Terry Jacks

Terry Jacks (born March 29, 1944 in Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer and environmentalist.

Career

Growing up as part of the hippie generation, a teenage Jacks migrated to the west coast where, as a guitarist and singer, he joined a Vancouver, British Columbia, band called The Chessmen. The group had a few minor local hits before disbanding, after which Jacks teamed up with soloist Susan Pesklevits (born 1948, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan). Jacks composed, arranged, and produced their material while Pesklevits sang lead vocals. The duo performed at small Vancouver clubs before adding another guitarist and drummer to restyle themselves as The Poppy Family.

While Jacks' and Pesklevits' personal relationship led to marriage, they eked out a living until the band burst onto the national charts in 1969 with their Terry Jacks-produced debut album, "Which Way You Goin' Billy?" that saw the 45rpm single go to No. 1 in Canada and reach No. 2 on the Billboard charts in the United States, selling upwards of three million copies. The single won a Juno Award for best performance while Jacks earned a Juno for best producer of a single. The Poppy Family won a Juno for best group and immediately followed up with "Poppy Seeds" but it never achieved anything close to that initial success internationally, although their Canadian success continued. The Poppy Family did place two other singles in the U.S. Top 50, "That's Where I Went Wrong" (No. 29, 1970) and "Where Evil Grows" (No. 45, 1971), the latter of which was a duet between Jacks and Pesklevits (unusual since she was lead singer on most of the group's singles). Eventually The Poppy Family split up.

The marriage dissolved, but they produced two more albums before the marriage officially ended in 1973, Susan's first solo album "I Thought Of You Again" and Terry's "Seasons in the Sun" album. Terry had worked with the Beach Boys to record the song "Seasons In The Sun" but the project was never finished so it was decided Jacks would record the song. Released in 1973 on his own record label, Goldfish Records, the single became the largest-selling single in Canadian history and earned Jacks three Juno Awards. He was the first Artist in British Columbia to earn a million selling single. In the United States, where it was released on Bell Records, the song went to No. 1 on the charts. He released two more singles entitled "If You Go Away" (another English-language version of a Jaques Brel song entitled "Ne Me Quitte Pas") and "Rock & Roll (I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life)", but unlike "Seasons In The Sun" they didn't make the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the USA but both Charted in Canada. His follow up hit "Concrete Sea" also Reached number one on the charts in Canada.

Jacks wrote and recorded a number of other songs and went on to become a successful record producer for other Canadian singers, earning a Juno nomination as "Producer of the Year". The song "Seasons in the Sun" was penned by Jacques Brel, with the English translation by Rod McKuen; however, Jacks re-wrote the lyrics for the third verse with a friend who had died in mind.He opened up a store on Granville Island, Vancouver, called "The Lobster Man". He later sold the business.

Jacks became involved in the environmental movement, focusing on pollution issues in Canada and the United States and lending his name to United Kingdom organizations such as The Woodland Trust.

He married a second time and has a daughter, Holly. That marriage recently ended in the late 90's. In 1996, Jacks released the CD, "A Good Thing Lost 1968-1973", a collection of The Poppy Family songs. He lives in Pender Harbour, British Columbia, where he is still active in the music industry and the environmental movement. Most recently, Jacks has been involved in music with Vancouver singer-songwriter Jana Keeley and Seattle band Mono in VCF.

Terry is currently working on re-releasing his early tapes of The Chessmen. The four singles by the group all charted between 1963 and 1966. On the CFUN charts, 'What's Causing This Sensation' and 'The Way You Fell' reached number 4, 'Love Didn't Die' reached number 9, and 'Mustang' reached number 14, all on the Canadian Charts. There is rumored to be a live tape from The Chessmen's last gig in July 1966 which may appear on the CD as well as some unreleased tracks.Look for Terry Jacks Anthology on CD next year (2009) from Regenerator Records and available exclusively from WalMart upon release. More info at: www.regeneratorrecords.com. Join The OFFICIAL Terry Jacks Fanclub and get signed photos, pins, t-shirts, quarterly newsletters and other cool stuff. Send Email for fan club details to: [e-mail]

Discography

tudio albums

"Seasons in the Sun" (1974)

ingles

ee also

*List of musicians from Canada

External links

* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Terry+Jacks Terry Jacks discography and biography]
* [http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/jacks_terry/bio.jhtm+Jacks Terry Jacks Biography and Discography on VH1]
* [http://www.answers.com/topic/terry-jacks?cat=entertainment+Jacks Terry Jacks Information on Answers]
* [http://music.aol.com/artist/terry-jacks/25243/main+Jacks Terry Jacks Biography on AOL Music]
* [http://music.yahoo.com/ar-302346-biography--Terry-Jacks+Jacks Terry Jacks Biography on Yahoo! Music]