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!)