One of the great heroes of classic R&B and soul, Chuck Jackson, has died at age 85. He was living in Atlanta.
Chuck was a friend, a great guy who really lived in New York and made the Apollo Theater his home in later years.
In the early 60s, Chuck had major, major hits with “I Keep Forgetting,” “Any Day Now,” and “I Don’t Wanna Cry.” The songs never went out of fashion. In fact, “I Keep Forgetting” was so lodged in Michael McDonald’s head that he wrote and recorded a new version of the song and released it– until someone reminded he’d actually forgotten Chuck’s song.
Chuck Jackson recorded for Florence Greenberg on the Sceptre label with Dionne Warwick. He also sang a lot of Bacharach- David songs. His beautiful baritone could handle anything. He often recorded with close friends like Dionne Warwick and Cissy Houston.
Nattily dressed at all times, Chuck cut an imposing figure with his trademark mustache. He left Sceptre in 1968 for Motown, where he stayed for two years. Through the 70s and 80s he continued to release records on a variety of labels.
Chuck was inducted into the R&B Hall of Fame, and won a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. He was married twice and had two kids from his first marriage. His second wife was the late Helen Cash Jackson, a much respected educator in New York. Her sister was the great Rosalind Cash. All these people are gone now, but they were amazing, and never to be forgotten.
