Jimmy Heap

Western swing bandleader Jimmy Heap led the Melody Masters for over three decades and contributed one country classic to the genre, "The Wild Side of Life," covered by Hank Thompson, Burl Ives and Grady Martin, Freddy Fender, and more recently, Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter. Heap's "Release Me" also provided Esther Phillips and Engelbert Humperdinck with their first Top Ten popular hits, in 1962 and 1967 respectively. James Arthur Heap was born on March 3, 1922, in Taylor, TX. He formed the Melody Masters just after his service in World War II, with sidemen Arlie Carter, L...