Love Forever, our 2025 set of demos from Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Jackie DeShannon, set collector hearts a-flutter all over the world with its collection of introspective, folk rock-flavored tunes drawn from her unreleased recordings for Metric Music Publishing. Now, we’re one-upping ourselves with Girl of Yesterday-Acoustic Folk Demos, a collection of COMPLETELY UNRELEASED acoustic folk demos from Jackie, taken from the same rich source of material.
Folk music came naturally to Jackie. She got her start singing gospel at home and in church as a child in her native Kentucky, and then singing country songs in her teens on her own weekly radio show. And her first, self-titled album for Liberty in 1963 consisted entirely of folk repertoire. But that album only featured folk songs written by other artists. Girl of Yesterday—Acoustic Folk Demos, on the other hand, presents a dozen tunes, all penned by Jackie for an album distributed by Metric in 1964. Accompanied only by her own accomplished fingerpicked acoustic guitar, DeShannon delivered a stunning set of heart-rendingly sung, haunting music imbued with the doubt, confusion, and excitement of finding adult identity. Although grounded in acoustic folk, it looked forward to both folk-rock and the singer-songwriter era in its lyrical maturity and melodic complexity. Only 500 to 1000 copies were pressed in November 1964, its availability limited to various A&R personnel and other music industry staff who made decisions with recording artists looking for material. With Girl of Yesterday—Acoustic Folk Demos, this remarkable material finally gains the exposure it deserves.
Among the highlights are a couple of songs that were soon covered by famous artists. Certainly the most renowned is “Don’t Doubt Yourself, Babe,” given a Bo Diddley beat by The Byrds (Jackie was a huge Byrds booster and fan) on their Top Ten 1965 debut album Mr. Tambourine Man, though it was titled “It’s Gonna Be All Right” on her far folkier arrangement on the original Metric Music demo LP. And Marianne Faithfull covered the superbly bittersweet “With You in Mind” on her 1967 album Love in a Mist. We also hear the first appearance of “Splendor in the Grass,” later a 1966 DeShannon single given backing by The Byrds. Richie Unterberger’s notes feature candid recollections from Jackie about the motivations behind the songs and the vibrant, mid-‘60s LA scene from which they emerged. Remastered by Mike Milchner at Sonic Vision and featuring photos from Jackie’s private collection, Girl of Yesterday—Acoustic Folk Demos is available in a beige vinyl edition. A missing and utterly charming chapter in both Jackie’s own evolution and the progression of American folk and pop to more sophisticated forms.
