Jackie DeShannon - Don't Turn Your Back On Me (1964)

Given the gloriously sweet ache of her voice and the emotional (and physical) force of her studio performances, it's a shame Jackie DeShannon never worked with Phil Spector, but 1964's Don't Turn Your Back on Me offered the next best thing. Producer Dick Glasser hired Jack Nitzsche to do the arrangements for Don't Turn Your Back on Me, and while the sessions don't have quite the same resonance as Spector's Wall of Sound, the sophistication and rich details of Nitzsche's settings work wonders with DeShannon's impassioned and heart-tugging vocals -- while DeShannon wasn't afraid to sing with her heart on her sleeve, she also knew how to modulate the emotional timbre of her Southern-accented instrument for maximum impact. Nitzsche and DeShannon also reveal splendid taste in material on this LP; along with her memorable versions of "Needles and Pins" and her own "When You Walk in the Room," she turns in superb takes on three early Randy Newman compositions (two of which he wrote with DeShannon), as well as covers of Buddy Holly's "Oh Boy" and Aaron Neville's "Over You." Not many pop vocalists has the pipes, the talent, and the good instincts of Jackie DeShannon, and this album is a minor treasure worth investigating. (After DeShannon gained some well-deserved press attention opening for the Beatles on their American concert dates in 1964, Don't Turn Your Back on Me was given a bit of a shuffle in its track lineup and reissued as Breakin' It Up on the Beatles Tour!)