For today’s classic song of the day, here’s another song with a name in the title. The song is “Shannon” by Henry Gross, and it was released in February of 1976 and went to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on the Cash Box Top 100. It was a number-one hit in Canada and New Zealand.
“Shannon” is a song about a dog. Henry Gross wrote “Shannon” after visiting with Beach Boy Carl Wilson after being on tour together. Gross mentioned that he had an Irish Setter named Shannon, and Wilson commented that he’d had a Irish Setter with that same name who’d recently been hit by a car and died.
Here’s how Henry Gross remembers it:
“Carl [Wilson] invited me to his house in Los Angeles to spend a day talking guitars, cars, and rock & roll. While he was preparing lunch his two Alaskan husky dogs reached up on the counter and inhaled our food. Carl was so nice he couldn’t stop apologizing but I told him while admiring the military perfection of the raid executed by his huskies, that I had an Irish Setter at home named Shannon and had seen this act many times before! He was quite moved as he told me that he had an Irish Setter named Shannon that had been killed only recently when hit by a car. We spent the rest of the day jamming and driving around Carl’s world, which as a friend and to be honest, a Beach Boy’s fanatic, was quite a thrill.”
So “Shannon” is a sad song grieving the loss of a beloved pet. Any of us who have or have had pets can sympathize. (We recently got a new dog ourselves, a Aussie Jack mix named Sir Bob Bigglesworth III. We call him Bigsby.)
“Shannon” was Henry Gross’ only big hit, which might qualify him as a one-hit wonder—if not for a second single, “Springtime Mama,” which you probably don’t remember but hit #37 on the charts later in 1976. He has continued to record and perform over the years, including doing session work (as a guitarist) for Jim Croce, Judy Collins, Andy Kim, and others. He’s currently 74 years old.
For your daily bonus video of the day, then, here’s Henry Gross performing “Shannon” on the August 27, 1976, episode of The Midnight Special. The song definitely has that certain soft rock feel that was popular in the mid-70s.
