Total Commitment

AMG Review of Total Commitment

Bruce Eder
All Music Guide

Del Shannon's second album for Liberty Records, Total Commitment followed a similar pattern to its predecessor, mixing originals with covers of contemporary hits, with one important difference -- Shannon produced this album himself, instead of relying on Snuff Garrett, and the result is generally a far leaner, more stripped-down sound. With George Tipton doing the arrangements, Total Commitment is almost a roots rock record compared with This Is My Bag, which preceded it, with guitars prominent in the mix and less ornate vocal mixes. And even amid such classic compositions as "Where Were You When I Needed You," "Time Won't Let Me," and "Summer in the City," Shannon managed to acquit himself well as a composer with the haunting "She Was Mine" and "What Makes You Run." The resulting album, coming out late in 1966, got lost in the psychedelic pop run up to 1967, but today it comes off as a classic in its own right, almost a rootsy take on mid-'60s pop/rock, somewhere midway between Bobby Fuller and the Beatles.