This Is My Bag

This Is My Bag is the seventh studio album by American rock and roll singer-songwriter Del Shannon, and his first for Liberty Records, Released in July 1966, it features the singles "The Big Hurt" and "For a Little While". "The Big Hurt" peaked at No. 94 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Background
Liberty wanted to get an album out on him, Snuff Garrett would produce again. Snuff had a differnet idea in mind. This time, Snuff used Nick DeCaro as arranger versus Leon Russell, it just seems odd that Shannon's easy-going "Hey Little Star" was in stark contrast to his growly plug side, As Bourgoise explanined it, "Del was never really encouraged to write. Liberty's solution was to have Del go in and cover all of these songs that were, at the time, climbing the charts. He basically fell into whatever Liberty wanted him to do.

Critical reception
Bruce Eder of AllMusic said that "as a single, "The Big Hurt" (which utilized his all-but-trademarked melodion sound) even charted in the U.S. Top 100, and he even managed to work a trio of very satisfying originals in amid the covers of songs such as "Kicks," "Lightning Strikes," and "When You Walk in the Room."

Record Mirror notes "He can find better material certainly he has written far better".

Recording dates

 * March 31, 1966 – "Never Thought I Could", "For a Little While", "Hey Little Star", "When You Walk in the Room", "Oh, Pretty Woman", "Everybody Loves a Clown", "It's Too Late", and "Action"
 * April 1, 1966 – "Lightnin' Strikes", "The Cheater", "Kicks"