Del Shannon weekend to tell the story of Battle Creek's link to the rock legend

Charles Westover might have been from Grand Rapids. But Del Shannon, the rock and roll legend, was "born" in Battle Creek.

Del Shannon, Westover's stage name, came to be when he wrote and performed the song 'Runaway' while he was living in Battle Creek in 1961. The city and Shannon would forever be linked in music history.

That's the main story organizers want to tell with the recently-announced Del Shannon Weekend, scheduled for June 23-25, in Battle Creek.

The showcase of the event will be a Del Shannon Tribute Concert, featuring James Popenhagen, a longtime friend of the Westover family who has been performing Del Shannon songs internationally for years.

"We are excited about the three-day weekend and to celebrate Del Shannon," Popenhagen said. "Part of the weekend is to revive his memory. I think people forget what a big established star he was. The Beatles opened for him, the Stones opened for him. He was bigger than both of them at that time. But he is kinda getting forgotten now. So something like this, here in Battle Creek where it started, will get people to start talking about him again.

"If he ever were to be totally forgotten, that would break my heart."

Charles Westover was a military veteran, who had been sent to Battle Creek to serve at Fort Custer. Done with his service, Westover remained in Battle Creek and was a young musician working part-time at the city's Hi-Lo Club at the Gilbert Hotel. While there he wrote 'Runaway' and on April 10, 1961, he appeared on national television under the stage name of Del Shannon on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand." The song would spend four weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Shannon would go on to have a long career before dying of an apparent suicide in 1990. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.

While his time in Battle Creek was short, his impact was such that he continues to be part of the history of the city. A Michigan historical marker was erected near where the Gilbert Hotel once stood at 45 Capital Ave. S.W. in 1990, with a ceremony involving Shannon's family.

With the support of the Del Shannon estate, the three-day weekend will begin with the Del Shannon Tribute Concert on June 23 at Pennfield High School's Performing Arts Center. That concert will have Popenhagen doing his Del Shannon set and also include Brian Hyland, who lived with Del Shannon for a time, after he wrote hits like "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini."

Day 2 of the event will feature a Del Shannon Classic Car Show on June 24 at Leila Arboretum, put on by the Misfits Car Club. A Del Shannon car show was held annually in Coopersville, the singer's hometown near Grand Rapids, for 30 years before it ended two summers ago.

The final day includes a Del Shannon Historic Legacy Event on June 25 at the Battle Creek Regional History Museum. Part of that will be a special history presentation called "The Life of Del Shannon and his Legacy". Author Brian Young, who is writing a biography on Shannon, will be signing his upcoming book. Members of the Del Shannon family will also be in attendance.

Proceeds throughout the weekend benefit the museum.

"The Battle Creek Regional History Museum has been growing and our goal is to continue growing and this fundraiser will help with that," said Michael Delaware, a local historian who is the museum's marketing director and serves on the museum's board. "Our goal is get more people interested in exploring the history of Battle Creek. Del Shannon is a very important part of our history. Del Shannon is the only person, with a connection to Battle Creek, to hit No. 1 on the national charts. Junior Walker was No. 1 on the R&B charts, but not the national charts. So Del Shannon is the biggest musical figure ever to be associated with Battle Creek."

Delaware believes the Del Shannon Weekend will not only bring out local fans who are aware of the town's connection, but he expects music followers from all over the world will come to Battle Creek for the event.

"Del Shannon had a following here, but if you went to Europe and places like London, Del was bigger there than he ever was here," Delaware said. "He was bigger than some of the stars you can think of that were part of the 'British Invasion.' He inspired some of those acts. You talk to someone in the United States about if they know a Del Shannon song, they may say 'Runaway.' But, if you talk to someone in London, they may rattle off 10 hits he had, because he charted with more hits over there.

"The overall purpose of the museum is we want to draw people locally, nationally and internationally, and Del Shannon brings in that international connection because of his popularity all over the world."

Popenhagen has already seen that in action.

"I put a little something on my Facebook page already about the event and I have heard of fans wanting to buy tickets, and planning to fly in from Ireland, Scotland, England, Australia, Germany. Del is just that big in Europe," Popenhagen said.

Popenhagen first met Shannon when he was a kid when the singer had come back to play a concert at Kellogg Arena. Then he found out that his grandfather, Bob Popenhagen, had played guitar with Shannon at the Hi-Lo back in the day and later became part of his band. When James Popenhagen started a singing career himself, he did his first Del Shannon show in 2011 for the 50th anniversary of "Runaway" and has been touring as a tribute act ever since.

Popenhagen now owns a roomful of Del Shannon memorabilia, including a gold record for "Runaway", old guitars played by Shannon, candid photos of them together, among many other items. Several of those pieces of history will be on exhibit at the Battle Creek Regional History Museum as part of the weekend's festivities.

Popenhagen says this summer's tribute comes at a good time because he sees a Del Shannon renaissance happening.

"Recently, the TV show 'Dexter' licensed 'Runaway' and put it in over half of the episodes and that brought in a ton of young people as fans," Popenhagen said. "You could see it with all the downloads that started happening. Plus, there is a documentary coming on Netflix about the influence Del Shannon had on so many, where they interviewed Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, myself.

"So the timing of this is perfect. It's going to be a great weekend."

You can register for the Del Shannon Car Show at https://donorbox.org/delshannoncarshow. Tickets for the Del Shannon Tribute Concert will be at BCRHM.Eventbrite.com when they become available.

Tickets for the Del Shannon Historic Legacy Event will be limited to 70 and are available at the museum and will be sold at the car show and concert.

Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter: @billbroderick.

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Del Shannon event to showcase Battle Creek's link to "Runaway" fame