Brook Benton: Biography

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• Ray Charles
• Percy Mayfield
• Tony Joe White
• Billy Eckstine
• Arthur Prysock
• Clyde McPhatter
• Joe South

• Nat King Cole
• The Swan Silvertones
• Johnny Hartman
• Frank Sinatra
• Mahalia Jackson
• Billy Eckstine
• The Five Blind Boys of Alabama

• Roy Shirley
• Barkin' Bill
• Chris Whynaught
• Don Williams
• Charley Pride

• Clyde Otis

• M. Stein
• Lew Brown
• Reginald Connelly
• Manning Sherwin
• Paul Francis Webber
• James Van Heusen
• Lorenz Hart

Birth Name:

Benjamin Franklin Peay

Born:

Sep 19, 1931 in Camden, SC

Died:

Apr 9, 1988 in New York, NY

Genres:

Classical Music, R&B and Soul Music, Classic R&B Music, Rock Music

Decades Active:

1950's|1960's|1970's

Artistic Quality

High

Cultural Impact

High

Popularity

High

Ratings Guide

Silky smooth: that was Brook Benton's byword from his first record to his very last, as the singer parlayed his rich baritone pipes into seven number one RB hits and eight Top Ten items. Stints on the gospel circuit preceded Benton's first secular session for Okeh in 1953, but his career didn't begin to take off until he teamed with writer/producer Clyde Otis. Benton cowrote and sang hundreds of demos for other artists before frequent collaborator Otis signed his friend to Mercury; together they pioneered a lush, violinstudded variation on the standard RB sound, which beautifully showcased Benton's intimate vocals.

Benton crashed the top spot on the RB charts in early 1959 with his moving "It's Just a Matter of Time," then rapidly encored with three more RB charttoppers: "Thank You Pretty Baby," "So Many Ways," and "Kiddio." Pairing with Mercury labelmate Dinah Washington, their delightful repartee on "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)" and "A Rockin' Good Way" paced the RB lists in 1960.

The early '60s were a prolific period for Benton, but he left Mercury a few years later and bounced between labels before reemerging with the atmospheric Tony Joe White ballad "Rainy Night in Georgia" on Cotillion in 1970. Benton later made a halfhearted attempt to cash in on the disco craze, but his hitmaking reign was at an end long before his death in 1988.

- Bill Dahl, All Music Guide