Jesse Lee Denson (August 25, 1932 – November 6, 2007) was an American rockabilly singer and songwriter. His songs have been recorded by Elvis Presley, Billy Williams, and the Kuf-Linx.
Lee Denson was born in Rienzi, Mississippi, but grew up
in Memphis, Tennessee, where his family relocated when he was a baby. He was
the eighth out of a total of ten children. His father, Jesse James Denson,
later ran a Pentecostal mission church in Memphis. As a child, Denson became
friends with Johnny and Dorsey Burnette. After the Presley family moved to
Memphis in 1948 and started attending the Pentecostal church on Poplar Street
run by his father, he also became friendly with Elvis Presley, two years his
junior, and reputedly taught him to play guitar.
In 1953 Denson moved to Key West, Florida, where he
worked as a bellboy, Denson began singing in clubs in the style of Eddy Arnold.
As the Florida islands only had limited openings for a young eager musician, he
often went out on tours all over the USA. In mid 1956 he saw his old school
buddies Johnny and Dorsey Burnette on the television show The Ted Mack Amateur
Hour, which they won three times, plus securing a national tour with the
programme as well as a recording contract with Coral Records.
Lee thought that he could easily replicate this and
called the brothers for advice with the end result that he moved to New York
where he stayed for eight months. He also gained an appearance on The Ted Mack
Amateur Hour where he came out the clear winner. Brother Jimmy was with him by
now and it was he who took over promotion. Jimmy contacted people at RCA and
got them to watch Lee on the show. Eventually Lee gained a recording contract
with the Vik label, which was an RCA subsidiary company, and so he started
searching for new material to record.
On December 12th 1956 Lee went into the RCA's New York
studio to cut his first four songs. He was accompanied by in the studio by top
session men such as Panama Francis and Sam "The Man" Taylor. The
output was "Heart Of A Fool" coupled
with Lee's own composition "The Pied Piper" which was the plug side. This became a No. 50 US hit for Billy Williams in 1957.
with Lee's own composition "The Pied Piper" which was the plug side. This became a No. 50 US hit for Billy Williams in 1957.
Denison’s other recordings included "Climb Love
Mountain" (1957, Vik). The b-side of the single was "New Shoes",
which featured guitar work by Eddie Cochran, who Denson had met while on tour
in California. The Kuf-Linx recorded a version of "Climb Love
Mountain", re-titled as "Climb Love's Mountain".
Denson made several appearances on Dick Clark's
Bandstand, before moving to California with his brother Jimmy where he made
recordings for Kent Records in 1958, credited as Jesse James. The first session
for his new label was on March 3rd 1958 and produced the two self composed
numbers "High School Hop" and "Devil
Doll". With Jimmy handling the promotion, Lee obtained plenty of local bookings and magazine write-ups. Whilst Jimmy was not a musician, he was a capable composer with the result that he and Lee started to write songs together.
Doll". With Jimmy handling the promotion, Lee obtained plenty of local bookings and magazine write-ups. Whilst Jimmy was not a musician, he was a capable composer with the result that he and Lee started to write songs together.
These included "The South's Gonna Rise Again",
recorded with top musicians including Earl Palmer at Gold Star Studios. Denson
also recorded for the Merri label in 1960. Although most of his recordings were
rock and roll, he retained an interest in gospel music, and wrote "Miracle
of the Rosary", based on the hymn "Ave Maria", offering the song
to Presley when the two met.
While his buddies embraced stardom, Denson’s salad days
were over. Apart from 1964 when Denson recorded for the Magic Lamp label set up
by Dorsey Burnette and Joe Osborn; the Carpenters made their first recordings
as backing singers on the records. Lee wasn’t heard from again until Presley
picked up his The Miracle Of The Rosary in 1971 for his ‘Elvis Now’ album
The Elvis recording stirred up new regarding Lee so he
returned to Memphis in 1972, and signed a contract with Stax Records where in
recorded his own version of the song in 1973. He later wrote and recorded
several albums of Christian music for his own Eternal Rainbow label, as well as
recording children's songs.
A compilation album of Denson's work was released in April 2002 on Hydra Records. The South's Gonna Rise Again contained 23 tracks, the majority written by Denson.
A compilation album of Denson's work was released in April 2002 on Hydra Records. The South's Gonna Rise Again contained 23 tracks, the majority written by Denson.
Denson died in the Methodist University Hospital,
Tennessee, on 6th November 2007 at the age of 75.
(Edited from Wikipedia & rockabilly.nl)
3 comments:
For “Lee Denson A.K.A Jesse James – The South's Gonna Rise Again” go here:
https://www.upload.ee/files/12194256/Lee_Denson.rar.html
1 The South's Gonna Rise Again
2 Heart Of A Fool
3 The Pied Piper
4 Red Hot Rockin' Blues
5 Love Twister
6 It Took Too Long
7 Rock Daddy Rock
8 Red Hot Rockin' Ralley
9 Twang
10 A Tree In The Meadow
11 Devil Doll
12 High School Hop
13 New Shoes (Electric Guitar – Eddie Cochran)
14 Climb Love Mountain
15 Who Tickled The Sphinx
16 Teen Age World
17 The South's Gonna Rise Again (Demo)
18 Mississippi Bridge
19 Sixteen States
20 The Miracle Of The Rosary
21 A Mom And Dad For Christmas
22 Heart Of A Fool (Vocals – Eddie Cochran & Jerry Capehart, Hank Cochran)
23 The Miracle Of The Rosary (Vocals – Elvis Presley)
This looks wonderful. I come here often, and don't thank you enough for all your work.
Thanks! I actually have the collection, but I appreciate
your putting together this feature.
Post a Comment