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 San Antonio, Died February 6, 1960 (Hope)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1951 - 1960
Roles Represented in DAHR: tenor vocal, composer, songwriter, leader
= 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Specialty | SP-435 | 10-in. | 12/31/1960 | Confusin' blues | Jesse Belvin | vocalist, tenor vocal, composer | ||
| Specialty | X-SP-435 | 10-in. | 12/31/1960 | Baby, don't go | Jesse Belvin | vocalist, tenor vocal, composer | ||
| Specialty | SP-447 | 10-in. | 12/31/1960 | Dream girl | Jesse and Marvin | vocalist, tenor vocal, songwriter | ||
| Specialty | XSP-447 | 10-in. | 12/31/1960 | Daddy loves baby | Jesse and Marvin | vocalist, tenor vocal | ||
| Specialty | SP-550 | 10-in. | 12/31/1960 | Gone | Jesse Belvin | vocalist, tenor vocal, composer, leader | ||
| Specialty | XSP-550 | 10-in. | 12/31/1960 | One little blessing | Jesse Belvin | vocalist, tenor vocal, composer, leader | ||
| Specailty | SP-559 | 10-in. | 12/31/1960 | Where's my girl | Jesse Belvin ; Bumps Blackwell Band | vocalist, tenor vocal, composer | ||
| Specialty | XSP-559 | 10-in. | 12/31/1960 | Love, love of my life | Jesse Belvin | vocalist, tenor vocal | ||
| Imperial | IM-262 | 10-in. | January, 1951 | Sad story | Jesse Belvin ; Big Jay McNeely & Band | vocalist, tenor vocal | ||
| Imperial | IM-263 | 10-in. | 1/31/1951 | All that wine is gone | Jesse Belvin ; Big Jay McNeely ; Three Dots and a Dash | vocalist, tenor vocal | ||
| Imperial | IM-264 | 10-in. | 1/31/1951 | Don't cry baby | Jesse Belvin ; Big Jay McNeely ; Three Dots and a Dash | vocalist, tenor vocal | ||
| Imperial | IM-365 | 10-in. | November, 1951 | Let's do it | Big Jay McNeely & Band ; Three Dots and a Dash | vocalist, tenor vocal | ||
| Imperial | IM-366 | 10-in. | November, 1951 | I'll never love again | Big Jay McNeely & Band ; Three Dots and a Dash | vocalist, tenor vocal | ||
| Imperial | IM-367 | 10-in. | November, 1951 | True love | Big Jay McNeely & Band ; Three Dots and a Dash | vocalist, tenor vocal, songwriter | ||
| Imperial | IM-368 | 10-in. | November, 1951 | That old mule | Big Jay McNeely & Band | vocalist, tenor vocal | ||
| 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 December 24, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/303781.
Belvin, Jesse. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 24, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/303781.
"Belvin, Jesse." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 24 December 2025.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Jesse Belvin
Discogs: Jesse Belvin
Allmusic: Jesse Belvin
IMDb: Jesse Belvin
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Belvin, Jesse, 1932-1960 - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n95047436
Wikidata: Jesse Belvin - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1688139
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/7573141
MusicBrainz: Jesse Belvin - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/0199f646-7c2d-459a-b524-c04926386239
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