Jesse Belvin
By Norman (Otis) Richmond
Barry White, The Whispers Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Brenda Holloway are
all in Jesse Belvin’s debt.
The legendary Etta James was high on Belvin. She bluntly called
Belvin, “The most gifted of all...even now I consider him the greatest
singer of my generation. Rhythm and blues rock and roll, crooner, you
name it. He was going to be bigger than Sam Cooke, bigger than Nat
Cole.”
Why are most of today's youth unaware of Belvin? There are many
reasons for this. In my judgment, Belvin's death is a potato that is
too hot for the U.S. ruling circles to handle. Belvin was killed
along with his manager/wife Jo Ann on Feb 6, 1960 in Hope, Arkansas,
the home town of William Jefferson Clinton. He was only 27 and his
wife was a mere 25 when they joined the ancestors. Belvin was a
prolific songwriter who wrote R&B classics like "Earth Angel", "Girl
of My Dreams" and "Goodnight My Love". 'Guess Who' - was written by
Jo Ann.
When The Penguins recorded "Earth Angel", 11-year-old Barry White was
the pianist on the recording session. His composition "Earth Angel,"
eventually co-credited to Belvin and Hollywood Flames singers Curtis
Williams and Gaynel Hodge after a legal dispute, was recorded by The
Penguins, and became one of the first R&B singles to cross over onto
the pop charts, selling a million copies in 1954/55.
In 1958, Belvin formed a vocal quintet, the Shields (which included
Johnny "Guitar" Watson), to record for Dot Records. They recorded the
national Top 20 hit 'You Cheated'. Shortly after he was signed to RCA
Records, which harbored plans to shape him in the mold of Nat 'King'
Cole and Billy Eckstine. He hit it big with RCA.
Alan Freed used to close his nationally syndicated radio show
with” Goodnight My Love." Harold Melvin used to close the Blue Notes
shows by singing "Goodnight My Love." He could get away with
performing this song after Teddy Pendergrass had fired the crowd up.
Belvin influenced many vocalists including Marvin Gaye. Says Gaye,
"When I saw Sam Cooke and Jesse Belvin I'd try to avoid my friends and family for days. I didn’t want to talk or be talked to 'cause I was busy practicing and memorizing everything I heard those singers do." I met Barbara Cooke, the former wife of Sam Cooke in Jonesboro, Louisiana during a visit with my
family. She showed me an album bag which included all of Cooke's
albums. The only other artist in the bag was Jesse Belvin. She
included Belvin’s RCA, album Guess Who along with her late husband’s
work.
Belvin was born in Texarkana, Texas, and moved with his family to Los
Angeles at the age of five. He attended Jefferson High School in Los
Angeles. Jefferson High also produced Dorothy Dandridge, Roy Ayers and
Etta James. L. C. Cooke, the brother of Sam Cooke says he was born on December 14 and Belvin on December 15, 1932. When he stayed in Los Angeles, Sam sent him to stay with the Belvins. L.C. says Jo Ann said he and Jesse were
like two peas in a pod. He remembers seeing the Belvins in Atlanta
shortly before they where killed. "He and Jo Ann hugged me and I bid
them goodbye." He didn't realize that would be the last time he'd see them.
Shortly after finishing a performance in Little Rock on a bill with
Jackie Wilson and Arthur Prysock. , the Belvin’s were killed in a
head-on collision at Hope, Arkansas. Jesse and the driver died
instantly and Jo Ann succumbed a few days later. Peter
Guralnick, talked about how the Belvins died, in the book, Dream
Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke. There had been several death
threats on Belvin prior to the concert, and there was speculation that
Belvin's car had been tampered with prior to the accident. A Black
weekly newspaper, The Norfolk Journal and Guide ran a headline, "Did
Racism Kill Jesse Belvin?”
Says Guralnick, “It was the same old ugly peckerwood story the show
was booked to play a segregated dance, and when Jackie refused to do
a second show for whites, after a “hot dispute with (the) dance
manager, “the Los Angeles Sentinel reported, “Wilson and his group
were allegedly ordered out of town at gunpoint.”
“Investigators believed,” the story went on, “that … disgruntled white
dance fans were responsible for slashing Belvin’s tires, a conclusion
bolstered by the rumor that both Jackie and Prycock also
suffered the problems as they drove to there next date in Dallas.”
The Louisiana Weekly, a Black weekly, reported that shortly after the
Belvin affair, Wilson, Prysock and the Larry Williams (he recorded
“Bad Boy in 1958) performed in New Orleans. Wilson, a former boxer,
punched out white police officer in self defense. He was bailed out a jail at three in the morning and was in the whirlwind.
Belvin had a huge impact on Jamaican music No one will ever know what
would have happened had he performed on the island. Jamaican record
collectors in Toronto, Miami, London and New York treasure the
recording output of Belvin according J. Alexander Francis. His songs
were recorded by the giants of ska and reggae, “Girl of My Dreams"
has been recorded by Johnny Holt and Sly and Robbie featuring Glen
Ricketts, The Blues Busters. Alton Ellis and others have also covered
Belvin's work.
Etta James remains one of Belvin's staunchest defenders. James
maintains that Belvin should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She
had this to say about Belvin in her book, Rage To Survive which she
co-wrote with David Ritz, "Part of me is thrilled to be recognized, but
another part resents the lily-white institution that sends down its
proclamations from on high. They decide who is rock and roll and who
isn't; they decide who was important and who wasn’t. Man, I grew up
with some cats who should have been inducted years ago – Jesse Belvin
and Johnny "Guitar" Watson to name two."
Norman Richmond can be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
