She dated Elvis and Jimmy Page, toured with the Beatles, and wrote many hit songs – Jackie DeShannon is one interesting lady.

Way before the current crop of women from Lady Gaga to Taylor Swift began ruling the charts, DeShannon blazed a trail in the early 1960’s, showing that a woman could sing, play guitar, write and produce her own recordings. She penned hits for many artists, including Brenda Lee, the Searchers and Marianne Faithful. She scored hits of her own with “What the World Needs Now is Love,” and “Put a Little Love in Your Heart.”

DeShannon has a brand new album out, When You Walk Into the Room, where she performs stripped-down renditions of her hit songs, and tunes she wrote for others. Icon Fetch talks to the Kentucky native about how difficult it was trying to be taken seriously in the male-dominated music business, her famous boyfriends, and the story behind one of her most famous compositions, “Bette Davis Eyes,” a monster hit for Kim Carnes in 1981.