Brook Benton

Infobox musical artist
Name = Brook Benton


Img_capt = Promotional photo of Benton.
Img_size = 200
Landscape = yellow
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Benjamin Franklin Peay
Alias =
Born = birth date|1931|9|19|mf=y
Died = death date and age|1988|4|9|1931|9|19|mf=y
Origin = Camden, SC
Instrument = Vocals
Genre = Pop, R&B, soul
Occupation = Singer, Actor
Years_active = 1958 - 1988
Label = Mercury, RCA
Associated_acts =
URL =

Brook Benton (19 September 1931 — 9 April 1988) was an American singer and songwriter who was popular with rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music audiences during the late 1950s and early 1960s, when he scored hits such as "It's Just A Matter Of Time" and "Endlessly", many of which he co-wrote. He made a comeback in 1970 with the ballad "Rainy Night in Georgia." Benton scored over 50 "Billboard" chart hits as an artist, and also wrote hits for other performers.

Biography

Rise to fame

Benjamin Franklin Peay was born 19 September 1931 in Lugoff, South Carolina. When Peay was young he enjoyed gospel music and wrote songs. So in 1948 he went to New York to pursue his music career. He went in and out of gospel groups such as "The Langfordaires", "The Jerusalem Stars", and "The Golden Gate Quartet". When coming back to his home state he joined a R&B singing group, "The Sandmen", and went back to New York to get a big break with his group. The Sandmen had limited success, and their label, Okeh Records, decided to push Peay as a solo artist; however, they changed his name to Brook Benton, apparently at the suggestion of label executive Marv Halsman. [ [http://home.att.net/~uncamarvy/Sandmen/sandmen.html "Marv Goldberg, Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks: The Sandmen"] ]

Brook earned a good living writing songs and co-producing albums. He wrote songs for artists such as Nat King Cole, Clyde McPhatter (for whom he wrote the hit "A Lover's Question"), and Roy Hamilton. Soon he released his first minor hit, "A Million Miles From Nowhere". Later he went on to the Mercury label, which would eventually bring him larger success.

Big break

Finally in 1959 he made his breakthrough with his hits "It's Just A Matter Of Time" and "Endlessly". "It's Just a Matter of Time" peaked at #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, while "Endlessly" made it to #12. Both of the first two hits were written by Benton with Clyde Otis. They were originally offered to Nat King Cole, but when Otis became an A&R official at Mercury, he convinced Benton to sign with the label and record them himself, while asking Cole not to record the songs as planned. [Colin Escott, "Clyde Otis: Looking Back". Goldmine, October 1, 1993, pp. 42-43.] He followed this success with a series of hits, including "So Many Ways" (#6), "Hotel Happiness" (#3), "Think Twice" (#11), "Kiddio" (#7), and "The Boll Weevil Song" (#2). In 1960, he had two top 10 hit duets with Dinah Washington: "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)" (#5) and "A Rockin' Good Way (To Mess Around and Fall In Love)" (#7). In the mid- and late 1960's, Benton recorded for RCA Records and Reprise Records with minimal commercial success. In 1969 he signed with Cotillion Records, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records, where the next year he had his last major hit with "Rainy Night in Georgia." Benton eventually charted 49 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, with other songs charting on Billboard's rhythm and blues, easy listening, and Christmas music charts. [Joel Whitburn, Top Pop Singles 1955-1999 (Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research, 2000), 48-49.] The last album made by Benton was "Fools Rush In", which was released posthumously in 2005. At one point he was recording on Groove Records.cite book
first= Arnold
last= Shaw
year= 1978
title= Honkers and Shouters
edition=
publisher=Macmillan Publishing Company
location= New York
pages= p. 463
id= ISBN 0-02-061740-2]

Death

Brook died of complications from spinal meningitis in Queens, New York City, at the age of 56, on 9 April 1988.

Discography

elected albums

ingles

References

External links

* [http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Brook%20Benton.html Soulwalking.co.uk - Brook Benton Fan Page]
* [http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/benton_brook/bio.jhtml VH1.com - Artist Listing]
* [http://www.tsimon.com/benton.htm Tsimon.com - Brook Benton Fan Page]
* http://www.geocities.com/shakin_stacks/brookbenton.txt
* http://www.shewins.com/bio.htm
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Brook+Benton Brook Benton at Discogs]