Jesse Belvin

While not nearly as well remembered by the general public as either Sam Cooke or Otis Redding, singer Jesse Belvin was in many regards a performer of equal stature whose career was also cut far too short by tragedy. At the time of his death, Belvin was moving in the much the same direction as Cooke (he was even on the same record label, although signed earlier), and was scoring and writing hits long before Redding ever cut a record.



Jesse Lorenzo Belvin was born in San Antonio, TX, in 1932. When he was five, his family relocated to Los Angeles, and by age seven he was singing in church. He discovered R&B in his early teens, and in 1950 joined jazz saxophonist Big Jay Mcneely's backing vocal quartet Three Dots and a Dash. Belvin's falsetto was placed up front in his debut release, 1950's "All the Wine Is Gone"; the response was so strong that on the group's next record, his name was placed directly under Mcneely's on the B-side, "Sad Story." In 1952, Belvin and bandmate Marvin Phillips signed to Specialty. They cut four singles: the first three -- "Baby Don't Go," "One Little Blessing," and "Love of My Life" -- were credited to Jesse Belvin, and all failed to chart. The last, "Dream Girl," which featured Belvin on piano and vocals with Phillips on saxophone, was credited to Jesse & Marvin, and got to number two on the R&B charts in 1953.

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