| Genres: |
Doo Wop
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| Descriptive "tags": |
jump blues • oldies • rhythm and blues • rock'n'roll • jumpinbluezzz
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| Decades Active: |
1980s
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1990s
•
2000s
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Biography
Obediah Donnell Jessie, 28 December 1936, Lincoln Manor, Dallas, Texas, USA. Young Jessie is one of the great unheralded singers of the Los Angeles R&B scene. He is best known for recording the original version of ‘Mary Lou’ (1955), which, although not a national hit, became a huge hit in California and Texas. The song was subsequently recorded with great success by rock ‘n’ roller Ronnie Hawkins in 1959 for Roulette and by rocker Bob Seger on his 1976 set Night Moves. At Los Angeles’ Jefferson High, Young Jessie studied piano and saxophone alongside Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson. His first recordings came about as a member of a doo-wop vocal group, the Hollywood Blue Jays (the other members were Richard Berry, Beverley Thompson, Thomas Pete Fox and Cornelius Gunther), recording for the Dolphin label a Young Jessie-penned record, ‘I Had A Love’. The group then went to Modern Records and recorded the...
Read the Full Biography of Young Jessie
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