February 2010

Died On This Date (February 6, 1960) Jesse Belvin / R&B Pioneer

themusicsover February 6, 2010 No Comments

Jesse Belvin
December 15, 1932 – February 6, 1960

Member of the 27 Club

Jesse Belvin was a young R&B star during the ’50s.  Besides being a talented singer and pianist, he wrote a few of the era’s most popular songs.  His first hit, “Dream Girl,” which he recorded with Marvin Phillips, shot to #2 on the R&B charts in 1952.  That was followed a couple of years later by “Earth Angel,” one of the first R&B songs to crossover to the pop charts when it was recorded by The Penguins in 1954.  The record went on to sell over a million copies in just a year’s time.  His biggest hit came in 1957 with his recording of “Goodnight My Love,” one of the era’s signature songs.  An eleven year old Barry White supposedly played the piano on that recording.   Belvin signed to RCA Records in 1959 and began to develop into a more sophisticated R&B crooner – a style that was similar to  Nat King Cole’s.   In early 1960, he had just finished recording an album of soulful standards when his life was cut tragically short.  He and his wife were driving home from a performance that included Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson when they were involved in a head-on collision that killed them instantly.  Jesse Belvin was 27 years old on the night he died.

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