Jackie Verdell was born on 5 November 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and after leaving high school she joined The Davis Sisters in 1955, at the start of their tenure with Herman Lubinsky and Ozzie Cadena's Savoy Records label. How she came to sing with one of gospel's most famous groups is a typical Golden Age gospel tale, as she was a soloist in the choir of Faith Temple in New York, pastored by Bishop A.A. Childs, where Ruth Davis was attending a broadcast at which Jackie was singing, and the rest is gospel history. Verdell possessed a powerful mezzo-soprano voice, and was second lead for The Davis Sisters between 1955 and 1960, featuring on many of their Savoy recordings, with her performances on records such as 'Lord Don't Leave Me', 'Following Him', and 'I Don't Know What I'd Do' making an impression on the young Aretha Franklin. Like Franklin, she left the gospel field in 1960 and began singing pop, her voice having deepened to a contralto and losing the upper register. She signed with Houston-based Peacock Records, releasing three singles between 1961 and 1964, and although none of them charted, her own composition 'Why Not Give Me A Chance' attained a small level of popularity, being covered in later years by soul singers O.V. Wright in the late 60's and by Ruby Wilson in the early 80's. In between recording her solo singles she returned to the Davis Sisters to record with them, eventually leaving for good in 1966 to concentrate on her own career, but after further unsuccessful pop singles on Decca Records and its Coral Records subsidiary, the late 1960's and early 1970's found her contributing background vocals (along with Cissy Houston, Judy Clay, and other members of The Drinkard Singers or The Sweet Inspirations) to records by Wilson Pickett, Dee Dee Warwick, Van Morrison, and Clarence Wheeler & The Enforcers, as well as one further solo single for Stax Records' Gospel Truth and Respect labels under the name of Jacqui Verdell. Her only solo album, 'Lay My Burden Down', produced by former soul singer Joe Simon, was released on Spring Records in 1983, and good as it was, her best work was undoubtedly in the 60's, and so here are all the singles and b-sides that she recorded in the decade or so from her first release in 1961. Jackie Verdell died in August 1991, at the age of 53.
01 You Ought To Know Him (single 1961)
02 Bye Bye Blackbird (b-side of 'You Ought To Know Him')
03 Why Not Give Me A Chance (single 1963)
04 Hush (b-side of 'Why Not Give Me A Chance')
05 Y.K.W. (single 1964)
06 Come Let Me Love You (b-side of 'Y.K.W.')
07 Are You Ready For This (single 1967)
08 I'm Your Girl (b-side of 'Are You Ready For This')
09 Does She Ever Remind You Of Me (single 1967)
10 Don't Set Me Free (b-side of 'Does She Ever Remind You Of Me')
11 If We Are Really In Love (single 1968)
12 Call On Me (b-side of 'If We Are Really In Love')
13 He's Mine (single 1973)
14 We're Gonna Have A Good Time (b-side of 'He's Mine')
