Pop #67
“Suddenly I’m All Alone” (1965) R&B #13, Pop #96
“Welcome Home” (1965) R&B #15, Pop #95
“It’s an Uphill Climb to the Bottom” (1966) R&B #11, Pop #88
“After You There Can Be Nothing” (1966) R&B #40, Pop #130
“A Corner in the Sun” (1966) R&B #46, Pop #83
“Speak Her Name” (1967) R&B #22, Pop #89
“Deep in the Heart of Harlem” (1967) R&B #43, Pop #110
“Anyway That You Want Me” (1969) R&B #37, Pop #111
“It Doesn’t Take Much” (1973) R&B #91
“Feelings” (1976) R&B #9, Pop #93
“Baby, I Love Your Way” (1977) R&B #19
“It’s All Over” (New version, 1977) R&B #75
“If I Had My Way” (1978) R&B #68
“Tell Me Where It Hurts”(1981) R&B #19
“If I Had a Chance” (1983) R&B #83