Terry Jacks
Encyclopedia
Terrence Ross "Terry" Jacks (born March 29, 1944, Winnipeg
, Manitoba
) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer and environmentalist.
. The family relocated to Vancouver
in the early 1960s and 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.
) asked Terry to accompany her on guitar and, after adding Craig McCaw, the The Poppy Family
was formed. Craig McCaw later introduced Satwant Singh to the group. Susan and Terry were married in 1967. The Poppy Family 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. Jacks earned a Gold Leaf award in 1970 for his production work while with the Poppy Family.
In the early 1970s, Terry and Susan travelled to L.A. where Terry was to work with The Beach Boys
to record the song "Seasons in the Sun
" but the project was never finished and they returned to Vancouver making the decision to record the single themselves.
's 1965 adaptation of "Le moribond", a 1962 original by Belgian singer Jacques Brel
; for his version, Jacks made some modifications to the lyrics. In the United States, in Great Britain and in Germany, in these countries it was released on Bell Records, the song went to #1
on the charts. The B-side of "Seasons In The Sun
" was a song about a woman asking her butcher to put in the bone with the rest of her meat order entitled "Put the Bone In".
Jacks later released "If You Go Away
" (another McKuen adaptation of a Jacques Brel song entitled "Ne Me Quitte Pas"), which reached #8 in Great Britain 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 USA.
Jacks wrote and recorded a number of other songs and went on to produce records for Valdy
, Buddy Knox
(unreleased), Nana Mouskouri, Chilliwack
(including "Crazy Talk") and a handful of other artists.
issues in Canada. His environmental work has earned him several awards including one from the United Nations Association of Canada and the Western Canada Wilderness Committee.
Following an incident in November 2000, Jacks was initially charged with spousal assault and improper storage of a rifle
by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
. Jacks said that his wife had called the police after he threw a wet dishrag at her when she called him a loser. The assault charge was later dropped and the couple divorced. Jacks married Diane Soza in 2008.
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer and environmentalist.
Early life
Jacks was born and raised in WinnipegWinnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
. The family relocated to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
in the early 1960s and 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.
The Poppy Family
Following The Chessmen, Susan Pesklevits (Susan JacksSusan Jacks
Susan Jacks is a Canadian singer–songwriter.-Career:Susan Jacks was born to a family of eight children in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Her family moved to British Columbia when she was 9...
) asked Terry to accompany her on guitar and, after adding Craig McCaw, the The Poppy Family
The Poppy Family
The Poppy Family was a late 1960s and early 1970s Canadian pop music group, based in Vancouver, British Columbia.-Career:Seventeen year old Susan Pesklevits met Terry Jacks in the middle 1960s while she was a regular performer on a national teen TV show called Music Hop as well as many other...
was formed. Craig McCaw later introduced Satwant Singh to the group. Susan and Terry were married in 1967. The Poppy Family 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
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
in the U.S. The song was written and produced by Terry Jacks. Jacks earned a Gold Leaf award in 1970 for his production work while with the Poppy Family.
In the early 1970s, Terry and Susan travelled to L.A. where Terry was to work with The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
to record the song "Seasons in the Sun
Seasons in the Sun
Apart from the versions noted above, there have been numerous cover versions of the song. Generally, these use the same translation as the Terry Jacks version, and thus inherit that version's less harsh interpretation of the song's storyline....
" but the project was never finished and they returned to Vancouver making the decision to record the single themselves.
Solo and production work
The couple recorded two more albums before Susan left the marriage in 1973: Susan's solo album I Thought of You Again... and Terry's solo album Seasons In The Sun. The song "Seasons in the Sun", released in late 1973 on his own record label, Goldfish Records, became the largest-selling international single by a Canadian artist at that time and earned Jacks two Juno Awards. It is Rod McKuenRod McKuen
Rod McKuen is an American poet, songwriter, composer, and singer. He was one of the best-selling poets in the United States during the late 1960s. Throughout his career, McKuen produced a wide range of recordings, which included popular music, spoken word poetry, film soundtracks, and classical music...
's 1965 adaptation of "Le moribond", a 1962 original by Belgian singer Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel was a Belgian singer-songwriter who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following in France initially, and later throughout the world. He was widely considered a master of the modern chanson...
; for his version, Jacks made some modifications to the lyrics. In the United States, in Great Britain and in Germany, in these countries it was released on Bell Records, the song went to #1
Hot 100 number-one hits of 1974 (USA)
These are the Billboard magazine Hot 100 number one hits of 1974.-See also:*1974 in music*List of Cash Box Top 100 number-one singles of 1974...
on the charts. The B-side of "Seasons In The Sun
Seasons in the Sun
Apart from the versions noted above, there have been numerous cover versions of the song. Generally, these use the same translation as the Terry Jacks version, and thus inherit that version's less harsh interpretation of the song's storyline....
" was a song about a woman asking her butcher to put in the bone with the rest of her meat order entitled "Put the Bone In".
Jacks later released "If You Go Away
If You Go Away
"If You Go Away" is a song in English based upon the French song "Ne me quitte pas" , written by Jacques Brel. The English lyrics were written by Rod McKuen as part of a larger project to translate Brel's work. "If You Go Away" is considered a pop standard and has been recorded by many artists,...
" (another McKuen adaptation of a Jacques Brel song entitled "Ne Me Quitte Pas"), which reached #8 in Great Britain and #24 in Germany, and a cover of Kevin Johnson
Kevin Johnson (singer)
Kevin Stephen Johnson is an Australian singer-songwriter, most active in the 1970s, and is best known for his 1973 song "Rock and Roll I Gave You the Best Years of My Life", which peaked at #4 on the Australian singles charts...
'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
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
in the USA.
Jacks wrote and recorded a number of other songs and went on to produce records for Valdy
Valdy
Paul Valdemar Horsdal, CM , commonly known as Valdy, is a Canadian folk musician whose solo career began in the early 1970s. He is known for "Rock and Roll Song", his first mainstream single released in mid-1972 on Haida/A&M.He was a member of the London Town Criers during the 1960s and...
, Buddy Knox
Buddy Knox
Buddy Knox was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his 1957 rockabilly hit song, "Party Doll".-Biography:...
(unreleased), Nana Mouskouri, Chilliwack
Chilliwack (band)
Chilliwack are a Canadian rock band that had their heyday during the 1970s and 1980s. Although they are a Canadian band, the members were all born in, as well as reside in, the United States of America. They are perhaps best remembered for their five biggest songs "My Girl ", "I Believe", "Whatcha...
(including "Crazy Talk") and a handful of other artists.
Film
Jacks has worked in documentary film and video, producing several shorts on environmental themes including The Tragedy of Clearcutting, The Southern Chilcotin Mountains and The Warmth of Love (The Four Seasons of Sophie Thomas). The video production The Faceless Ones earned an Environmental Gold Award from the New York International Film Festival.Personal life
In the late 1970s, Jacks married his manager Margaret (Maggi) Zittier and gradually withdrew from the music world. The couple had a daughter, Holly Michelle Jacks in 1985. Jacks became involved in the environmental movement, focusing on pulp mill pollutionPollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
issues in Canada. His environmental work has earned him several awards including one from the United Nations Association of Canada and the Western Canada Wilderness Committee.
Following an incident in November 2000, Jacks was initially charged with spousal assault and improper storage of a rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
. Jacks said that his wife had called the police after he threw a wet dishrag at her when she called him a loser. The assault charge was later dropped and the couple divorced. Jacks married Diane Soza in 2008.
Studio albums
- Seasons in the Sun (1974)
- Y' Don't Fight The Sea (1975)
- Pulse (1983)
- Just Like That (1987)
Singles
| Year | Song | CAN RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
CAN AC RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | "I'm Gonna Capture You" | 16 | - | - | - |
| 1972 | "Concrete Sea" | 16 | 16 | - | - |
| 1973 | "I'm Gonna Love You Too" | 7 | - | 116 | - |
| 1974 | "Seasons in the Sun Seasons in the Sun Apart from the versions noted above, there have been numerous cover versions of the song. Generally, these use the same translation as the Terry Jacks version, and thus inherit that version's less harsh interpretation of the song's storyline.... " |
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 | - | |
| "Holly" | 64 | - | - | - | |
| 1976 | "Y' Don't Fight the Sea" | 31 | - | - | - |
| "In My Father's Footsteps" | 59 | - | - | - | |
| 1977 | "Hey Country Girl" | 73 | 28 | - | - |
| 1981 | "Greenback Dollar" | - | 9 | - | - |
| 1983 | "You Fool Me" | - | 26 | - | - |
| 1987 | "Just Like That" | - | 17 | - | - |