Young Jessie

During the 1950s the Los Angeles R&B vocal-group circuit operated as a tight, revolving network in which singers routinely transferred between ensembles while maintaining simultaneous ties elsewhere. Young Jessie passed through the Flairs, the Hunters, and the Coasters and also registered a regional West Coast success with the 1955 up-tempo single “Mary Lou.”

Obediah Jessie had attended high school in Los Angeles alongside Richard “Louie Louie” Berry. Together they assembled the Flairs, who made their first appearance on the Bihari Brothers’ Flair imprint in 1953 via the track “She Wants to Rock.” Although the group continued to record regularly for the company, Jessie pursued an individual path and, in 1954, waxed a version of Big Mama Thornton’s Leiber/Stoller composition “I Smell a Rat” for the Biharis’ flagship Modern label. Arranged by saxophonist Maxwell Davis, “Mary Lou” surfaced the following year; its distinctive minor-key setting evidently caught the attention of rockabilly firebrand Ronnie Hawkins, who reached the pop charts with the song on Roulette in 1959.

Buck Ram assumed management of Jessie’s affairs and, under the pseudonym Lynn Paul, supplied the torrid 1956 rocker “Hit, Git & Split.” Both that number and its successor, “Oochie Coochie,” originated at a New York session that featured guitarist Mickey Baker and saxophonist Sam “The Man” Taylor behind Jessie.

In 1957 Jessie returned to group singing, contributing harmonies to the Coasters’ Atco hits “Searchin’” and “Young Blood.” The same label released his solo single “Shuffle in the Gravel,” after which he moved to Atlantic for “Margie.”

Subsequent releases on Capitol and Mercury failed to revive his commercial fortunes, yet the Mercury sides carried notable production credits. “Be-Bop Country Boy” was helmed by Bumps Blackwell, formerly associated with Little Richard and Sam Cooke, while a re-recording of “Mary Lou” paired Jessie with three Phil Spector colleagues: Jack Nitzsche handled the arrangement, and Lester Sill and Steve Douglas served as co-producers.