Terrence Ross Jacks (born March 29, 1944) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer known for his 1974 hit song "Seasons in the Sun", which was originally written by Belgian composer and singer Jacques Brel in 1961. Jacks is also an environmental activist, focused on pulp mill emissions in Howe Sound.
Terry Jacks was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Jacks was the oldest of five boys and his father ran an architecture business in Winnipeg, a career Jacks later studied in university, before he become a musician.[2] In the early 60s, when Jacks was a teenager, the family relocated to Vancouver. Jacks took up guitar 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 Brentwood Mall store in North Burnaby, a municipality next to Vancouver.
Pupils from Burnaby South Senior High School who followed music tuned in to CFUN1410 AM, which advertised its "Request Line". Being skeptical about 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, earning 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. It 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.[3]
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 combined with McKuen's changes resulted in a work that bears little resemblance to Brel's original in tone, substance, and poetry. In Germany,[4] the UK,[5] and the United States,[6] Jacks's rewrite was released on Bell Records, and the song went to #1. In Canada, it was released on Jacks's own label, Goldfish Records, and distributed by London Records Canada.[citation needed]
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 100chart in the U.S. He wrote and recorded a number of other songs, and went on to produce for many artists, including "Crazy Talk"[7] and "There's Something I Like About That"[8] for Chilliwack, from their album Riding High.
Jacks produced two songs for Nana Mouskouri: "Scarborough Fair" and "Loving Arms" in 1976.[citation needed] 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.[9] 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".[citation needed]
1980s
Jacks disliked the music business, particularly touring and promotional activities, and stopped recording in the mid-1970s, although he continued doing some music producing.[10] Beginning in 1976, Jacks was impersonated by Timothy Wayne MacDonald for several years; the imposter gave concerts and appeared on talk shows and radio before turning himself in to Jacks.[11]
Encouraged by friend and fellow musician Bob Buckley, Jacks decided to return to recording.[12] His album Pulse and its single "You Fooled Me" were released in 1983 after his self-imposed break from the music business.[13] Jacks later called Pulse a "rehearsal/demo". He released the album Just Like That in 1987, while continuing to focus on his environmental work.[14]
In 2015, Jacks released “Starfish on the Beach”, a double CD compilation containing 40 of Jacks' favorite tracks from the last 40 years. The release features some of his recordings from the 1970s and 1980s. The package contains a 32-page booklet with photographs and Jacks' 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.[16] The video production The Faceless Ones earned an Environmental Gold Award from the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival.[17]
In 1981, Jacks became involved with a project to make a TV movie version of "Seasons in the Sun". He produced, scored, and starred in the movie.[12]
Environmental activism
In 1985, Jacks founded Environmental Watch to combat pulp mill pollution on Howe Sound.[18] Jacks filed suit against the British Columbia Environment Ministry in 1988 for granting a pollution permit to Howe Sound Pulp and Paper. The lawsuit was dropped in 1990 after the company incurred 19 pollution charges by the ministry.[19] In 1989, he organized and led a flotilla of boats past several pulp mills in Howe Sound to protest their pollution.[20]
In the 1990s, Jacks engaged in a multi-year legal battle against pulp mill emissions and improper amendments to the mill's permits.[21]
Jacks was termed "instrumental" in the efforts to pass two federal laws that limited logging on the coast and constrained fish-canning by non-Canadian fishermen.[13] His environmental work has earned him several awards including a lifetime achievement award[22] in 1997 for his work, as well as the Eugene Rogers Environmental Award.[23]
Personal life
Jacks and Susan divorced in 1973.[24] In 1985, he became the father of a daughter. Jacks and his second wife, Maggi, divorced in 2001 after 23 years of marriage.[25]
Jacques Romain Georges Brel was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed theatrical songs. He generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, but later throughout the world. He is considered a master of the modern chanson.
"Seasons in the Sun" is an English-language adaptation of the 1961 Belgian song "Le Moribond" by singer-songwriter Jacques Brel with lyrics rewritten in 1963 by singer-poet Rod McKuen portraying a dying man's farewell to his loved ones. It became a worldwide hit in 1974 for singer Terry Jacks and became a Christmas number one in the UK in 1999 for Westlife.
Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk Management, and Nettwerk One Publishing.
The Poppy Family was a Canadian psychedelic pop group based in Vancouver. They had a number of international hit records in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Rodney Marvin McKuen was an American poet, singer-songwriter, and composer. 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. He earned two Academy Award nominations for his music compositions. McKuen's translations and adaptations of the songs of Jacques Brel were instrumental in bringing the Belgian songwriter to prominence in the English-speaking world. His poetry deals with themes of love, the natural world and spirituality. McKuen's songs sold over 100 million recordings worldwide, and 60 million books of his poetry were sold as well.
Roy Charles Forbes is a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter, whose music bears heavy influences from classic American genres of acoustic blues and traditional country. Forbes is known for his high soulful voice and percussive guitar playing.
Paul Valdemar Horsdal,, commonly known as Valdy, is a Canadian folk and country musician whose solo career began in the early 1970s. He is known for "Rock and Roll Song", his first mainstream single. Valdy is the winner of two Juno Awards for Folk Singer of the Year and Folk Entertainer of the Year and has received seven additional Juno nominations. His fourteen albums, including four which are certified gold, have achieved sales of nearly half a million copies.
The Hometown Band was a Canadian folk music group. They are best known as the backup band for Valdy.
Claire Lawrence is a Canadian musician who was a founding member of the Canadian band The Collectors, and remained with the group when it transitioned to Chilliwack in 1970. He performed on keyboards, flute, saxophone, and piano. He left Chilliwack in 1971 after several albums with the band and subsequently produced albums for a number of Canadian artists and groups including Ferron, Susan Jacks, Valdy, Shari Ulrich, Roy Forbes, 1979-, UHF and Connie Kaldor.
Susan Jacks was a Canadian singer-songwriter and record producer.
"If You Go Away" is an adaptation of the 1959 Jacques Brel song "Ne me quitte pas" with English lyrics by Rod McKuen. Created 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, including Greta Keller, for whom some say McKuen wrote the lyrics.
"Amsterdam" is a song by Jacques Brel. It combines a powerful melancholic crescendo with a rich poetic account of the exploits of sailors on shore leave in Amsterdam. Musically, it takes its base melody line from the melody of the English folk song Greensleeves.
The Juno Awards of 1974, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 25 March 1974 in Toronto at a ceremony at the Inn on the Park's Centennial ballroom hosted by George Wilson of CFRB radio's Starlight Serenade programme.
Riding High is the fourth album by the Canadian rock band Chilliwack, released in Canada in April 1974. It was the band's first album with new guitarist/keyboardist Howard Froese, and contained the top-10 hit "Crazy Talk", which was co-produced by Terry Jacks of Poppy Family fame. In Canada, the album was released on Jacks' label Goldfish Records; in the U.S., it was not released until 1975 on Sire Records, where it was retitled Chilliwack.
CFTE was a radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia. Owned by Bell Media, it last broadcast a business news format.
CKKS-FM is a radio station licensed to Chilliwack, British Columbia and serving Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, it broadcasts a modern rock format.
"Ne me quitte pas" is a 1959 song by Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel. It has been covered in the original French by many artists and has also been translated into and performed in many other languages. A well-known adaptation, with English lyrics by Rod McKuen, is "If You Go Away".
With Love is Bobby Vinton's twenty-fourth and final studio album for Epic Records and his twenty-fifth album overall. It was released in 1974, two years after Epic released Vinton from his contract with them and immediately after the release of Melodies of Love. The purpose of this release was to take advantage of the success of the aforementioned Melodies of Love and his biggest hit at the time "My Melody of Love". Two of the ten songs had previously been released on other albums, including "And I Love You So", a new version of the song originally recorded for Ev'ry Day of Life, this time produced by Billy Sherrill and arranged by Cam Mullins.
Terry Black was a Canadian pop singer and teen idol, born in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The Way We Were is the thirty-second studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in the spring of 1974 by Columbia Records and was a return to singing songs that his audience was already familiar with after Solitaire, his previous LP that was less reliant on covers of recent pop hits, did not perform well.
↑ Hall of Fame, Canadian Music. "Terry Jacks". Seasons in the Sun. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014.
↑ Günter Ehnert (ed.): Hit Bilanz. Deutsche Chart Singles 1956-1980. Hamburg: Taurus Press 1990, p. 105; ISBN978-3922542247.
↑ 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; ISBN978-0586043707.
↑ Jacks, Terry. "Producer". Crazy Talk. Gone Fishin' Music Ltd. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
↑ Jacks, Terry. "Producer". Something I Like About That. Gone Fishin' Music Inc. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
↑ "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.
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