Jimmy Beasley

James Edward Beasley is an American rhythm and blues singer, pianist and songwriter. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Beasley learned piano from Willie Rice, and was heavily influenced by Fats Domino. He was also a Golden Gloves winning amateur boxer, and sang in the Aces Quartet and the Sonny Kenner Trio. In 1954, he moved to Los Angeles, and joined King Perry's band, with whom he recorded for Hollywood Records. He also recorded under his own name for the Peacock and Modern labels, in a style similar to Fats Domino. Although Beasley had no national chart hits, "Ella Jane", recorded with a band that included saxophonists Maxwell Davis and Plas Johnson, and guitarist Rene Hall, sold moderately well, and Beasley regularly played in Los Angeles clubs. Some of Beasley's recordings on Modern, including "Don't Feel Sorry for Me" and "Little Coquette" were recorded in New Orleans in 1956 with Dave Bartholomew's band, and "Little Coquette" was later recorded by Fats Domino. Beasley also backed Etta James at recording sessions in New Orleans. From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_B...) under Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)