Jesse Belvin

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Jesse Lorenzo Belvin (born December 15, 1932 in San Antonio Texas , † February 6, 1960 in Fairhope , Arkansas ) was an American R&B singer, pianist and songwriter.

Life

The native Texan grew up in Los Angeles and quickly came into contact with the burgeoning local R&B scene. Belvin joined the vocal quartet Three Dots And A Dash, which was used by saxophonist Big Jay McNeely for the recording of All the Wine Is Gone on Imperial Records in 1951 . He became the leader of a clique of young black musicians including Richard Berry , Marvin Phillips , Sam Cooke , Eugene Church and Tony Allen .

With Marvin Phillips in the company, Belvin recorded his first solo records for Specialty Records in 1952 . In 1953, a joint production under the name Jesse & Marvin became a first hit: Dream Girl came to second place on the R&B charts. Shortly thereafter, however, Belvin was drafted into the army.

After Jesse Belvin was allowed to leave the army in 1954, he signed a contract with Modern Records in Los Angeles. Belvin had the talent to compose promising songs in a short space of time, even if he didn't seem interested in marketing himself. He often sold the authorship of his melodies for a few hundred dollars. Earth Angel by the Penguins was his best-known work, becoming a frequently covered doo-wop standard and the first R&B record to cross over into the white pop market. So fine from the fiestas is also credited to him.

The songwriter and modern producer George Motola played the unfinished ballad Goodnight My Love (Pleasant Dreams) for him in his office , for which Belvin voiced the missing bridge spontaneously and appropriately. The present songwriter John Marascalco immediately bought half of the songwriter's credits. The song became an R&B hit, which DJ Alan Freed used as the theme song for the credits of his radio show. The recording management for the sessions for Modern was mostly arranged by the arranger, producer and orchestra leader Maxwell Davis . Belvin also helped out on Marvin & Johnny , his old partner Phillips' new project. He was also involved in recordings of the Sheiks and the Californians for Federal Records and can be heard on several modern singles with Eugene Church and Obediah "Young" Jessie as The Cliques .

In 1958, Belvin recorded with Frankie Ervin and Johnny Guitar Watson as The Shields for George Motola's Tender Records, the track You Cheated , which hit the pop charts. In the same year, Jesse Belvin's wife Jo Ann took over his management and was able to negotiate a contract with the major label RCA Records . There the jazz musician Shorty Rogers conveyed the value of his own compositions to him, so that both of them and their wives founded the music publisher Michele Music in order to manage Belvin's copyrights from now on .

The A & R Manager Dick Pierce and arranger Marty Paich planned a realignment of the image and style of the R & B singer for RCA. With his deep, warm and relaxed voice, Belvin was supposed to conquer the pop market as a mixture of Nat King Cole and Billy Eckstine . In fact, he achieved two national hits in 1958 with Funny at number 81 and in 1959 with Guess Who at number 31. His nickname Mr. Easy , acquired through the relaxed singing, was also planned as the title of an RCA album for the following year. The album should contain collaborations with the RCA jazzers Art Pepper , Jack Sheldon , Frank Rosolino and Mel Lewis .

However, on February 6, 1960, Jesse Belvin and his wife Jo Ann were killed in an accident after a concert in Little Rock , Arkansas. Some newspapers and musicians friends in Los Angeles discussed the possibility of a racially motivated attack on the tires of the accident vehicle.

Jesse Belvin's most acclaimed album, Mr. Easy , was only released posthumously. Since Belvin was 27 years old at the time of his death, he is occasionally mentioned in connection with Klub 27 , which brings together well-known musicians of that age.

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
Funny
  R&BTemplate: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / country wrong 25th 02/02/1959 (2 weeks)
  US 81 01/12/1959 (4 weeks)
Guess Who
  R&BTemplate: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / country wrong 7th 04/13/1959 (10 weeks)
  US 31 05/18/1959 (13 weeks)

For further publications with Jesse Belvin see also under Jesse & Marvin .

Albums

After Jesse's death, Modern Records re-released many of the titles as compilations on the sublabels Crown Records , Kent Records and United Superior . RCA also released many best-of albums posthumously. The Specialty recordings didn't appear on Ace Records and Specialty Compilations until the 1980s . Only Jesse Belvin appeared during the artist's lifetime .

  • 1959: Just Jesse Belvin , RCA LPM 2089
  • 1960: Mr. Easy , RCA LPM 2105

Singles

  • 1952: Baby Don't Cry / Confessin 'Blues , Specialty 435
  • 1952: Hang Your Tears Out to Dry / Dream Girl , King 4607
  • 1955: I'm Only a Fool / Trouble And Misery , Money 208
  • 1955: One Little Blessing / Gone , Specialty 550
  • 1955: Love Love of My Life / Where's My Girl , Specialty 559
  • 1956: Betty My Darling / Dear Heart , Hollywood 1059
  • 1956: Goodnight My Love (Pleasant Dreams) / I Want You with Me Christmas , Modern 1005
  • 1957: I Need You So / Senorita , Modern 1013
  • 1957: Don't Close the Door / By My Side , Modern 1015
  • 1957: I'm Not Free / Sad & Lonesome (Blues) , Modern 1020
  • 1957: You Send Me / Summertime , Modern 1025
  • 1957: Beware / Dry Your Tears , Cash 1056
  • 1957: Just to Say Hello / My Satellite , Modern 1027
  • 1958: Nel blu dipinto di blu / Ever Since We Met , RCA 47-7310
  • 1958: Funny / Pledging My Love , RCA 47-7387
  • 1959: Guess Who / My Girl Is Just Enough Woman for Me , RCA 47-7469
  • 1959: Deacon Dean Tucker / Little Darling , Knight 2012
  • 1959: So Fine / Sentimental Heart , Federal 12355
  • 1959: Here's a Heart / It Could've Been Worse , RCA 47-7543
  • 1959: Give Me Love / I'll Never Be Lonely Again , RCA 47-7596
  • 1960: The Door Is Always Open / Something Happens to Me , RCA 47-7675
  • 1960: I'm Confessin ' / Deep in My Heart , Class 267
  • 1961: Looking for Love / Tonight My Love , Impact 23

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Peter Guralnick: Dream Boogie. The Triumph of Sam Cooke . Abacus, London 2006, ISBN 978-0-349-11948-9 , pp. 185 f . (English).
  2. ↑ a b c Bruce Eder: Jesse Belvin. In: All Music Guide. Retrieved November 4, 2008 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e Billy Vera: Jesse Belvin: Mr.Easy. (No longer available online.) In: DooWop Cafe. 2001, formerly in the original ; Retrieved November 4, 2008 (originally published as liner notes on the RCA Victor album Mr. Easy 1995).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / launch.groups.yahoo.com  
  4. ↑ a b c Jim Dawson: Jesse Belvin Discography. In: The Doo-Wop Society of Southern California. 2004, accessed November 4, 2008 .
  5. ^ Charlie Gillett: The Sound of the City. The history of rock music . Two thousand and one, Frankfurt am Main 1978, p. 256 f . (English).
  6. ^ Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993 . Menomonee Falls / Wisconsin: Record Research, 1994, p. 44. Funny reached number 25 in the R&B charts , Guess Who reached number 10; Whitburn, Joel: The Billboard Book of Top 40 R&B and Hip-Hop Hits . New York, NY: Billboard Books, 2006, p. 37
  7. ^ Peter Guralnick: Dream Boogie. The Triumph of Sam Cooke . Abacus, London 2006, ISBN 978-0-349-11948-9 , pp. 226 f . (English).
  8. ↑ Charts US
personal data
SURNAME Belvin, Jesse
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Belvin, Jesse Lorenzo (full name); Mr. Easy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American rhythm and blues musician
DATE OF BIRTH December 15, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH San Antonio , Texas, United States
DATE OF DEATH February 6, 1960
Place of death Fairhope , Arkansas, United States