Walter Jackson

Walter Jackson was '60s Chicago soul at its sweetest and, occasionally, most mainstream. In the mid-'60s, he had a brace of solid R&B hits -- "Suddenly I'm All Alone," "It's an Uphill Climb (To the Bottom)," "Speak Her Name," "Welcome Home," "A Corner in the Sun" -- without ever rising higher than the lower reaches of the Top 100. Recording for the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22OKeh%22">OKeh</a> stable, which was home to the top Chi-Town soul talent, he benefited for a time from the production services of local masters Carl Davis and <a href="spotify:artist:2AV6XDIs32ofIJhkkDevjm">Curtis Mayfield</a>, who handled <a href="spotify:artist:1b1N51wmSK0ckxFAMPSSHO">the Impressions</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7onp6ew3LGoQImTt1I78gt">Major Lance</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:52uMkSFt2RVO6XxTEt5VeW">Gene Chandler</a>, and others. His sides employed similar punchy brass and strings, but in a smoother, more urbane fashion; Jackson was also comfortable with occasional outings into pure supper-club pop with nary a trace of R&B.

Jackson had already recorded for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Columbia%22">Columbia</a> (and unsuccessfully auditioned for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Motown%22">Motown</a>) when <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22OKeh%22">OKeh</a> A&R director Davis saw him at a Detroit piano bar in 1962. Stricken with polio as a young boy, Jackson had never let his disability get in the way of his musical ambitions, performing on crutches. Impressed with his commanding voice, Carl Davis thought of Walter as a <a href="spotify:artist:7v4imS0moSyGdXyLgVTIV7">Nat King Cole</a> type of singer, and procured material for Jackson from <a href="spotify:artist:2AV6XDIs32ofIJhkkDevjm">Mayfield</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0bShb58TO0fM5jOjXhB1WT">Van McCoy</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4J9k7L7BrJ7NMWAcvgox1B">Chip Taylor</a>, and other top-notch songwriters.

Despite the obvious pop crossover potential of Jackson's recordings, he remained obscure to white listeners. During the latter part of his stay with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22OKeh%22">OKeh</a>, he was reassigned from Davis' stable to producer Ted Cooper. Jackson had a few hits with Cooper, but there was little success after the late '60s, although he recorded for a few more labels before dying of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1983. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi