Henry Benson Blues Icon

[Guest Hoistin' Henry]

Hello all,

I've received a research fellowship at St. John Fisher College to study the life, times and historical implications of the great blues singer Henry Benson. Is there anyone here who may possibly be old enough to have known Mr. Benson or is there anyone with any enlightenment on his career. Recordings, family photos, jobs he held, wives, record labels etc. I NEED to know everything there is to know about the magnificent Henry Benson. Hoooo.....raaaahhhh!! Give it up for Henry. Thanks.

[AllenLowe]

Henry who?

[Christiern]

If I remember correctly, the now defunct Imperio label issued a bootleg album called The Best of Henry Benson. Most of the tracks came from Henry Benson: The Men's Room Tapes, which has been oop in the U.S. for many years.

Didn't Mosaic also do something with Benson?

[Guest Hoistin' Henry]

If I remember correctly, the now defunct Imperio label issued a bootleg album called The Best of Henry Benson. Most of the tracks came from Henry Benson: The Men's Room Tapes, which has been oop in the U.S. for many years.

Didn't Mosaic also do something with Benson?

Thanks so much. I'll research the Mosaic archives for Henry. I think he used an accompanist named Little Brother Wiltsie.

I couldn't have been assigned anything easy like Sister Rosetta Thorpe (a distant relation of Jim's I believe) or someone like that. No, No, No...I had to draw Henry. Passing this assignment isn't going to be a cake walkin' Baby from HOME.

[Spontooneous]

A friend recalls seeing him at the old Inferno Lounge on Proost Avenue here in Kansas City. Benson spent most of the first set railing against the emcee for introducing him as Cleanhead Benson.

[JSngry]

Henry Benson had the blues but then forgot where he had put them, thus discovering/inventing/stumbling upon/whatever the new genre of Post-Blues Blues, a genre which upset (and continues to upset) more generations than one. It's about time that somebody provides an in-depth, accurate, well-researched, and (hopefully) agenda-free look at this seminal figure.

Keep us posted, please!

[Chuck Nessa]

Uptown is planning a deluxe package of unknown recordings made in the Cook County Jail with the guards playing spoons, substituting for a rhythm section. An 88 page book is planned.

[Spontooneous]

Just wondering...did they ever find Henry's grave again after that horrible tractor accident?

[Chuck Nessa]

It was a harrowing event.

[JSngry]

Indeed...

[AllenLowe]

well, I just found the first Henry Benson internet sex tape:

www.cantgetitup.com

[Spontooneous]

well, I just found the first Henry Benson internet sex tape:

I thought the pig's owner won the lawsuit and got that taken down.

[JSngry]

Not only did the sex happen, there were..."unintended consequences"...

[Spontooneous]

Can anyone recommend some other great recordings in the delta-theta blues style that HB pioneered?

[Guest Hoistin' Henry]

I see everyone seems to think this is some kind of gag. Maybe this will shut up the jazz & blues erudites.

So far I've come up with his Riverside Recordings. (See below)

I was mistaken about Little Brother Wiltsie...it was Little Brother Montgomery who accompanied him on this session. You guys really know how to make a newbie feel at home. Who in hell is this Nessa guy? Is he supposed to be an authority on Jazz & Blues? If so, he isn't showing me SHIT.

Catalog - album index / Discography - session index

Riverside Records Catalog: 400 series

Riverside Contemporary 400 series (12 inch LP)

RLP 401 Lil Hardin Armstrong And Her Orchestra - Chicago-The Living Legends

Bill Martin, Roi Nabors, Eddie Smith (tp) Preston Jackson, Albert Wynn (tb) Darnell Howard, Franz Jackson (cl) Lil Armstrong (p, vo) Pops Foster (b) Booker Washington (d)

"The Birdhouse", Chicago, IL, September 7, 1961

365 Red Arrow Blues

366 Bugle Blues

367 Basin Street Blues

368 Muskrat Ramble

369 Royal Garden Blues

370 Easttown Boogie

omit Smith

same location, date

371 Clip Joint

Lil Armstrong (p, vo) Pops Foster (b) Booker Washington (d)

same location, date

374 Boogie Me

** also issued on Riverside RS 9401; Fantasy OJCCD 1823-2.

RLP 402 The Blues Piano Artistry Of Meade Lux Lewis

Meade "Lux" Lewis (p, cel)

NYC, November 1, 1961

405 Rough Seas

406 Hammer Chatter

407 Frompy Stomp

408 You Were Meant For Me

409 Breezing At The Celeste

410 Celeste Bounce

411 Madame Vod's Celeste Blues

412 C Jam Blues

413 Fate

415 Bear Trap Stomp

** also issued on Riverside RS 9402; Fantasy OJC 1759, OJCCD 1759-2.

RLP 403 Mama Yancey/Little Brother Montgomery - Chicago-The Living Legends: South Side Blues

Ted Butterman (cor) Bob Gordon (cl) Rufus Brown (ts) Little Brother Montgomery (p, vo) Mike McKendrick (bj)

"The Birdhouse", Chicago, IL, September 6, 1961

344-1 New Satellite Blues

Little Brother Montgomery (p) Sam Hill (g) Pops Foster (b) Earl Watkins (d) Mama Yancey (vo)

"The Birdhouse", Chicago, IL, September 8, 1961

389 How Long Blues

390 Four O'Clock Blues

391 Make Me A Pallet On The Floor

392 Mama Yancey's Blues

<<<<Henry Benson (hca, vo) Walter Vinson (g) replaces Hill, Yancey

same location, date

394 Jelly Jelly

395 I'm A Jelly Roll Baker >>>>>

Jesse Coleman (p) Sam Hill (g) Walter Vinson (g, vo) Pops Foster (b) Earl Watkins (d)

same location, date

396 A Wonderful Thing

397 Things 'Bout Comin' My Way

398 I Knew You Were Kiddin' All The Time

** also issued on Riverside RS 9403; Fantasy OBC 508, OBCCD 508-2.

Edited April 22, 2010 by Hoistin' Henry

[Christiern]

Can anyone recommend some other great recordings in the delta-theta blues style that HB pioneered?

Just about any track from Hyler Twink's two Fosdick sessions would fit that bill, but I recommend the alternate take of "Poontango'" the one on which he adds a Spanish tinge to the last chorus.

BTW, Benson did not pioneer that style, he just gave it legs.

[Spontooneous]

BTW, Benson did not pioneer that style, he just gave it legs.

So he was sort of a Robert Johanson figure?

[AllenLowe]

wait - I think I found the correct Henry Benson in Wikipedia:

Henry Alexander Benson, Baron Benson (2 August 1909 – 5 March 1995) was a British accountant best known as a partner of Coopers & Lybrand, an advisor to the Bank of England, his work organising the accountancy profession as president of ICAEW and for the part he played in various Royal Commissions.

[jeffcrom]

Years ago, I remember hearing some of the older blues guys in Atlanta talk about Henry Benson. They said he used to tour on the Southern medicine show circuit with Blind Bill Hedges. Apparently they were a really powerful duo. I still remember the awe in the voices of those guys when they talked about Benson & Hedges.

[Christiern]

Years ago, I remember hearing some of the older blues guys in Atlanta talk about Henry Benson. They said he used to tour on the Southern medicine show circuit with Blind Bill Hedges. Apparently they were a really powerful duo. I still remember the awe in the voices of those guys when they talked about Benson & Hedges.

Blind John Davis told me that he caught them in Tuscaloosa. He said they were "smokin'."

[AllenLowe]

he later joined the Navy and became an Ensign...................

[Bright Moments]

I see everyone seems to think this is some kind of gag. Maybe this will shut up the jazz & blues erudites.

this is like an initiation henry - if you can survive it you will find a lot of great folks here and a wealth of knowledge.

perhaps you can contribute to some of the other threads to let us get to know you?

[Brad]

Henry, I think you need to calm down a wee bit. Nobody meant anything malicious and, yes, Chuck is an expert in jazz and he's got a lot of shit to show