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| *[[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] *[[Soul music|soul]] *[[jazz]] *[[rock and roll]] *[[jump blues]]}} | occupation = [[Singing|Singer]], [[songwriter]] | years_active = 1953–2020 | label = [[Modern Records|Modern]], [[Atco Records|Atco]], [[Capitol Records|Capitol]], [[Mercury Records|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 [[rhythm and blues|R&B]], [[rock and roll]] and [[jazz]] [[singing|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 ([[married and maiden names|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 (musician)|Richard Berry]].<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|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 [[Bihari brothers|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 Records|Atco]] label in 1957.<ref name=blackcat/>

Jessie then moved on to record jazz for the [[Capitol Records|Capitol]] label, novelty records for [[Mercury Records|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 and the Knights|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 Records (UK)|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]]