Young Jessie

{{Short description|American singer (1936–2020)}} {{distinguish|Young Jeezy}} {{More footnotes needed|date=September 2021}} {{Infobox musical artist  | name = Young Jessie | image = | caption = | image_size = | background = solo_singer | birth_name = Obediah Donnell Jessie | alias = Obie Jessie | birth_date = {{birth date|mf=yes|1936|12|28|}} | death_date = {{death date and age|2020|4|27|1936|12|28|mf=y}} | birth_place = Lincoln Manor, Dallas, Texas, United States | instrument = | genre = {{Flatlist| *R&B *soul *jazz *rock and roll *jump blues}} | occupation = Singer, songwriter | years_active = 1953–2020 | label = Modern, Atco, Capitol, Mercury, Jazz Family | past_member_of = The Flairs<br>The Coasters | website = | current_members = | past_members = }}

'''Obediah Donnell "Obie" Jessie''' (December 28, 1936 – April 27, 2020)<ref name="Perlich"/> was an American R&B, rock and roll and jazz singer and songwriter. He recorded as '''Young Jessie''' in the 1950s and 1960s, and was known for his solo career, work with The Flairs and a brief stint in The Coasters. He later performed and recorded jazz as '''Obie Jessie'''.

==Early life== Jessie's father was a cook but had no musical background. His mother, Malinda (née Harris) was very musical, playing piano and other instruments; she had a brief musical career under the name Plunky Harris.<ref name="blindlemon">{{cite book | first=Bill | last=Millar | authorlink= | year=2004 | title=Let The Good Times Rock | publisher=Music Mentor Books | location=York, England | pages= 153 | isbn= 0-9519888-8-3}}</ref> On his mother's side of the family, Jessie was also kin to the blues musician, Blind Lemon Jefferson.<ref name="blindlemon"/>

==Early career== In 1946, he moved with his family to Los Angeles, where he began studying music, and formed a vocal group, The Debonaires, which also included Richard Berry.<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=1281}}</ref> The group recorded Jessie's song, "I Had A Love", in 1953, and the single was released under the name of The Hollywood Blue Jays. They then renamed themselves as The Flairs, and won a recording contract with Modern Records.<ref name="LarkinGE"/>

However, in 1954, Jessie signed a solo contract with producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and began recording as "Young Jessie".<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He said: "[The name] came about because I sounded like I was forty, like ancient for a boy of 17. I had this deep baritone voice and the Biharis wanted me to get close to the rock 'n' roll market. I could have called myself Obie Jessie but I didn't want people to think I was old."<ref name=blackcat>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/young_jessie.htm|title=Young Jessie |website=Rockabilly.nl|access-date=September 17, 2021}}</ref>

==Recordings and performances== In 1955, he wrote and recorded the single "Mary Lou", later covered by Ronnie Hawkins in 1959,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Steve Miller Band in 1973, Bob Seger in 1976, Gene Clark in 1977, Frank Zappa in 1983 and The Oblivians in 1997. In 1956, he released "Hit, Git and Split",<ref name="LarkinGE"/> co-written with Buck Ram and recorded in New York City with guitarist Mickey Baker.<ref name=blackcat/> He also briefly recorded with The Coasters in 1957,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> (including harmony vocals on "Searchin'" and "Young Blood"), and appeared on records by The Crescendos<ref name="crescendos">{{cite book | author1=Galen Hart | author2= Steve Propes | authorlink= | year=2001 | title=L.A. R&B Vocal Groups 1945-1965 | publisher=Big Nickel Publications | location=Milford, NH | pages= 38 | isbn= 0-936433-18-3}}</ref> and Johnny Morisette, as well as being a writer for other artists' recordings, including The Chargers and Jimmy Norman. He released the single "Shuffle In the Gravel" / "Make Believe", again produced by Leiber and Stoller, on the Atco label in 1957.<ref name=blackcat/>

Jessie then moved on to record jazz for the Capitol label, novelty records for Mercury in the early 1960s, and soul ballads for the Vanessa label in 1963, but with little commercial success.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He recorded some unreleased material for Jake Porter in the 1960s.<ref name="porter">{{cite book | first=Bill | last=Millar | authorlink= | year=2004 | title=Let The Good Times Rock | publisher=Music Mentor Books | location=York, England | page= 158 | isbn= 0-9519888-8-3}}</ref> He also did an album's worth of songs owned by Harvey Fuqua in the 1970s that never got released.<ref name="porter"/> In 1972, he recorded a single as Obe Jessie & The Seeds Of Freedom for Stone Dogg Records.<ref name="stonedogg">{{cite book | first=Bill | last=Millar | authorlink= | year=1974 | title=The Coasters | publisher=Star Books | location=London, England | page= 178 | isbn= 0-352-30020-5}}</ref>

He also formed a jazz group, the Obie Jessie Combo, which played club dates, and in 1976 became musical director for Esther Phillips. In 1982, he toured in Europe and recorded jazz in Germany, and in 1983 performed at an "R & B Jamboree" in London, where he reportedly "astonished the audience with a charismatic performance."<ref name=blackcat/>

He also performed with Leon Hughes' group of The Coasters. As "Obie Jessie", he later released several jazz albums, including ''What Happened To Jr.'' (1995), ''Here's To Life'' (2002), and ''New Atmosphere'' (2009).<ref name=blackcat/> He also recorded with Atlanta-based saxophonist Bob Miles, and performed on the song "People The Time Has Come" with lyrics by Nadim Sulaiman Ali.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=6890666|title=Bob Miles - Nubian Woman CD Album|website=Cduniverse.com|access-date=September 17, 2021}}</ref>

==Personal life== His younger brother DeWayne Jessie became an actor,<ref name="blindlemon"/> and became well known as Otis Day in the film, ''National Lampoon's Animal House''. Two of Young Jessie's four children sang in a group called Wizdom in the 1980s.<ref name="wizdom">{{cite book | first=Bill | last=Millar | authorlink= | year=2004 | title=Let The Good Times Rock | publisher=Music Mentor Books | location=York, England | pages= 159 | isbn= 0-9519888-8-3}}</ref>

Obie Jessie died on April 27, 2020, aged 83.<ref name="Perlich">[https://theperlichpost.blogspot.com/2020/04/rip-obie-young-jessie-1936-2020.html "R.I.P. Obie "Young" Jessie, 1936-2020"], ''The Perlich Post'', April 29, 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020</ref>

==Discography== ===Singles=== *"I Smell A Rat" / "Lonesome Desert" (Modern #921) (April 1954) *"Mary Lou" / "Don't Think I Will" (Modern #961) (June 1955) *"Nothing Seems Right" / "Do You Love Me" (Modern #973) (November 1955) *"Hot Dog" (Modern; unreleased) (1956; recorded this song before Elvis Presley) *"Hit, Git and Split" / "It Don't Happen No More" (Modern #1002) (September 1956) *"Here Comes Henry" / "Oochie Coochie" (Modern #1010) (December 1956) *"Shuffle In The Gravel" / "Make Believe" (Atco #6101, 1957) *"Shuffle In The Gravel" / "Make Believe" (London [UK] #8544, 1958) *"Margie" / "That's Enough For Me" (Atlantic #2003) (1958) *"Lulu Belle" / "The Wrong Door" (Capitol #4318) (1959) *"Teacher, Gimme Back" / "My Country Cousin" (Mercury #71895) (1961) *"Be Bop Country Boy" / "Big Chief" (Mercury #71985) (1962) *"I'm A Lovin' Man" / "Too Fine For Cryin'2" (Mercury #72104) (1963) *"Mary Lou" / "You Were Meant For Me" (Mercury #72146) (1963) *"Make Me Feel A Little Good" / "Brown Eyes (Come On Home)" (Vanessa #101) (1963) *"Young Jessie's Bossanova, Part 1" / "Part 2" (Bit #7464) (1964) *"Who's To Blame" / "Beautiful Day My Brother" (Stone Dogg #801) (1972) (released by 'Obe Jessie and the Seeds of Freedom')

===Albums=== *''Chuck Jackson and Young Jessie'' (Crown #5354) (1963) *''R & B Jamboree'' (Ace) (1983) *''Hit, Git and Split'' (Ace) (1985) *''Shuffle in the Gravel'' (Mr. R&B #1004) (1987; released in Sweden) *''Shufflin' and Jivin' '' (Ace) (1987) *''I'm Gone (The Legendary Modern Recordings)'' (Ace) (1995)

====As Obie Jessie==== *''What Happened To Jr.'' (Solar #72597) (1995) *''Here's To Life'' (Jazz Family #101) (2002) *''New Atmosphere'' (Jazz Family) (2009)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://myspace.com/obiejessie Young Jessie] on Myspace *[http://koti.mbnet.fi/wdd/youngjessie.htm Young Jessie discography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504011719/http://koti.mbnet.fi/wdd/youngjessie.htm |date=2015-05-04 }} *[https://www.angelfire.com/mn/coasters/ The Coasters Web Site] *[http://home.att.net/~marvart/Flairs/flairs.html Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks - The Flairs] *[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p173698|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic - Young Jessie] *[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p90624|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic - Obie Jessie] *{{Discogs artist|Young Jessie}} as Young Jessie *{{Discogs artist|Obie Jessie}} as Obie Jessie *[http://www.45cat.com/45_artist_by_date.php?a=young-jessie discography at 45cat.com] *[http://www.45cat.com/artist/young-jesse discography at 45cat.com as 'Young Jesse'] *[http://www.45cat.com/artist/young-jessee discography at 45cat.com as 'Young Jessee']

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jessie, Young}} Category:1936 births Category:2020 deaths Category:Singers from Dallas Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:The Coasters members Category:Modern Records artists Category:Mercury Records artists Category:Capitol Records artists Category:The Flairs members Category:20th-century African-American male singers Category:20th-century American male singers Category:20th-century American singers Category:21st-century African-American male singers Category:21st-century American male singers