JESSE BELVIN & THE CHARGERS "So Fine" - The Swing Time Demos 1954-1958

By all rights, Jesse Belvin, with his easy rolling and amazingly expressive vocal style, not to mention his offhand but extremely compelling songwriting, should be a household name on a par with the likes of Sam Cooke or Nat King Cole (the two recording artists he most resembles), and were it not for a 1960 car accident that took his life and cut short a career that was finally beginning to take off after nearly a decade of hustling songs and selling his considerable talent for a dime and a thank you, he would be. The world is often more indifferent than it is fair. This was the man who wrote "Earth Angel," a massive hit for the Penguins in 1954, and "So Fine," a hit for the Fiestas in 1959, yet received only a third writing credit on the former and none at all on the latter, and it would be easy to portray Belvin as yet another victim of the shameless back alley dealings of the music industry, except Belvin gave as good as he got. He was famous for walking into publishing houses, sitting down at the piano and making up songs on the spot, turning out lovely, floating melodies that seemed for all the world like sure-fire hits. It was only after he had collected his per song fee and left the building that the publishers realized they had purchased mostly smoke and mirrors, and that only Belvin and his gone-with-the-breeze vocal style could make any of it work. There's a bit of that delicately balanced and airy feel in this wonderful collection from Night Train Records, which offers up close to 30 piano and vocal demos Belvin recorded for Jack Lauderdale's Swing Time Records in 1955 and for Shorty Rogers three years later in 1958. From the first track, the delicately and brilliantly sketched "Confessing," it's obvious that this is a special collection, and brief track follows brief track as Belvin spins gauzy magic out of a few piano chords and a voice that seems to catch melodies and phrases as they float by in the ether. Sometimes the result is hardly a song at all but an improvised clutter of forced rhymes, like the absurd comic piece "Tarzan" or the odd yet strangely effective "Rock 'N' Cowboy," but there are also completely realized songs like "This Heart of Mine" and "Don't Worry About That Girl," that manage to turn offhand simplicity and effortlessly nuanced vocal phrasing into heart-breaking gems. An early demo of "So Fine" is here, sounding fascinatingly half improvised, which it probably was, as is "Dandelion," a cheerful nursery rhyme-like love song that becomes even more intriguing when one realizes that dandelion was Belvin's pet word for marijuana. That he was pulling things from the air and half composing on the fly during these demo sessions is obvious in the two takes of "Taboo Man" included here, in which Belvin subtly refines and clarifies the melody and phrasing on the second pass. "Taboo Man" is a good example of Belvin's unique skills, since it certainly sounds like a great song when he sings it, but it's also one of those smoke and mirrors compositions where it is difficult to imagine anyone else making it work. The wonderful intimacy and obvious joy that is on display in these demos is truly priceless, and as a glimpse at the easy charm and the natural as a spring sky style of Jesse Belvin, So Fine may well be the most casual and accurate portrait of this gifted artist we'll ever get.by Steve Leggett, Allmusic

trax:
01 Confessing 02 Deep In My Heart 03 Black Stockings 04 Rock 'N_ Roll Cowboy 05 Tarzan 06 What Have You Done To My Heart 07 I Need Your Love 08 Dollar And A Quarter 09 Wondering 10 Dandelion 11 Old McDonald 12 This Heart Of Mine 13 Don't Worry About That Girl 14 Trudy My Love 15 Black Stockings 16 Father Time 17 It's Mighty Funny 18 You're So Divine 19 Dear Heart 20 I Love Her So 21 Where's My Girl 22 Taboo Main - takes 1 & 2 23 So Fine 24 Counterfeiter 25 Who Baby Who 26 Here In My Heart 27 Shotgun Wedding 28 Country Boy 29 The Time Is Coming Close To Christmas
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