The Sherry Lee Show
Sundazed, 2023
8/10
A legendary singer-songwriter who has penned songs that we are all familiar with, we’re treated to 2 discs of honky tonk sounds from when Jackie DeShannon was working under her birth name, Sherry Lee Myers.
“Y’all Come” opens the listen with an upbeat and playful spirit that comes with call and response vocals and plenty of lively plucking, and it isn’t long until the warm and barnyard rockin’ “Why Baby Why” draws us in with its expressive singing.
Further along, “Walkin’ After Midnight” trims the pace back with its cozy vocals and bouncy climate, while “I’m Counting On You” lands in more intimate territory with its heartfelt and sincere delivery that uses the stirring fiddle superbly.
Deeper still, the raw but pretty presence of “Baby Let’s Play House” might be the best selection, but “Blue Monday” is a close second thanks to DeShannon’s soaring pipes amid the frisky instrumentation.
The songs present are culled from radio performances by DeShannon from 1956 and 1957 as broadcast on WMRO in Aurora, Illinois, and they’ve never been formally released. Even if DeShannon’s name seems foreign to you, you’ve most likely heard her work as she wrote hits for Kim Carnes and The Searchers, and these tracks from the early years give us a great idea of what was to come later for her.
Travels well with: Kentucky Colonels- 1966; Graham Sharp- Truer Picture