Jackie Ross may not be a particularly well known artist to
other than die hard soulies. She was born Jaculyn Bless Ross on this day
in 1946 in St. Louis, MO and is 77 today.
Both her parents were preachers, so inevitably she started singing gospel
from a young age, as early as 3 years old she performed on her parents'
radio show. The family moved to Chicago after her father died when she was
8. Her mother met, and became friendly with, Sam Cooke who signed Jackie
to his fledgling SAR label where she released her first recording "Hold
Me" / "Hard Times" in 1962 as Jacki Ross aged just 15. The A side was
written by Cooke and Ross penned the B side.
After spending time in Syl Johnson's band, as a result of winning a
talent show, Ross signed to Chess in 1964 and had her biggest hit with her
first single "Selfish One" which reached #11 R&B. The follow up single
"I've Got The Skill" didn't fare as well only reaching #89, and the one
after "Haste Makes Waste" failed to hit the top 100 (falling outside at
124) with her next, and last, R&B chart entry being "Jerk And Twine"
in early 1965 reaching #85. The flip side of the single had a song called
"New Lover" which had the same backing as "Selfish One". Based on the
success of "Selfish One", Chess released her debut album "Full Bloom" in
1964 which contained both sides of her first three singles plus another
four songs not released on singles including two standards i.e.
"Summertime" and "Misty".
Several more singles were released on Chess, including Trade Martin's
"Take Me For A Little While", released at the same time as Evie Sands in
July 1965 and a minor hit for Patti LaBelle & The Blue Belles in
1967.
By 1967 Ross was in dispute with Chess, the usual story over promotion
and royalties, and left for Brunswick where she released just two singles,
"Keep Your Chin Up" (1968) and "Walk On My Side" (1969). She then joined
Jerry Butler's Fountain label for another two singles before signing for
Mercury in 1970 for another two, the first a reissue of her last Fountain
single. In 1971 she released a single "Doctor Slap's Man Is Born" on
Sedgrick, the same label on which Don Gardner's Northern Soul ultra-rarity
"Cheatin Kind" was released. Both sides of the single were picked up by
U.S.A. records who released it a few months later.
For the remainder of the 70s she label hopped with one single on Scepter,
two on GSF, another few releases on Sedgrick, one on Capitol and a few on
Golden Ear, one with Little Milton. Golden Ear and Sedgerick were owned by
James Vanleer, who wrote and produced all of Ross' original material from
1971 and became her manager.
Some sporadic singles were released during the 80s, several on Golden Ear,
where she also released a solo album, "A New Beginning For Jackie Ross"
which sells for up to £500, a joint album with Little Milton, another joint
album with Bobby Rush and one billed as Southside Movement & Jackie
Ross. Her last single was in 1988 for Willie Mitchell's Waylo label which
had an Isaac Hayes song top side and a re-recorded 80s version of "Selfish
One" titled "Selfishone".
Apart from the Sedgrick/U.S.A. single and "Keep Your Chin Up" on Brunswick,
the only material available on Spotify is her Chess recordings.
Her namesake, Diana Ross, recorded "Selfish One" in 1987 on her "Red Hot
Rhythm + Blues" album.
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