Original Released on LP Bell Records BELLS 239
(July 1974)
Canadian singer/songwriter/guitarist Terry Jacks was born on the 19th March, 1944, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. With his wife, Susan Pesklevits, he formed The Poppy Family in 1967, with whom he found worldwide success with his own song hit "Which Way You Goin' Billy", in 1970. It was #1 in Canada, #2 in The States and #7 in Britain.
During 1973, Terry's marriage to Susan officially dissolved, but not before they had collaborated in the recording of a pair of individual solo albums, in the form of Susan's "I Tought Of You Again" and this one, Terry's "Seasons In The Sun" (with Susan putting in a cameo appearance on "Sail Away"). The title track was an old French song, written and composed by Jacques Brel, for which poet/songwriter Rod McKuen had written an English-lyric adaptation. The song, about a dying man, had originally been entitled "Le Moribond". The first Anglicised version of the song had been recorded by The Kingston Trio in 1963, whilst British band The Fortunes had also released a version on single in 1968.
Terry had produced a version of "Seasons In The Sun" for The Beach Boys in 1972, although the recording was not deemed to be totally successful and was consigned to the filling cabinet. Encouraged by Susan, he recorded his own version of the song, for which the arrangement on the aborted Beach Boys version undoubtedly served as a template. Terry altered some of the song's lyrics for his own version to make the song more commercial and slightly less maudlin, particularly in the final verse.
"Seasons In The Sun" / "Put The Bone In" was released as a single at the end of 1973 on Terry Jacks' own Goldfish Records in Canada. The single not only went on to top the Canadian charts but also became the biggest selling Canadian single in history. This huge success attracted the attention of Bell Records who gave the single a worldwide release in early 1974. It remained in US #1 for 3 weeks and also topped the British charts for 4 weeks. The song gave Terry Jacks a #1 hit in many other countries, including Germany, where he released a German-language version under the title of "In Den Gärten Der Zeit". As a song, "Seasons In The Sun" has proven its popularity over the years by being perfomed by acts as diverse as Nirvana and Westlife (whose version gave them a UK #1 hit in 1999).
The original album is presented here with 4 bonus tracks: "Put The Bone In" (the B-side of "Seasons In The Sun") and also Terry's subsequent singles: "If You Go Away" (another Brel's composition, the imortal "Ne Me Quitte Pas") / "Me And You" (1974) and "Rock 'n' Roll (I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life)" (A-side single, 1975).
