Billy Vera's liner notes for the reissue of Jesse Belvin's
RCA Victor album, "Mr. Easy" which never came out(the reissue,that is).
The album was reissued on CD in 1995

"JESSE BELVIN: MR. EASY"

It was one of those typical 1956 seventh grade dances, the boys and girls regarding each other from opposite sides of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School hall. My friend Charlie and I each took a deep breath, as we broke the ice for our fellows, crossing that mile-wide dance floor to request a dance from the girls of our dreams.

Mine was Yvonne Lacert, an Annette Funicello look alike who, much to my relief,said "Yes." As my twelve year old hormones raged, we glided across the floor to two songs before our parents picked everyone up, the Heartbeats' "A Thousand Miles Away" and "Goodnight My Love (Pleasant Dreams)" by Jesse Belvin. To this day, I can't hear Jesse sing that song without feelings of innocent romance stirring inside.

"Goodnight My Love" was the kind of record which should have started Jesse Belvin on his way to the top of the heap, right up there with the Nat Coles and Johnny Mathises. The record was the perfect blend of a rock-a-ballad and a lush string chart written by Maxwell Davis that sounded like a film score.

But Jesse's label, Modern, decided to cut back operations not long afterwards,leaving Jesse and their other acts, including Etta James, in the lurch. After a period of scuffling, Jesse would wind up at RCA Victor, a major label with the resources to make him into the next Nat King Cole. After years of struggle, it looked like Belvin's time had come.

In his home town of Los Angeles, Jesse Belvin was, as Etta James recounts in her autobiography, the shining light for his generation of singers. He first recorded in 1951 with tenor sax honker Big Jay McNeely, a year later scoring his first chart hit, "Dream Girl," as half of the duo Jesse & Marvin. On leave from the army in 1954, he wrote "Earth Angel," one of the all-time classic doo-wop anthems. A couple of neighborhood guys claimed co-authorship and Jesse had to settle in court for one third writers' share.

An unusually facile songwriter, Jesse had a habit of knocking off a tune in the car on the way to a recording session and then selling it for a few bucks. Not long ago, an ancient demo surfaced, giving credence to his claim of having penned "So Fine," later a hit by the Fiestas. "Goodnight My Love" composer George Motola told the story of how he'd written the verses of the song some years earlier but had never come up with a bridge. When Jesse was in his office, saying he was going to cut a string date, George played him the tune and, inminutes, Jesse came up with a bridge, offering it to George for $400. Songwriter John Marascalco, lyricist on a number of Little Richard hits ("Rip It Up," "Ready Teddy," "Good Golly Miss Molly") was in the room and pulled out his wallet,purchasing half of what has become a standard.

Once at RCA Victor, Belvin hooked up with West Coast jazz man Shorty Rogers, who pulled the singer's coat to the value of copyrights. To encourage Jesse to hold on to his creations, Shorty suggested the two start their own publishing company,Michele Music, with their wives as partners. Jesse had a hit on RCA, "Guess Who," credited to his wife Jo Ann and published by Michele Music.

His business straight, it was now time to start making, not only hit singles,which were fine for booking gigs where he performed for teenyboppers, but classy albums, the kind that would make for a long term career playing to grown-ups. A first attempt featured cliched, overworked pop standards and pedestrian charts, but Jesse and A&R man Dick Pierce were finding their way. In all likelihood, the suggestion to use arranger Marty Paich for the next album came from Shorty Rogers. Wherever it came from, the idea was inspired and the resulting album here is a hipster classic.

Some years ago, I spoke with Marty's son, David, leader of the rock group Toto. I said I was getting ready to reissue Mr. Easy and some of Jesse's better RCA material on CD (this attempt was aborted, even after the booklets had been printed, by some Philistine record exec). David said his father, who'd recently passed away, told him the Belvin album was his favorite of all his work, which included magnificent charts for Ray Charles.

I also told him I'd uncovered a thirteenth tune, "My Last Goodbye," which I've urged my friend Joel Dorn to include on this package. David's eyes lit up as he related how his dad had told him about the track, hoping it would one day see the light of day on CD. So now, with the inclusion of this tune, we have, for the first time, the entire collaboration between Jesse and Marty.

And what a collaboration! In addition to these two giant talents, we have Art Pepper, Frank Rosolino, Conte Condoli, Mel Lewis and a host of West Coast masters of jazz. These interpretations rank with the best of Sinatra, Nat Cole or anybody you can name. Jesse's takes on "What's New," "Angel Eyes" and "Imagination" are easily the best versions of these tunes ever recorded by anyone, anywhere, anytime.

When I was producing Lou Rawls a few years ago, I asked if he'd known Jesse when he and Sam Cooke first moved to L.A. The usually cool Mr. Rawls lit up, saying "Yeah, I knew Jesse. Man, did you ever hear his album Mr. Easy? That's gotta be the greatest jazz/pop LP ever made!" Nancy Wilson also once gave me the same opinion.

Lou went on to tell of the clique he hung out with in the late 50s, which included himself, Sam, Les McCann, Gene McDaniels, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Larry Williams and Jesse Belvin, adding that, even among that array of greats, "we all bowed to Jesse, even Sam. Jesse was our leader."

Indeed, you ask anybody who was anybody in black music in 50s Los Angeles (alternate link) and you will find no one more highly regarded than Jesse Belvin. If you doubt me as to his chops as a singer, consider how many people are able to sing in that over-the-top style so prevalent today. If so many can do it, how hard can it be? Then, try singing along with this album. You can't, I promise. Jesse did what is really hard, what only the true masters do: he made it look easy.

Tragically, Jesse died in an automobile accident two months after recording this album. The record which should have made him a star served as his eulogy. This is not just the story of one more might-have-been. Jesse Belvin was the best and Mr. Easy is his best work. There is only one number one and this is it.

Billy Vera,
2001

Added Link:
Meeting Jesse Belvin by Charles Wright