Susan Jacks - Career

Career

Susan Jacks was born to a family of eight children in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Her family moved to British Columbia when she was 9. Jacks began her professional career at 15 when she was asked to be a regular performer on the national Canadian television show, Music Hop. She also appeared on several other national television shows and regularly did live performances in the British Columbia and Alberta areas. She recorded her first single with two other well known Vancouver performers, Howie Vickers and Tom Northcott, under the name of "The Eternal Triangle"

In 1966, 18 year old Susan Pesklevits asked Terry Jacks to accompany her on guitar for an upcoming appearance. After performing a small number of dates, Craig McCaw was added on lead guitar, Susan eventually stopped performing as a solo artist, left the "Eternal Triangle" and dedicated her time to the newly formed trio. The trio used the name "Powerline" for a number of months before settling on the name "The Poppy Family". Susan and Terry married in 1967. Craig McCaw introduced Satwant Singh to the group and he soon joined the trio on tablas. The group began recording as "The Poppy Family featuring Susan Jacks" and had a number of hits from 1968 through the early 1970s. "Which Way You Goin' Billy?" sold over 3 million copies worldwide, hitting No. 1 in Canada and No. 2 in the United States. "That's Where I Went Wrong" and "Where Evil Grows' also charted well on Billboard. They consequently followed up with numerous hits in Canada. Terry released Satwant Singh and Craig McCaw from the group in 1970 and, although the name Poppy Family was still used, Susan essentially became a solo artist, with the exception of one or two duets with Terry. She often performed Poppy Family hits on numerous television shows including "Rollin' On The River", "The Bobby Darin Show" and "The George Kirby Special". Later, as a solo artist, she appeared on other television shows including "The Bobby Vinton Show" and numerous talk shows. She was also featured in a special called "Caught In The Act".

In 1972, the Poppy Family name was dropped and, together, Susan and Terry produced solo albums: Susan's album "I Thought of You Again" and Terry's album "Seasons In The Sun". Susan left the marriage in 1973 and resumed her solo career. She continued to have hits in Canada with songs including "Anna Marie", "Forever", "I Thought of You Again", "All The Tea in China", "Evergreen", "You Don't Know What Love Is", "I Want You To Love Me", "Build A Tower", "Love Has No Pride", and "Another Woman's Man". Susan's first solo album I Thought of You Again was released in 1973, the title single earning her a nomination for Canadian Female Vocalist of the Year. With the release of her Dream album in 1975, Susan was nominated again for her single "Anna Marie". Her 1980 Ghosts album garnered her another nomination with her single "All The Tea In China". In 1982 her Forever album was released.

In 1977, Jacks met former Canadian Football League player Ted Dushinski. They married in 1980 and had a son, Thad. The family moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1983 where she recorded the Juno-nominated song, "Another Woman's Man". She became a staff songwriter for a Nashville publishing company and has had several songs recorded, including a children's song on a Grammy nominated album entitled "A Child's Gift of Lullabyes". Susan would later co-write and sing a song for the made-for-TV movie "The Last Chance Cafe".

In 2004, Jacks returned to Canada when her husband was diagnosed with lung cancer. Upon returning, she was told she was in kidney failure and performed on a limited basis as her strength deteriorated. In 2010, Susan received a kidney transplant when her brother Billy donated a kidney to her. (Billy's name was used for her first hit with the Poppy Family "Which Way You Goin' Billy?"). A few months after the transplant, Jacks was again on stage and on April 17, 2011 performed a benefit concert for the Kidney Foundation of Canada to raise awareness of the need for organ donation. The concert brought very favourable response for her return to the stage and she is now planning to tour across Canada in 2012.

Jacks was inducted into the British Columbia Entertainment Hall of Fame on 27 June 2010.