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Jackie Shane

Lounge singer Jackie Shane was considered very risque during the more subdued Toronto club era of the
early 1960's. As a black androgynous soul singer, often backed by Frank Motley And The Hitchhikers
(featuring saxophonist King Herbert) at the Sapphire Club, Shane commanded overflow crowds as much
for his silky smooth voice as for his flamboyant effeminate stage persona.

With constant club engagements throughout Canada and parts of the US as far away as California and
Hawaii, Shane was able to release his one and only hit record, "Any Other Way", in April 1963. The song
reached No. 2 in Canada and sustained itself on the charts for 9 consecutive weeks.

To capitalize on her popularity she also recorded a live album but by the late 1960's drifted into obscurity.
Many rumours have circulated over the years about her untimely death, but none have ever been confirmed,
and she was last heard from in 2005.

Update (March 2010): After the airing of the Canadian radio documentary Jackie Shane was located, alive
and well, with hopefully more news to come. And I had to switch the pronouns in the above, as she was in
such obscurity for decades that it was only recently realized that she was transgender and always identified
as a woman. See big news by scrolling down the page.

   

   

    

Jackie Shane Discography

I've Really Got the Blues / Money (Stop 104, 7", 1962)
Any Other Way / Sticks and Stones(Sue Records 776, 7", 1963)
In My Tenement / Comin' Down(Sue Records 788, 7", 1963)
Stand Up Straight and Tall / You Are My Sunshine (Modern 1031, 7", 1967)
Knock on Wood / You're the One (Caravan 102, CN, 7", 1968)
New Way of Lovin' / Cruel Cruel World (Paragon 1028, CN, 1969)
Any Other Way / Sticks and Stones (Cookin' 602, reissue, year unknown)

Jackie Shane Live (Caravan LP 1000, 1963)
Live at the Sapphire Tavern (R&R Rec.CD 5021, 2005, bootleg)
Jackie Shane: Any Other Way (Numero CD 067, 2017)

For more detailed discography info: See this link

 

   

  

View on YouTube

and essentially every Shane track is now on YouTube

What happened to Jackie Shane? Here's a little, taken from a blog:

http://www.metafilter.com/83614/Tell-her-Im-happy-tell-her-Im-gay-tell-her-I-wouldnt-have-it-any-other-way

Actually, I do know something about what happened to Jackie Shane. I came across that video of
Jackie Shane via author/activist Jim Fouratt. And I was dumbstruck when I saw it, because I met
Jackie several times during 1996-97 when I was living in Nashville. I was in grad school and interning
for a senior citizen's center. Jackie's aunt was a client of ours, and Jackie lived with her. When I knew
her, Jackie was living as a woman. She was extremely agoraphobic and reclusive. I spoke mainly to her
over the phone, but eventually I ended up meeting her face to face, because she and her aunt needed
help moving.

I had no inkling of her past until the day that a friend and I started packing them up to move. I remember
albums, memorabilia, fur coats and costumes. She told us that she used to perform (but at the time
I thought she meant as a drag queen). I tried to google her afterwards, but couldn't find anything on the
web at that time. I'm happy that she's now getting some renewed notice about her musical career, but a
little sad that she may not know (if she's still alive).
posted by kimdog at 11:51 AM on July 27, 2009

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Above, website description of an extraordinary documentary aired 2/28/10 on CBC Radio 1 in Canada, produced by Elaine Banks. In it was more information about Jackie Shane's fate, from Steve Kennedy who played sax for Jackie at one time. Kennedy had been in numerous Toronto bands, including Kay Taylor & the Regents, the Soul Searchers, and, with much greater success, Motherlode, which had a huge hit in 1969 with "When I Die." From other sources it is known that Jackie moved back to Nashville at least as early at the mid 1990s, perhaps much sooner. In a comment in the documentary Kennedy said he talked with Jackie on the telephone in 2005, and that Jackie was very interested in starting another band, but this was not followed up on, and Kennedy heard nothing further.

Update (March 2010): After the airing of the Canadian radio documentary Jackie Shane was located, alive and well, with hopefully more news to come.

Photo courtesy Russ Strathdee, see more at his wonderful site

And there's more:   Extreme Trivia

Four tracks Jackie did with Frank Motley appear on the CD below, but to me
they sound like the same tracks as on the "Live at the Sapphire Tavern" CD

And the very cool blog, Actiontime and Vision, uncovered this information on other possible tracks:

"The Original Blues Sound of Charles Brown & Amos Milburn"

---

NEW NEW NEW!

For 2017, there's a new CD of Jackie Shane material
and I'm very pleased for her to get some renewed attention.
It should be considered the ultimate presentation of her
material, with re-mastered and bonus tracks, and a
140-page hardbound booklet of her story
that is itself worth the cost of the package.
Highly recommended!

The 140-page hardbound booklet is exquisite...

above, front; below, back

these photos came out in the new publicity

Here's a link to a January 2018 radio interview, though it's
mostly in Swedish, it's terrific to hear Jackie's voice.

And, here's a new interview, February 2019, you can hear her talk! 23 minutes, great!

and a Terrific Elaine Banks Documentary, 54 min