Best of Funky16Corners: Jackie Shane – Any Other Way b/w RIP DOMA
Jackie Shane on ‘Night Train’
Listen/Download – Jackie Shane – Any Other Way
Listen/Download – Jackie Shane – Sticks and Stones
NOTE: This is a very special edition of ‘The Best of Funky16Corners.
Word came down this morning that the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act.
This is a MAJOR move in the right direction for our LGBT brothers and sisters.
Though there’s still a LOT of work to be done, and there are bound to be fights all over the country as the forces of regression fight to turn back the clock on human rights across the board, this is still a great day.
The post i’m restoring (with the addition of the flip-side ‘Sticks and Stones’, because, figure it out) is a 45 by a pioneering gay/trans artist, the mighty Jackie Shane.
As I say in the post, there is much more Jackie Shane music out there to be heard, and it is outstanding.
My hope is that today’s SCOTUS decision will go a long way to making the lives of any future Jackie Shanes a much easier thing.
Dig the sounds, and I’ll be back on Friday.
Keep the Faith (and keep on keeping on)
Larry
PS Dig the cool art by Shepard Fairey!
Originally posted 10/28/12
>>Greetings all
Welcome to another week here at the home of digital soul.
We are under threat of what promises to be a nasty storm. Our hatches are battened, our larders filled with supplies, so keep your fingers crossed that the folks here on the East Coast make it to the other side of this one intact.
The tune I ring you today is one of those great discoveries that happens when you flip over a record expecting nothing and realize that what you’re hearing is the real “top” side of the disc.
If memory serves, my initial encounter with the story of Jackie Shane was a lucky accident.
Before I was fortunate enough to pick up the record you see before you today, I had only heard his voice via a single, blurry performance clip from the TV show ‘Night Train’.
Shane was, during the 1960s a popular club singer and recording artist, who was an out, gay man who in many ways, lived and performed as a woman.
He was nothing if not enigmatic.
Born and raised in Nashville, but with the bulk of his career spent North of the border in Canada, Shane had a life seemingly lifted from a screenplay.
Starting in the early 60s Shane recorded and performed R&B and soul based out of Toronto, CA . He layed down sides for a few different labels, often backed by Frank Motley (also an American) and the Hitchhikers (who went on to record some sought after funk records).
Shane performed in drag – though what little biographical information I’ve been able to turn up suggests that this was more than a drag persona, leaning more in the direction of a full time transgender life. That he was also openly gay (or as open as the times allowed) was – as my friend Jason Stone aka the Stepfather of Soul said in a 2007 post – unusual, but not unheard of, considering the careers of Little Richard, Esquerita and Sylvester.
His cover of William Bell’s 1962 hit ‘Any Other Way’ – a significant Canadian hit, almost reaching Number One – was a fairly dramatic re-casting of the original.
Shane’s delivers the song’s lyrics – full of regret – in a much more melancholic setting. Where Bell’s approach is aggressive and upbeat (at least as far as the tempo is concerned) Shane’s is almost elegiac.
Though he delivers the song in its original gender, it’s hard not to read something into it (and I’m hardly the first to make note of this) when Shane sings:
Tell her that I’m happy
Tell her that I’m gay
Tell her I wouldn’t have it any other way
…the line seems to take on more meaning.
I initially grabbed this record for the version of ‘Sticks and Stones’ on the flip, but soon fell in love with this cut.
Shane’s discography is spare. His 1963 recording of ‘In My Tenement’ (recorded a year before Roosevelt Grier’s version) is sought after by soul fans, as is a fantastic live record, which, though dated “Live ‘63” on the cover was clearly recorded a few years later, since it includes covers of songs that wouldn’t be released until 1966.
Once you’ve listened to his relatively small – yet undeniably powerful – catalog, it becomes obvious that Shane was a versatile and dynamic vocalist and performer.
He was a powerful soul shouter, but was also capable of something approaching fragility when working a ballad.
The cool thing is, though Shane’s records run from moderately rare right on into wallet-wrecking hen’s teethery, you can go on iTunes and grab a fairly comprehensive collection of his 45s and the ‘Live ‘63’ album for about six bucks each! I assure you in advance that this will be money well spent.
The singles are all excellent, and the live album is a revelation.
Shane was a bold, uncompromising stage performer, strong in voice and persona, and the Hitchhikers were an extra-tight backing band.
The album deserves to be much better known, and is worth having if only for the extended monologue during his cover of Barrett Strong’s ‘Money’.
Apparently Shane was still alive (though seemingly inactive as a performer) as late as 2010, having returned to his birthplace of Nashville, TN.
Make sure you check out the CBC radio documentary about Jackie Shane ‘I Got Mine: The Story of Jackie Shane’ over at Soundcloud.
I hope you dig the record, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday with some Halloween goodness.<<
Keep the faith
Larry
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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!
The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.
They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).
Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).
If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.
Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press
Themocracy
Great, Great Larry,
https://youtu.be/Zt0hCGKVprY
https://youtu.be/nqEBVl7wfHs
Best Regard Larry !
What a fabulous way to celebrate the demise of DOMA. Jackie Shane is spectacular! One of the many happy discoveries I’ve made while hanging out at Funky 16 Corners. Thanks for dishing up the funk, soul, and jazz that we might partake.