Jesse Lee Turner (born 1938) is a former American singer. He recorded songs for several labels in the late 1950s, including the

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...

"Little Space Girl". Turner was born in

Addicks, Texas Addicks is an area of Houston that was formerly its own community. Addicks, a railroad stop for the Bear Creek community, was named after its original postmaster, Henry Addicks, in 1884. The original town site was located just south of the in ...

, United States, and graduated from high school in

Boling, Texas Boling is a census-designated place (CDP) in Wharton County, Texas, United States. This was a new CDP formed from parts of the Boling-Iago CDP prior to the 2010 census with a population of 1122. Geography Boling is located at (29.258398, -9 ...

. His first recording was the single "Teenage Misery" for

Fraternity Records Fraternity Records is a small record label based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was started by Harry Carlson and silent partner Dr. Ashton Welsh in 1954. The first recording to be released on Fraternity was Jerri Winters' "Winter's Here". The first hit ...

. In 1958, he released the single "Little Space Girl" b/w "Shake Baby Shake" on

Carlton Records Carlton Records was a record label based in New York City that was formed by former RCA Records A&R head Joe Carlton in 1957. Guaranteed Records was a sublabel of Carlton. Carlton Records lasted until 1964. The most notable recording artists on Ca ...

; the tune hit No. 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was No. 5 for 2 weeks on Canada's

CHUM Chart The CHUM Chart is a long-running Canadian hit parade countdown radio show, originally aired on Toronto radio station CHUM AM then later revived on its sister station CHUM-FM. It consisted of 50 top tunes from May 1957 to July 1968, but in Augus ...

in 1959. The follow-up "Thinkin'" failed to chart, and Turner switched to

Top Rank Records The Rank Organisation (founded as the J. Arthur Rank Organisation) is a British entertainment conglomerate founded in 1937 by industrialist J. Arthur Rank. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the Unit ...

to release "Do I Worry", which also sold poorly. Moving to Sudden Records, he wrote and issued "The Elopers" to no success;

GNP Records GNP Records was an American jazz record label. Artists *Moms & Dads *Billy Strange *Savoy Brown *Stan Kenton *Bing Crosby * Neil Norman * David Matthews *Django Reinhardt *Duke Ellington *Louis Armstrong *Bob Kames *Champion Jack Dupree *John Lee H ...

also released "Ballad of Billy Sol Estes" and a second single. In 1978, Turner produced, wrote, and starred in the

Smokey and the Bandit ''Smokey and the Bandit'' is a 1977 American action comedy road film starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Pat McCormick, Paul Williams, and Mike Henry. The film marks the directorial debut of stuntman Hal Needham ...

-inspired comedy western, ''Smokey and the Good Time Outlaws''. Turner composed and performed several songs in the film, which was initially released to

drive-ins A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or movie theater) where one can drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk or rollersk ...

as ''J.D and the Salt Flat Kid''; his co-star was mainstay

exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that seeks commercial success by capitalizing on current trends, niche genres, or sensational content. Exploitation films often feature themes such as suggestive or explicit sex, sensational violence, drug use, nudi ...

actor,

Dennis Fimple Dennis Clarke Fimple (November 11, 1940 – August 23, 2002) was an American actor. Biography Fimple was born in Ventura, California, the son of Dolly and Elmer Fimple. He graduated from Taft Union High School in 1958 and received a teaching ce ...

and country music star, Dianne Sherrill. Turner's output comprises 15 known songs; most of which have been reissued on the CD, ''Shake, Baby, Shake''. He currently lives in Texas.

References

External Links

* 1938 births Living people American male singers American rockabilly musicians Singers from Texas Imperial Records artists Carlton Records artists Musicians from Houston {{US-rock-singer-stub