Author William Saroyan opens his 1946 novel entitled -The Adventures of Wesley Jackson with the famous line "My name is Wesley Jackson, I'm 19 years old, and my favorite song is 'Valencia.'" The superb rhythm and blues guitarist who is actually named Wesley Jackson starts showing up on recordings only a few years following the publication of the Saroyan tome, but has nothing to do with its fictitious lead character. In fact, if the real Wesley Jackson were to complete the opening sentence of the novel, chances are he would pick a song such as I've Got a Woman by Ray Charles.

It was in the newly developing rhythm and blues scene of the '50s that Jackson made such a sincere and polished contribution, his efforts not resulting in quite the same amount of fame enjoyed by similar players including Mickey Baker and Johnny Guitar Watson. Jackson is also in the house on some of Little Richard's classics from this period as well as being an integral part of various in-house recording units utilized by lesser-known early soul performers. The influential producer Zenas Sears was fond of Jackson's sound, combining him with tenor saxophonist Fred E. Taylor and pianist Julius Wimberley on tough 1950 tracks by vocalist Billy Wright. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi