Jesse Belvin

He might have been the black Elvis. They called him "Mr. Easy," both for his smooth delivery and his facile knack for writing new songs. He had a No. 2 R&B hit before turning 21,and the contract that he landed due to the business saavy of his wife JoAnn...with RCA Victor,was for "LP's and Motion Pictures". One of his biggest smashes closed Alan Freed's and Dick Clark's shows every night. He wrote a four-million-selling hit that has been called the most popular R&B song of all time. Never heard of Jesse Belvin? That's because he died in a head-on car crash, at age 27, in 1960, seated beside his wife........................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ ..........................................Born in San Antonio in 1932, Jesse Lorenzo Belvin soon moved to Los Angeles with his family. Still in his teens, he joined saxophonist Big Jay McNeely's band as a vocalist. Like many black L.A. singers of the time, he recorded for the independent record label of a Hollywood store owner name John Dolphin, whose underhanded tactics eventually led to his shooting death at the hands of a disgruntled songwriter.................................................. ............................................................ ............................................................ .......................................Belvin began recording for Specialty Records with fellow vocalist Marvin Phillips, and their duet 'Dream Girl' just missed the top spot on the R&B chart in 1952. Belvin's fast-surging career was put on hold when he was drafted into the military, though he did find time during a leave to write 'Earth Angel.' Recorded by a one-hit vocal group called the Penguins, the Top Ten pop smash has been cited as the most consistently popular R&B song ever.The song "Earth Angel",was inspired by a young woman who would later become his wife...,JoAnn.She as a teen,had a keen interest in music,and one day Jesse went to "Dolphins Of Hollywood"...a record store/studio where several up and coming vocalist could go and get their music recorded(to see if they were playing one of his recently released singles)...and there she sat,spinning records.From that day forward,the two were inseperable.John . Earth Angel was subsequently recorded by a semi-professional doo wop quartet called the Penguins and became one of the first R&B singles to cross over onto the pop charts, selling a million copies between late 1954 and early 1955........................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ .........................................It was with Modern that he cut his most enduring record. "Goodnight My Love". Salina Belvin...,Jesse's mom(a church pianist),said that Jesse wrote and sang Goodnight My Love to her for many years before becomming famous,and sold it...,having no idea regarding the value of a hit record. It was later said that the song had been written by producer George Mottola ten years earlier, but he had never been able to finish it; Belvin provided the lines for the bridge that completed the song(imagine that!), but asked for 400 dollars in lieu of co-authorship credit. Mottola didn't have it, but a colleague, John Marascalco, did, and put up the money, receiving co-authorship credit in the bargain. The song reached number seven on the R&B charts in 1956; curiously, the pianist on the recording was an 11-year-old session player making his recording debut named Barry White, who would emerge as a giant in his own right about two decades later. More important at the time, "Goodnight My Love" became the outro theme to Alan Freed's rock & roll radio show, heard by millions of young listeners every night....................................................... ............................................................ ............................................................ ..........................................Around 1956 Belvin's career took a decided upswing, in part with help from his wife Jo Ann, a fine songwriter in her own right who became his manager and took charge of his career. One of the first results was getting him signed to RCA Records; his first big success for the new label came in April of 1959 with the Top 40 hit "Guess Who." He finished his first album, Just Jesse Belvin, later in the year, developing a more mature studio sound and a somewhat more sophisticated singing style as well. Like Sam Cooke, who would follow him on to RCA with similar goals a short time later, Belvin began to realize that he had the potential to cross over to adult white audiences while keeping his original fans as well. For its part, RCA saw in Belvin the potential for another Nat 'King" Cole or Billy Eckstine: a powerful and charismatic performer; he had acquired the nickname "Mr. Easy" for his way with the ballads that increasingly made up his live sets........................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ ..........................................In late 1959, with the encouragement of his wife and the support of producer Dick Pierce and arranger/conductor Marty Paich, Belvin went into the studio for three recording dates that yielded a dozen songs, among them intensely soulful covers of standards like "Blues in the Night," "In the Still of the Night," and "Makin' Whoopee." The band included Art Pepper on the sax and clarinet and Jack Sheldon on the trumpet, and the playing was extraordinary all the way around. Alas, Belvin never heard the finished album, Mr. Easy; on February 6, 1960, shortly after finishing a performance in Little Rock, AR, on a bill with Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, and Marv Johnson, Belvin and his wife were killed in a head-on auto collision. Mr. Easy was released later in 1960. Appearing with Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson in Little Rock, Ark., in the city's first-ever integrated concert, the singer was reportedly the victim of racist threats. There has been speculation someone tampered with the tires of his car during the show,causing the accident.The charge was never proven ............................................................ ...........................The Writer Of The Hit Composition........................."EARTH ANGEL"................... And The Woman That Inspired Him To Write It.......................................................... ............................. Jesse & JoAnn Belvin...R.I.P.,............................"EXTRA EXTRA....READ ALL ABOUT IT"........., http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAiq6UyJ7R4 THERE IS FINALLY SOME "LIVE FOOTAGE" OF MR.EASY HIMSELF...JESSE BELVIN,AND HERE IS THE LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAiq6UyJ7R4"STEVIE WONDER SAYS JESSE BELVIN IS HIS ALL TIME FAVORITE SINGER"...,AND COMING FROM STEVIE.....,THAT'S QUITE A COMPLIMENT!!!

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