Shannon – Henry Gross | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning

Chart Performance: Pop (#6) & Adult Contemporary (#13); 1976

Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne

Listening to the poignancy of Shannon, one would be hard-pressed to guess that Henry Gross was once a guitar player with the 1950’s send-up group Sha Na Na. Shortly after the group’s memorable appearance at Woodstock in 1969, Henry moved on.

While Sha Na Na became stars on vinyl and television, Henry signed a solo deal with A&M Records. 1975’s Plug Me Into Something, produced by Terry Cashman and Tommy West, featured Henry’s friend, Beach Boy Carl Wilson. And that’s where the Shannon story starts.

It seems Carl and Henry both had Irish Setters named Shannon. When Carl’s beloved dog passed away, Henry expressed his grief over the death in song.

Meanwhile, convinced of Henry’s hit potential, Cashman and West had signed him to their new label, and brought in jazz luminaries such as David Sanborn and Bucky Pizzarelli to play on his next album, Release.

C&W’s hunch proved to be a good one: Henry’s ode to loss climbed into the Top 10 in June of 1976.

This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.

Produced by:

• Terry Cashman and Tommy West for Cashwest Productions, Inc.

Lyrics Written by:

• Henry Gross