From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sun Dec 15, 2002  7:14 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Jesse Belvin
 
JESSE BELVIN (By Jean-Marc Pezet)

Born Jesse Lorenzo Belvin, 15 December 1932, San Antonio, Texas
Died 6 February 1960, Hope, Arkansas

Jesse Belvin was born in San Antonio, TX, but grew up in Los Angeles
and sang in the church choir as early as age 7. Later to be one of the
most important performers on the LA scene, he was influenced by Nat
King Cole, Ivory Joe Hunter, Little Jimmy Scott and Frankie Laine.
Around 1950, he began hanging out with a group of working musicians
including Oklahoma sax player Marvin Phillips (recently chronicled by
Shaun - see 23/10 entries) and pianist Richard Lewis. The group featuring
Jesse on vocals had a weekly gig at the H&S Club in Fontana, near the
Valley City of San Bernardino.
By 1951, Belvin and Phillips, along with James Huff and female singer
Undine Harris joined Big Jay McNeely's band as The Three Dots And A Dash.
They made their debut recordings for Imperial with "All That Wine Is Gone" /
"Don't Cry Baby" (5115) and "Sad Story" (5130), but Belvin soon left McNeely
over a money dispute.
Jesse then joined Specialty in 1952 with "Baby Don't Go" / "Confusin Blues"
but nothing happened and the impatient Jesse went to Dolphin's and
re-recorded a track already laid down for Specialty, "Dream Girl". Both
Belvin's solo version and the Specialty release with Marvin Phillips as
Marvin & Jesse (Specialty 447) appeared in the Cash Box LA chart in late
1952 and by early 1953, the Specialty single broke out nationally, peaking
at # 2. Around this time, however, Jesse Belvin was enlisted in the armed
forces, taking him to Germany.
Back from duties in late 1954, Jesse cut a single for Money, "I'm Only A
Fool" and wrote "Earth Angel" for The Penguins (regaining sole writer credit
after a court decision 3 years later). He rejoined his former partner of the
Marvin & Johnny duo on sides such as "Ko Ko Mo" and "Sugar Mama" for
Modern and at the same time had solo releases on Specialty ("One Little
Blessing"/"Gone" and "Where's My Girl"/"Love Love Of My Life"). Between
the two Specialty sessions, Jesse also appeared on "So Fine" by The Sheiks,
which marked Jesse's meeting with Eugene Church, who co-wrote "The Girl In
My Dreams", subsequently issued in 1956 on Modern under the name of "The
Cliques". It proved to be Jesse's biggest hit (# 45 pop) since "Dream Girl",
successfully followed by "My Desire".
Between 1956 and 1957, Jesse had releases on Cash with The Gassers and
on Empire with The Youngsters, but it was the ballad "Goodnight My Love" for
Modern that hit, prompting Modern to mold Belvin into a Nat King Cole-styled
balladeer for subsequent releases. By 1957, Belvin's association with
Specialty was also over; he briefly joined Johnny Otis with a group known as
The Jayos to record the "Johnny Otis Rock'n'Roll Hit Parade Vol 1" LP for
Dig.
In 1958 he recorded for Aladdin and Keen with The Turks, but the big break
was when he signed with the major RCA. First releases were with a group
named The Chargers, but after it failed to click, label executives decided to
market him as a solo act, cutting him fronting a pop chorus on tunes like
"Volare", "Pledging My Love" and "Guess Who", the latter becaming Jesse's
biggest seller and his only Top 40 hit for RCA (who released two LPs by him).
Meanwhile, and despite his RCA contract, Jesse was also present on sessions
cut for Class Records, notably on Eugene Church's 1959 hit "Pretty Girls
Everywhere".
Sadly, Jesse Belvin died in an automobile accident along with his wife Jo
Anne and three other people, en route to a gig in Dallas, on February 6,
1960. He never gained the legendary status of a Sam Cooke, but he was
one of the most gifted and influential black performers in LA.

Very Recommended reading:
Jesse Belvin entry in "LA R&B VOCAL GROUPS" by Steve Propes and Galen
Gart - essential to sort out the multiple Belvin-related recordings with all the
different groups.

Recommended listening:
- "Goodnight My Love" ACE CDCHD 336 (Moderrn)
- "The Blues Balladeer" ACE CDCHD 305 (Speecialty)
- Marvin & Johnny "Cherry Pie" ACE CDCHD 5509 (Modern)
- Johnny Otis "Rock'n'Roll Hit Parade" ACEE CDCHD 774 (Dig LP)
- "So Fine - The Shorty Rodgers & Swing Tiime Demos 1954-1958" NIGHT
TRAIN NTI CD 7097