Gedi's Artist Spotlight - Freddie Jackson

 

Originally put together for the Soulful Sounds Show with the two idiots back in 2013. While the show was conceived and put together by Steve King he was kind enough to let me take control with this. The  idea being to concentrate on a given singer or groups work.

The format was simply in terms of three x three IE: three tracks across three fifteen minute segments; these were then incorporated into a three hour show. What you hear is all three segments edited together (45 minutes in total).

01: Freddie Jackson - Rock Me Tonight (For Old Time Sake)  
02: Freddie Jackson – Love Me Down
03: Freddie Jackson – I Don’t Wanna Go
04: Freddie Jackson – Have You Ever Loved Somebody
05: Freddie Jackson – Hold On Me
06: Freddie Jackson – Say Yeh  
07: Freddie Jackson – Tasty Love
08: Freddie Jackson – Could Use A Little Love
09: Freddie Jackson – Will You Be There

Jackson was born October 2, 1956, in Harlem, and like so many soul stars, he was trained as a gospel singer from an early age, singing at the White Rock Baptist Church. There he met Paul Laurence, who would later become his producer and song writing partner. After completing school, Jackson joined Laurence's group LJE (Laurence-Jones Ensemble) and played the New York club scene. During the early '80s, Jackson moved to the West Coast and sang lead with the R&B band Mystic Merlin, but soon returned to New York to work with Laurence at the Hush Productions company. He sang on demo recordings of Laurence's compositions, and also served as a backup singer for Melba Moore after she caught his nightclub act.

Rock Me Tonight In 1985, Jackson landed a record deal with Capitol and issued his debut album, Rock Me Tonight. The Laurence-penned title track stormed the R&B charts, spending a whopping six weeks at number one, and made Jackson an instant sensation on urban contemporary radio. "You Are My Lady" gave him a second straight R&B chart-topper, and also proved to be his highest-charting single on the pop side, peaking at number 13. With "He'll Never Love You (Like I Do)" and "Love Is Just a Touch Away" also hitting the R&B Top Ten, Rock Me Tonight topped the R&B album charts and went platinum. Jackson wasted no time issuing a follow-up set; Just Like the First Time appeared in 1986 on the heels of a number one R&B duet with Melba Moore, "A Little Bit More" (from her album A Lot of Love). Another platinum-seller, Just Like the First Time continued Jackson's incredible dominance of the R&B singles charts; "Tasty Love," "Have You Ever Loved Somebody," and "Jam Tonight" all hit number one, while "I Don't Want to Lose Your Love" went to number two.

Don't Let Love Slip Away The pace of Jackson's success slowed to less superhuman levels with the 1988 release of Don't Let Love Slip Away, which nonetheless featured another R&B chart-topper in "Hey Lover," plus further hits in "Nice and Slow" and "Crazy (For Me)." The title track of 1990's Do Me Again duplicated that feat, and "Main Course" just missed, topping out at number two. Even so, Jackson's early placings in the lower reaches of the pop Top 40 had long since disappeared, and some critics charged that his albums were growing too similar to one another. Perhaps it was a lack of distinctiveness in his material that hurt Jackson's chances for a pop breakthrough; whatever the case, 1992's Time for Love failed to duplicate the crossover success Luther Vandross was belatedly enjoying, despite a hit cover of the soul classic "Me and Mrs. Jones."

Here It Is seeking a new beginning, Jackson parted ways with Capitol in late 1993, and signed with RCA. His label debut, Here It Is, appeared the following year, with diminished commercial returns in part because his straightforwardly romantic ballad style was increasingly out of step with the sexually explicit new breed of R&B crooner. Following a Christmas album, Jackson recorded Private Party (1995) for Scotti Brothers; its biggest single, "Rub Up Against You," reached the Top 25 of the R&B chart. From then on, Jackson recorded independent albums with a modest level of commercial success. These releases included Life After 30 (number 81 R&B, 1999), It's Your Move (number 45 R&B, 2004), the covers set Personal Reflections (did not chart, 2005), Transitions (number 26 R&B, 2006), and For You (2010).


Comments