The Further Adventures Of Charles Westover by Del Shannon.

I had never heard of this album until a few days ago. A muso friend of mine who really knows his stuff read my review of Blossom Toes and suggested that if I wanted to hear another lost gem from that era then I should check out The Further Adventures Of Charles Westover by Del Shannon which was released in 1968. I looked on eBay and there was one copy available in Britain which I bought. It dropped through my letter box yesterday morning. I know what you are thinking, who the hell is Charles Westover? well that was Del Shannon’s real name. The CD which arrived was released in 1998 and as well as the original album it also contains eight bonus tracks. I think it is a British release because the liner notes include the address of the British fan club and all the photos in the booklet were taken in Britain. Del Shannon was always more popular in Britain than his native USA.

I had previously never bought a Del Shannon recording in my life. Everyone knows his great classic hits of the early 60’s though such as Runaway, Hats Off To Larry, Swiss Maid & Little Town Flirt. I remember seeing him on Top Of The Pops singing Keep Searchin’ which I think was his last UK hit in 1964. With the arrival of The Beatles & The Stones, Del Shannon and many other artists of his era entered the wilderness years. The Beach Boys & Bob Dylan were among the few American acts who could compete with the UK invasion. The Charles Westover album was an attempt to re-invent himself for the psychedelic era.

Thinkin’ It Over is the first track and it was released as a single in 1968. This CD was remastered from the original master tapes and I don’t know why, but it seems to make some of the backing orchestration sound fuzzy to me which put me off a bit. There isn’t that problem with any other track. Be My Friend is a bluesy song with great harmonica. Del’s vocals are different to what you would expect, there isn’t the falsetto singing we are used to. Silver Birch is an epic doom-laden song about a wedding that never took place. It is heavily orchestrated with trumpets and a choir. It could have been a bit longer I think. Shades of McArthur Park by Richard Harris maybe, or other great songs of the era. I Think I Love You is very psychedelic without being gimmicky. Del uses the sound of the time to illustrate the songs. Some music of the late 60’s was whimsical just for the sake of it, not so with this album. There are cellos and violins and driving guitars. The song seems to be a protest against bourgeois values. River Cool starts with nice guitar picking and then electronic keyboard but is one of the lesser songs in my opinion. Colour Flaming Hair  is a strange song about a night visitation with lush arrangements of violins which remind me of The Beatles or ELO. Gemini is another song which was released as a single without success. It is a great song though. Running On Back was the B-Side to a single. Maybe this song was slightly ahead of it’s time. It seems a little bit reminiscent of when psychedelic turned to underground rock. It is quite heavy with guitars, keyboards and drums. I like the false ending and the distortion. On first listen Conquer reminded me of the Bee Gees song To Love Somebody. It is a song about someone who is suffering with depression. That is a subject Del Shannon was well acquainted with. Been So Long was co-written with Brian Hyland. It is a rocker but isn’t that great. It grinds to a halt at the end. At the beginning of Magical Musical Box you can hear someone winding it up and then the music box playing. This is excellent, possibly my favourite track. It exactly captures the era in which it was recorded. Spacey vocals and violins in abundance make it a wonderful song. New Orleans brings the album to an epic conclusion. Dr John the Gris-Gris man came into my head on hearing this and Walk On Gilded Splinters. Maybe that is just the New Orleans connection though. There are all sorts of things going on in this song. I love it.

That brings the original album to an end but then there are eight bonus tracks. I must say I love Del’s version of What’s A Matter Baby. I have put it below if you want to hear it. It was originally a hit for Timi Yuro in the USA but I think Del’s version is just as good. All of the bonus tracks are great. Others I particularly like are the re-working of Runaway, The House Where Nobody Lives and You Don’t Love Me. Sadly, although the fans and the critics liked this album it didn’t restore Del Shannon’s fortunes and he never re-captured his glory days of the early 60’s when he topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. He slowly succumbed to alcoholism and depression and took his own life in 1990. I’m glad I got to hear this album  and although I don’t think it is one of the best albums ever, there are some great songs on it. It is well worth checking out if you haven’t heard it before.