Deon Jackson (January 26, 1946 – April 18, 2014) – I've Got So Much Love (1966?)

This upbeat anthem by the singer/songwriter whose records are Northern soul classics remained unreleased until 2016, written by Jackson and arranged by Mike Terry.

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Deon Jackson was a soul singer/songwriter who mostly recorded for Ollie McLaughlin’s Carla Records in the 1960s and was best known for his hit “Love Makes the World Go ‘Round.”

Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Jackson started singing with vocal groups during high school. While performing at a talent show he impressed local radio DJ and producer Ollie McLaughlin who had previously discovered Del Shannon. His first single was released on Atlantic Records in 1963, the beautiful love song “Hush Little Baby” b/w the heartbreak anthem “You Said You Loved Me.” Both sides were written by Jackson, produced by McLaughlin, and arranged and conducted by Riley Hampton.

Its follow up was “Nursery Rhymes“ (1964) b/w the upbeat rockin' jam “Come Back Home” which was written by Eddie Simpson. McLaughlin produced both sides.

Jackson’s third single would prove to be his all-time biggest hit. He wrote a feel-good message song titled “Love Makes the World Go ‘Round,” arranged and conducted by Dale Warren and produced by McLaughlin. It was released on New Year’s Eve in 1965, and immediately took off on radio. After climbing the charts throughout early 1966, it peaked at #3 R&B and #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. This led to Jackson’s only full-length album Love Makes the World Go ‘Round, which was released later that same year.

One of his next singles, the haunting “I Can't Do Without You” (1966) just missed the Hot 100 at #111. It was co-written by Detroit songwriters Johnny Griffith and Richard Pat Green, arranged and conducted by Mike Terry, and produced by McLaughlin.

His last-ever charting single was the stellar jam “Ooh Baby” (1967), co-written by Harold Thomas and Richard Barbary, produced by McLaughlin and arranged and conducted by Warren. Its B-side was the upbeat jam “All On A Sunny Day,” and reached #28 R&B and #65 on the Hot 100.

Jackson with Tammi Terrell at the Uptown Theater in Philadelphia

In 1968, Jackson wrote the laid back jam “When Your Love Has Gone,” b/w the lyrically deep “Hard to Get a Thing Called Love,” co-written by Vincent Poncia and Pete Andreoli.

The same year, he recorded and released the superb love jam “I Need A Love Like Yours” (1968), which was penned by Richard “Popcorn” Wylie and Tony Hester, arranged by Mike Terry, and produced by McLaughlin. Unsung songwriter Sharon McMahan wrote its B-side, the stellar heartbreak anthem “I Can’t Go On.”

Jackson finally parted ways with McLaughlin and moved to Chicago around the end of the decade. His final single “I'll Always Love You” was released in September, 1972 on Shout, a subsidiary of Bang Records, produced by the legendary Leroy Hutson. Its B-side was “Life Can Be That Way,” a beautiful meditation on life. Both sides were co-written by Hutson and Michael Hawkins and arranged by Hutson.

Jackson retired from the music business and worked with special needs students in Chicago. Many of his records became highly regarded on the Northern soul scene, and several of his unreleased songs eventually surfaced. The first was “You Got The Power Of Love,” an excellent upbeat 1967 demo which came out in the nineties.

The UK label Hayley Records then released a single in early 2016 with two more unreleased tracks they had managed to dig up, both produced by McLaughlin, arranged by Mike Terry, and dating from around 1966. “Pain In My Heart” was written by the unknown songwriter “P. Hunt,” and the stellar upbeat anthem “I’ve Got So Much Love” was on the flip, which was written by Jackson and recorded at United Sound Systems in Detroit.

Rest in Peace, Deon Jackson.

Further info:

“1960s soul singer Deon Jackson, an Ann Arbor native, dies,” MLive.com, April 23, 2014.

“Deon Jackson,” obituary, Ann Arbor News, April 25, 2014.

“Deon Jackson Notes (taken from the sleeve notes of the Atco LP),” Soul-Source.co.uk, September 10, 2015.

#soul #DeonJackson