Del Shannon Dublin Sessions

The holy grail for Del fans!

Del Shannon was a consistent hit maker in the early 1960's. Beginning with a #1 smash in ''Runaway,'' he continued the chart run with songs like ''Hats Off To Larry,'' ''Hey! Little Girl,'' ''Swiss Maid,'' ''Little Town Flirt,'' ''Handy Man,'' ''Keep Searchin','' and ''Stranger In Town.'' When the British invasion quelled many of his contemporaries who couldn't adapt to the ever changing musical landscape, Shannon managed to keep current and survive. He tried reinventing himself on several occasions, putting his hit formula aside to try out new sounds, namely working with Snuff Garrett, Leon Russell, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, and the Stones producer Andrew Oldham. He even went so far to record and release a pop-psyche album under his real name in ''The Further Adventures of Charles Westover,'' which still stands the test of time as a great era piece from 1968. Four covers are featured on this album to compliment Shannon's seven originals. ''Black Is Black'' is the Los Bravos hit, which Shannon first attempted to record in Nashville. Shannon's close friend, Stephen Monahan, first suggested he take on this number, which he did, incorporating it into his live sets. ''Black Is Black,'' on this album, is virtually spot-on to his live performances. Shannon was also a big fan of Roy Orbison, having recorded a few of his songs in the past to include ''Crying'' and ''Running Scared.'' Shannon had recorded ''Oh, Pretty Woman'' in 1966 while at Liberty Records, but he wasn't given much input on the arrangement and never liked it's final outcome. He desperately wanted to re-record ''Pretty Woman'' as it was another number he used in his live act that always went over well with his fans. Shannon later said on a British radio show in the 80's, ''Sound of The 60's,'' that the greatest rock beats, in his opinion, were in ''Black Is Black,'' ''Pretty Woman,'' and ''(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.''