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Jesse Belvin

Jesse Lorenzo Belvin (December 15, 1932 – February 6, 1960) was an American singer, pianist and songwriter popular in the 1950s. Belvin co-wrote the 1954 Penguins' doo-wop classic "Earth Angel", which sold more than 10 million copies, while his top recording was the 1956 single "Goodnight My Love", a song that reached No. 7 on Billboard's R&B chart.

Belvin's success was cut short by his death in a car crash at the age of 27. The accident, which also claimed the lives of his wife Jo Ann and their driver, occurred after a concert in Little Rock, Arkansas that had been disrupted at least twice by white supremacists. According to an Arkansas state trooper at the scene of the accident, the tires of Belvin's 1959 Cadillac had "obviously been tampered with".

After his death, legendary blues singer Etta James referred to Belvin as the "most gifted of us 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."

Birth and Death Data: Born December 15, 1932 (San Antonio), Died February 6, 1960 (Hope)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1955

Roles Represented in DAHR: tenor vocal

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Decca L 8475 6/9/1955 Oh, baby!-GH The Tangiers vocalist, tenor vocal  
Decca L 8476 6/9/1955 Remember me-DF The Tangiers vocalist, tenor vocal  
Decca L 8477 6/9/1955 Tabarin-DF The Tangiers vocalist, tenor vocal  
Decca L 8478 6/9/1955 I won't be around-GH The Tangiers vocalist, tenor vocal  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Belvin, Jesse," accessed April 25, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/303781.

Belvin, Jesse. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 25, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/303781.

"Belvin, Jesse." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 25 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/303781

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