FULLER UP HOME GRIM REAPER PAGE CAUSES OF DEATH SEARCH BY NAME GET IN TOUCH SHAMEFUL DISCLAIMER    Fuller Up The Dead Musician Directory    Doris nee Coley Kenner Jackson Doris (Coley) Jackson February 4, 2000 Age 58  Breast Cancer    OBITUARY  BIOGRAPHY   LINKS  Buy or Hear the Music         Editor's Pick:  25 All-Time Greatest Hits

OBITUARY 

Shirelles' Doris Jackson dies at 58  By JULIE FIELDS Staff Writer  Bergen Record  Doris (Coley) Jackson, a member of the legendary Passaic County rock-and-roll "girl group" the Shirelles, which produced a  string of top hits including "Dedicated to the One I Love" in the early 1960s, has died of cancer, according to several family  members. She was 58.   Jackson died Friday at a hospital in Sacramento, Calif., relatives said.   The Shirelles, who inspired a wave of other "girl groups," including The Supremes, were formed by Jackson and three  classmates at Passaic High School in 1957.   At their first performance, a school talent show, they sang "I Met Him on a Sunday" and received a standing ovation. They  went on to record several Top 40 hits, including "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" (1961) and "Soldier Boy" (1962).   Jackson, who lived in Sacramento in recent years, returned to Passaic at least once a year, her niece, Lauren Nance of  Passaic, said Friday night.   "When they would hear Doris was in town, it was always such a grand thing," Nance said. "Our phone would ring off the  hook."   In 1996, Jackson returned to Passaic for a reunion performance with two other members of the Shirelles, Beverly Lee of  Passaic and Shirley Alston Reeves (born Shirley Owens) of Hillside. The fourth Shirelle, Addie "Mickie" Harris, died in 1982.   "God, it feels good to be here," Jackson said during that performance, which ended in a shower of flowers, proclamations,  honorary diplomas, and a standing ovation. None of the four students graduated with their class of 1958, but they earned  diplomas later.   The following night, the Shirelles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Manhattan.   "They were trendsetters because they were around before the Supremes were around," Nance said. "They laid the foundation  for the other girl groups of today to be here."   The Shirelles recorded "I Met Him on a Sunday," their first song, for independent record producer Florence Greenberg, the  mother of one of their classmates, Mary Jane [Greenberg]. After Decca released the record and dismissed the Shirelles as one-hit  wonders, Greenberg signed them to her new Scepter Records label.   The 1996 performance at Passaic High School marked the last time the three remaining Shirelles performed together.  Jackson, however, had continued to sing in recent years despite her battle with cancer. She most recently headlined an  engagement in the state of Washington over New Year's, and entertained passengers on a cruise ship in early January,  relatives said.   "She worked through her illness," Nance said. "She was very passionate about her career. . . . She gave so much to so many  people, and people gave back to her."   Soul singer and contemporary Maxine Brown, who also sang at Scepter, once paid Jackson a knowing compliment. "They  were pioneers. They had a unique sound," Brown said of the group as a whole, adding, "especially Shirley. Her voice had a  lonesome quality. Very haunting."   Jackson, who was born in Goldsboro, N.C., was married twice. She is survived by three sons, Antonio Kenner, Gary  Kenner, and Tracy Jackson, and one daughter, Staci Jackson.   She also is survived by two sisters, Ernestine Francies of Passaic and Agnes Coley of Bloomfield, and a brother, Jeremiah  Coley of Paterson. A second brother, Leodie Coley, is deceased.   No information on funeral arrangements was available.                                     Copyright © 2000 Bergen Record Corp.                                   SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Doris Kenner-Jackson of the                              pop-rock group the Shirelles, whose soaring harmonies on                              "Soldier Boy'' and a number of other songs brought huge                              success in the early 1960s, died Friday. She was 58.                               Jackson, who had breast cancer, died at Kaiser Permanente                              Medical Center, her cousin Evelyn Jackson said from her                              home in Goldsboro, N.C.                               The Shirelles, composed of Jackson, Shirley Alston Reeves,                              Beverly Lee and the late Addie "Micki'' Harris, began their                              career at a high school talent show in Passaic, N.J., in 1957,                              singing their own composition, "I Met Him on Sunday.''                               A classmate who heard them told her mother, independent                              record producer Florence Greenberg, who helped them                              record the song the following year.                              Aided by legendary producer Phil Specter, they turned out a                              string of hits through the early '60s, including "Tonight's The                              Night,'' "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,'' "Soldier Boy,''                              "Baby It's You,'' and "Dedicated to the One I Love,'' the latter                              featuring Jackson on lead vocal.                              Their songs, like those of several other popular "girl groups'' of                              the early '60s including Specter's Ronettes, were notable for                              their tight harmonies, bouncy upbeat lyrics and lush musical                              arrangements known as Specter's "Wall of Sound.''                              Jackson, who was born in North Carolina, moved to New                              Jersey as a child, where she sang in church and with friends.                              After their early success with "I Met Him on Sunday,'' all four                              of the group dropped out of high school to pursue their                              musical careers, each earning diplomas later.     New York Times  Doris Kenner-Jackson, 58, Singer In the Original Shirelles Foursome             By ANN POWERS                 Doris Kenner-Jackson, a founding member of the Shirelles, one of                 the first and most emotionally affecting of pop's girl groups, died            on Friday at a hospital in Sacramento, Calif. She was 58.             The cause was breast cancer, said her niece, Lauren Nance.             Ms. Kenner-Jackson was born Doris Coley in 1941 in Goldsboro,            N.C., and moved with her family to Passaic, N.J., as a teenager. She            soon began performing at parties and talent shows with her friends            Shirley Owens (later Shirley Alston Reeves), Addie Harris and Beverly            Lee.             A classmate introduced the foursome to her mother, Florence            Greenberg, the pioneering manager and a founder of Tiara Records, who            soon signed the group to record for her label.             The Shirelles co-wrote their first single, the precocious schoolyard round            "I Met Him on a Sunday," which earned so much radio play that Decca            Records bought it and distributed it nationally. After that, the group            recorded many hits and earned ardent fans including the Beatles, who            covered the quartet's songs "Baby It's You" and "Boys."             Ms. Kenner-Jackson usually sang harmonies during the Shirelles' heyday,            but she did take the lead on the group's passionate version of the Five            Royales' song, "Dedicated to the One I Love." Her vocals captured the            reckless yearning of the teenage heart.             She also sang the lead on many lesser-known Shirelles songs, including            "Blue Holiday" and "I Saw a Tear."             The Shirelles stayed together until 1968, broke up and reunited, and            finally splintered in the 1970's. Ms. Kenner-Jackson kept performing in            one of three postbreakup versions of the group.             She briefly worked for Federal Express in the 1970's, but mostly stayed            active on the oldies-revival circuit. Despite her two-year fight with            cancer, she was entertaining audiences until a few weeks before her            death, said Ms. Nance, of Paterson, N.J.             In 1994, when the Rhythm and Blues Foundation gave the Shirelles a            Heritage Award, Ms. Kenner-Jackson sang with the group's other            surviving members, Ms. Alston Reeves and Ms. Lee, for the first time in            19 years, Harris having died in 1982. The threesome met again when            they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.             Ms. Kenner-Jackson, who was married and divorced twice, is survived            by four children, Antonio Kenner, Gary Kenner, Tracey Jackson, and            Staci Jackson-Richardson, all of Sacramento; two sisters, Ernestine            Francies of Passaic and Agnes Coley of Bloomfield, N.J.; a brother,            Jeremiah Coley of Paterson, four grandchildren and a great-grandchild.          From Collins Crapo's Oldies Website!    The name of this group (formed in 1958 and originally named the Pequellos) was not derived from the name of Shirley Owens (later Alston, then Reeves), who usually sang lead.  Instead, she thought it would be a similar name to the girls' favorite group, the Chantels. The other three women in the group were Doris Coley (later Kenner, then Jackson), Addie "Micki" Harris, and Beverly Lee. Micki died of a heart attack in 1982 and Doris of breast cancer in February 2000.

 

 

BIOGRAPHY

Born:  Aug 2, 1941 in Passaic, NJ            In 1959, when Doris Jackson stepped up to the microphone and sang out "This Is     Dedicated...To The One I Love", little did she or the other Shirelles know that 35 years    later, she would be accepting the 1994 Rhythm & Blues Foundation Heritage Award and  singing the same song to a screaming crowd of legendary rock, rhythm and blues stars,        including Little Richard, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen, Dionne Warwick and many more!  ~borrowed from De La Font.   All-Music Guide The Shirelles  The Shirelles were instrumental in defining the girl group sound, and  were one of the style's most successful acts between 1960 and 1963,   when they placed six singles in the Top Ten. Bridging doo wop and uptown   New York pop-soul, the group projected a beguiling mixture of tenderness  and innocence that was grounded in R&B as much as pop/rock. Forming   as high school classmates in New Jersey, the Shirelles came under the   wing of manager Florence Goldberg, who also ran the Scepter label. Many   of their classic early sides featured innovative, occasionally string-laden   production by Luther Dixon, who also penned several of their greatest songs.   Top Brill Building songwriters like Goffin-King, Bacharach-David, and Van McCoy   also supplied the group with material. "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," "Baby It's You,"   "Foolish Little Girl," "Soldier Boy," "Dedicated to the One I Love," and "Mama Said"   were their  biggest hits, but they also cut a number of delightful less famous sides,   including "Boys," which (like "Baby It's You") was covered by the Beatles on their  first LP.   After mid-1963, the Shirelles were unable to dent the Top 40, although   they recorded some excellent songs, including the original version of "Sha La La"   (covered for a hit by Manfred Mann). The group recorded well into the '70s, updating  their sound into a more soul-oriented mode that was lacking in comparison.  ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

 

LINKS

Their Songs w/ history Tom Simon's Shirelles Bio The Shirelles' Lyrics The Scepter / Wand Story Cybergrrls part 1 Shirelles Cybergrrls part 2 Shirelles

 

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