From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Mon Mar 3, 2003  1:18 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Jimmy Heap
 
JIMMY HEAP (By Shaun Mather)

Born James Arthur Heap, 3 March 1922, Taylor, Texas
Died 4 December 1977, Texas

Jimmy Heap was born in Taylor, Texas, deep in the heart of country
country. Following a spell in World War II he formed the Melody 
Masters who stayed with him for the next three decades. They played 
local radio before joining Imperial Records in 1949. Although proficient 
on guitar, Heap struggled on the vocals so he bought in fiddler Houston
"Perk" Williams to take on the vocal duties.
Heap's songs picked up plenty of covers, usually becoming bigger 
hits for other artists than for the Melody Masters. Slim Whitman cut
Haunted Hungry Heart, and The Wild Side Of Life became a standard
following hit covers by Hank Thompson and Burl Ives among others.

Heap and the Melody Masters joined Capitol Records for whom they 
cut over thirty songs in a five year tenure. Their biggest hit for the label 
came with 1952's Release Me (# 5 in January 1954), which again picked
up belated covers, this time in the unlikely guise of Esther Phillips (1962)
and Engelbert Humperdinck (1967). 
He cut some rockin' stuff in 1955, like Sebbin' Come Elebbin' and Go
Ahead On, which have been reissued fairly regularly on various compilations.
But no further hits came for Capitol, so Heap left the label in the mid-'50s 
and formed Fame Records. Heap disbanded the Melody Masters in July 
1977 and was drowned in a boating accident later that year.

Recommended listening:
Jimmy Heap and the Melody Masters, Release Me - Bear Family BCD 15617.
30 Capitol recordings from 1951-55.