Runaway - Del Shannon

[edna]

"Runnaway" was called "My little runaway" at first. I found plenty of information at www.delshannon.com/runaway. Here´s some of it:

Max Crook sat down at his bench and began running riffs on the piano. Shannon jumped, "Max what was that?" Crook simply replied, "an 'A-minor' and a 'G.'" Shannon was tired of hearing what he called "Blue Moon" chords ('C,' 'A Minor,' 'F,' and 'G' progressions), and began playing those two chords over and over again on his guitar yelling "Follow me! Everybody follow me..."

"Forget everything you ever heard about 'Runaway,'" said Parker in a 1992 interview. "It was this simple. Max sat down and began tinkling on the piano." Shannon and Crook began playing the lick over and over, humming a few words here and there. "When I saw that the two weren't going to stop," explained Parker, "I jumped in with the drums." The band worked on the song for the next 15 to 20 minutes, as the crowd looked on curiously. Finally, the owner of the club came over to the stage and told them to "Knock it off!" and "Play something else!"

The next morning, Shannon took his guitar with him to work at The Carpet Outlet, where Shannon sold carpets by day. Sitting on a roll of carpets, Del began writing the words to his new song. "As I walk along..."

Wes Kilbourne, a friend to Shannon whom he had met while both were employed at a local Brunswick factory months earlier, stopped by to visit with the singer and watched as the first lyrics to "Runaway" took shape that one Saturday morning. "I recall Del's original title of the song was 'Little 'Runaway.' He was working out lyrics like 'I'm a-walkin' in the storm' and 'I'm a-walkin' beneath the clouds.' Things like that. In fact, he had an entire second verse that he wrote but totally scrapped it off because it didn't fit in as well as the first verse. 'Something something something, I see the image of my love, I'm a-walkin' in the rain...'"

Shannon finished the song by lunch and telephoned Crook. "Max, bring your tape recorder with you to the club tonight. I've finished our song. It's called 'Little Runaway."

There´s also more information here.

[katie_sane]

Thanks for the info edna! My mum used to play this song all the time when I was a little girl and I still love it. It makes me sad though, because I think of Del Shannon and the tragic way his life ended.

Great song

[Blue Fish]

this is an awesome song! It makes me cry though because i first heard it when i fell in love, and that was a disaster!