Terry Jacks

Terrence Ross Jacks (born March 29, 1944) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer and environmentalist, best known for his 1974 hit song "Seasons in the Sun".

Terry Jacks
Jacks in 1974
Background information
Birth nameTerrence Ross Jacks
Born (1944-03-29) March 29, 1944
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
GenresRock, pop, soft rock, country
Occupation(s)Singer–songwriter
InstrumentsVocals, guitar
Years active1962–present
LabelsColumbia, Goldfish, London Records, Bell, A&M[1]
Associated actsThe Poppy Family

Early life

Terry Jacks was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His family relocated to Vancouver in the early 1960s. Jacks took up guitar in his teens and at 18 formed a band called The Chessmen with guitarist Guy Sobell. The group had four top-ten hits in Vancouver between 1964 and 1966.

Jacks and the Chessmen performed live on a Friday night in September, 1965 for a "Back To School" event at the now-defunct T. Eaton Co. (Eaton's) department store at its Brentwod Mall store in North Burnaby, a municipality next to Vancouver.

Pupils from Burnaby South Senior High School who followed music tuned into CFUN 1410 which advertised its "Request Line". Being skeptical as to whether CFUN really listened to requests, they began phoning the Request Line and asked for the B side of the current Chessmen hit. To their amazement, CFUN began playing it and turned the record into a two-sided hit.

Following The Chessmen, Terry and Susan Pesklevits (Susan Jacks), whom he later married, formed The Poppy Family along with Craig McCaw and Satwant Singh. They had several hits in Canada and internationally, their biggest being "Which Way You Goin' Billy?", which went to #1 in Canada and #2 on the Billboard charts in the U.S. The song was written and produced by Terry Jacks which earned him a Gold Leaf (Juno) award in 1970 for his production. The Poppy Family performed at the Lethbridge, Alberta Stampede in the summer of 1971.

"Seasons in the Sun"

The song "Seasons in the Sun" was originally intended for the Beach Boys, with Jacks serving as producer for the recording. However, after the group decided not to release it, Jacks decided to record it himself in late 1973 on his own record label, Goldfish Records, which became the largest-selling international single by a Canadian artist at that time, eventually selling 14 million copies worldwide. It earned Jacks two Juno Awards and became one of the biggest selling Canadian Singles of all time.[2]

The song was based on Rod McKuen's 1965 re-write of "Le moribond", originally by Belgian singer Jacques Brel from 1962. For his version, Jacks made some modifications to the lyrics, which along with McKuen's, resulted in a work that bears little resemblance to Brel's original in tone, substance or poetry. In Germany,[3] in the UK [4] and the United States,[5] it was released on Bell Records, and the song went to #1 on the charts. In Canada it was released on his own label, Goldfish Records, distributed by London Records Canada.

Jacks later released "If You Go Away" (another McKuen adaptation of a Jacques Brel song titled "Ne Me Quitte Pas"), which reached #8 in the UK and #24 in Germany, and a cover of Kevin Johnson's "Rock 'N' Roll (I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life)", both of which had more success in Canada but also made the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S. He wrote and recorded a number of other songs, and went on to produce for many artists, including "Crazy Talk"[6] and "There's Something I Like About That"[7] for Chilliwack, from their album Riding High.

Jacks produced two songs for Nana Mouskouri: "Scarborough Fair" and "Loving Arms" in 1976. He produced the Vancouver top 10 hit "Country Boy Named Willy" for "SPRING" on London Records (#38 Canada), and Valdy's original version of "Rock and Roll Song" (b/w sometime "Sunday Morning"). The record was scheduled for release on London Records but was re-recorded in Los Angeles with another producer when Valdy signed a recording contract.[8] He also spent a lot of time with Buddy Knox in the 1970s and produced a single for him with two songs: "Me and You" (written by Jacks) and the George Jones song "White Lightnin'"; the single remains unreleased. Jacks also went on to produce a number of other artists in the 1980s and 1990s, including DOA, who recorded a punk rock version of "Where Evil Grows".

Recently

In 2011, Jacks' friend Al Jardine released a new version of "Don't Fight the Sea", recorded along with fellow Beach Boys Mike Love, Brian Wilson, Bruce Johnston and the late Carl Wilson, who sang part of the lead vocal. A limited edition white vinyl 45 was made and sold to benefit Japanese tsunami victims.[9]

Jacks' latest release, Starfish On the Beach, is a double CD compilation containing 40 of Jacks' favourite tracks from the last 40 years, and features some of his recordings from the 1970s and 1980s. The package contains a 32-page booklet with photographs and Jack’s recollections of his musical career.

Film

Jacks has worked in documentary film and video, producing several shorts on environmental themes including The Faceless Ones, The Tragedy of Clearcutting, The Southern Chilcotin Mountains and The Warmth of Love (The Four Seasons of Sophie Thomas) with cinematographer Ian Hinkle.[10] The video production The Faceless Ones earned an Environmental Gold Award from the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival.[11]

Seasons in the Sun (1986) is a film about the complications created by the arrival of a defecting scientist and a CIA agent intruding on a terminally ill pop-music singer's retirement.

Personal life

In the late 1970s, Jacks gradually withdrew from the music world. He had a daughter, born in 1985. In the 1980s, Jacks became involved in the environmental movement, focusing on pulp mill pollution issues in Canada. His environmental work has earned him several awards including one from the United Nations Association in Canada and the Western Canada Wilderness Committee. He was awarded a lifetime achievement award[12] in 1997 for his work, as well as the Eugene Rogers Environmental Award.[13]

Discography

Studio albums
  • Seasons in the Sun (Bell Records) (1974)
  • Y' Don't Fight the Sea (Goldfish Records) (1975)
  • Pulse (A&M Records) (1983)
  • Just Like That (Attic Records) (1987)

Compilation albums
  • Into The Past...Terry Jacks Greatest Hits (A&M Records) (1982)
  • Singles A's And B's (Goldfish Records) (2004)
  • Starfish on the Beach (Regenerator Records) (2015)

Extended plays
  • Epocas De Sol (Bell Records) (1974)

Singles
Year Song Peak chart positions Album
CAN CAN
AC		 US UK
[14]
1970 "I'm Gonna Capture You" 16 - - - Non-album single
1971 "Someone Must Have Jumped" - - - -
1972 "Concrete Sea" 16 16 - - Seasons in the Sun
1973 "I'm Gonna Love You Too" 7 - 116 -
1974 "Seasons in the Sun" 1 1 1 1
"If You Go Away" 45 10 68 8
1975 "Rock 'N' Roll (I Gave You the Best Years of My Life)" 22 5 97 -
"Christina" 9 - 106 - Y' Don't Fight the Sea
"Holly" 64 - - -
1976 "Y' Don't Fight the Sea" 31 - - -
"In My Father's Footsteps" 59 - - - Non-album single
1977 "Hey Country Girl" 73 28 - -
1981 "Greenback Dollar" - 9 - -
1983 "You Fool Me" - 26 - - Pulse
1985 "Tough Guys Don't Dance" - - - - Just Like That
1987 "Just Like That" - 17 - -
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
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See also

References
  1. Michael Bennett (30 September 1972). "Western Canada:Activity abounds on all fronts". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.: 48–. ISSN 0006-2510.
  2. Hall of Fame, Canadian Music. "Terry Jacks". Seasons in the Sun. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01.
  3. Günter Ehnert (ed.): Hit Bilanz. Deutsche Chart Singles 1956-1980. Hamburg: Taurus Press 1990, p. 105; ISBN 978-3922542247
  4. Stephen Nugent, Pete Fowler, Annie Fowler: The Log Of American / British Top 20 Hits, 1955-1974. In: Charlie Gillett, Simon Frith (eds.): Rock File 4. Frogmore, St Albans: Panther Books Ltd 1976, p. 203; ISBN 978-0586043707
  5. Joel Whitburn: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993. Menominee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd. 1994, p. 295; ISBN 978-0898201055
  6. Jacks, Terry. "Producer". Crazy Talk. Gone Fishin' Music Ltd. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved Jan 19, 2014.
  7. Jacks, Terry. "Producer". Something I Like About That. Gone Fishin' Music Inc. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved Jan 19, 2014.
  8. "Valdy - Folk singer/songwriter/producer from Victoria, BC". Livevictoria.com. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  9. "Rare Beach Boys Single, 'Don't Fight the Sea,' To Benefit Red Cross Relief Efforts In Japan". April 18, 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  10. "Sophie Thomas, Traditional Healer of the Carrier Nation". Sophiethomas.org. 2010-03-19. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  11. "seventies music". wordpress.com. Retrieved January 19, 2014. Terry Jacks may have been responsible for one of the worst songs of all time but he’s since redeemed himself through the environmental work he’s involved in, in his native Canada
  12. "Lifetime Achievement". Wildernesscommittee.org. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  13. "Eugene Rogers Award". Wildernesscommittee.org. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  14. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 273. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
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