Ten thousand river commissions, with the mines of the world at their back, cannot tame that lawless stream, cannot curb it or define it, cannot say to it 'Go here,' or Go there, and make it obey; cannot save a shore which it has sentenced; cannot bar its path with an obstruction which it will not tear down, dance over, and laugh at - Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi
Leon Benton was a Texas guitarist (obviously VERY influenced by Lightnin') who recorded two sides in 1950 (I think) with Texas Alexander on vocals and Buster Pickens on piano as "Benton's Busy Bees".
Those recordings are not masterpieces but are enjoyable enough. I'm interested to know if Benton recorded anything other than those two sides.
« Last Edit: July 03, 2007, 10:23:53 AM by LoneWolf »
That 78 is his only known appearance on record. Both Mack McCormick in 50s and Lawrence Brown in 80s drew complete blanks when trying to track down/identify Benton. I think that all Pickens had to say about him was that he was a "guitar player".
As an update, it appears that McCormick did finally track Benton down in the 60s and interviewed him. Some of this was included in the manuscript of the proposed Oliver-McCormick Texas Blues book which never happened (see MMcC's open letter to Blues Unlimited reproduced elsewhere).
Houston-based blues researcher Andrew Brown has kindly supplied me with the following dates for Leon Benton
Leon Benton was a Texas guitarist (obviously VERY influenced by Lightnin') who recorded two sides in 1950 (I think) with Texas Alexander on vocals and Buster Pickens on piano as "Benton's Busy Bees".
Those recordings are not masterpieces but are enjoyable enough. I'm interested to know if Benton recorded anything other than those two sides.
Leon Benton was a Texas guitarist (obviously VERY influenced by Lightnin') who recorded two sides in 1950 (I think) with Texas Alexander on vocals and Buster Pickens on piano as "Benton's Busy Bees".
Those recordings are not masterpieces but are enjoyable enough. I'm interested to know if Benton recorded anything other than those two sides.
Texas Alexander was still alive in 1950!!??
Where can I find this record???
Volume 3 on Document. These two songs are not strong sides, IMO. But the CD as a whole is definitely worth it.
Leon Benton was a Texas guitarist (obviously VERY influenced by Lightnin') who recorded two sides in 1950 (I think) with Texas Alexander on vocals and Buster Pickens on piano as "Benton's Busy Bees".
Those recordings are not masterpieces but are enjoyable enough. I'm interested to know if Benton recorded anything other than those two sides.
Texas Alexander was still alive in 1950!!??
Where can I find this record???
Volume 3 on Document. These two songs are not strong sides, IMO. But the CD as a whole is definitely worth it.
Thanks! Are the last two tracks, the record in question?
« Last Edit: July 17, 2007, 12:04:03 PM by mississippijohnhurt1928 »