Benny Hester

Benny Ray Hester (born May 3, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and recording artist. He is perhaps best known for his songs "When God Ran" and "Nobody Knows Me Like You", and for producing the groundbreaking tween/teen music-driven sketch comedy and dance television series '' Roundhouse'' on Nickelodeon. Hester received a television Cable Ace Award for the song "I Can Dream" and a collection of nominations for writing and producing a featured original song for each weekly episode of ''Roundhouse'' during its successful four-year run. He has written and recorded more than 25 number one and top ten songs.

Hester's recording of his song "When God Ran" touched the consciousness of Christians worldwide, and is one of the longest running number one songs in Contemporary Christian Music history, number one for 13 weeks, and the number three song in the 60-year history of Word Records. “When God Ran” continues to be rerecorded by artists in many languages and musical genres, including adult contemporary, pop, rock, R&B, alternative, and Southern Gospel, making it to the top of the charts repeatedly.

The title track from his third album, "Nobody Knows Me Like You", reached number one on Christian Music Charts and became the first Contemporary Christian music song to break the ''Billboard'' Top 50 Adult Contemporary Chart, debuting at number 44 on November 7, 1981.

Hester's first Contemporary Christian music singles, "Jesus Came Into My Life" and "Be A Receiver", were breakthrough recordings for radio, blurring the lines between pop, rock, and inspirational music, and becoming the first contemporary pop rock songs to be universally accepted and widely played across all Christian Radio formats. His 1978 self-titled debut album ''Benny Hester'', re-released in 1982 as ''Be A Receiver'', influenced the burgeoning Contemporary Christian music scene, and ranks among the first "Contemporary Christian Music" albums as the musical landscape shifted with the end of the Jesus Music era and the birth of the industry known as Contemporary Christian music.

Early life and influences

Benny Hester was born in Waco, Texas, and began studying classical music at age four. He continued his studies through high school with European teachers and musical innovators John and Martha Reuther. Hester was among the first to master John Reuther's futuristic chromatic “checkerboard” designed keyboard and one of a handful of musicians to become expert on the instrument, playing public performances to demonstrate its attributes over the standard keyboard.

Hester auditioned and was chosen to sing with The Texas Boys Choir.

He became the youngest member of the Texas swing band, Sam Weaver and The Texas Playboys, and appeared on the band's weekly television show playing alongside guest music legends including Johnny Gimble and Ernest Tubb.

While attending Richfield High School, Hester was one of the founding members of the popular Texas pop rock band, The Morticians. He wrote songs for the group and included them in sets for the band's sizable revved up audiences. Headed now by guitarist and original founding member, Joe Hall, The Morticians continue to play concerts regularly.

Hester was hired to play in the live stage band and orchestra for the long running musical, ''Texas'', and continued with the show for two years. While performing in ''Texas'', he founded the singing duo, Hester & Hilton, with partner Steve Hilton. Hester & Hilton performed their own songs along with stylized takes on songs by their favorite artists. While playing El Paso, Hester was asked to write two songs for a recording session by the group, The Sojourners. It turned out to be his first professional recording session as a songwriter. The two songs were produced and engineered by Norman Petty and recorded at Norman Petty Studios in Clovis, New Mexico, where Hester had the opportunity to work with the legendary Petty and record in his hit studio. Hester and his older brother, a music fan with a ten-year head start on him, grew up singing and listening to Buddy Holly songs. Norman Petty produced and recorded those songs. Hester coincidentally attended Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas, home to Petty and birthplace of Holly.

Career

1969: Maher, MusAd, and the Runnin' Rebels of UNLV

Hester moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where, on a walk-through of Bill Porter's United Recording Studio, he met head recording engineer Brent Maher. When Maher questioned him, “What do you do?”, Hester answered back, “I’m a songwriter”. Maher invited Hester to play a song. After hearing it, Maher asked, “Do you have another one of those?” Hester and Maher spent the remainder of the day with Hester playing one tune after another from a notebook collection, of what Hester felt were his best songs, entitled “The Good Book”, as well as from his second, ongoing, collection, “The Better Book”. They became immediate friends and remain so today. During that period Maher was engineering Ike and Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary", The 5th Dimension's ''Age of Aquarius'', Duke Ellington's last record, The Jackson 5, Chuck Berry, Sammy Davis Jr., Gladys Knight, Sly and the Family Stone, and others, and Maher brought Hester to many of those memorable recording sessions. These first hand and close up studio experiences had a lasting effect on Hester and his music, further inspiring his songwriting, and giving him an invaluable understanding of how artists choose their songs and record their music.

Hester taught music at a private music school, recorded Hester & Hilton demos with Maher at United Recording, and later, with Maher, formed a successful jingle advertising company, MusAd, which dominated the Las Vegas radio and television market for ten years. He penned the song for Hickory Farms Of Ohio, and Nevada’s largest newspaper, '' The Las Vegas Review Journal'', with the slogan “The RJ is Las Vegas” appearing on billboards and ads still. Together Hester and Maher wrote and produced commercial songs for many Las Vegas hotels and banks, Nevada's largest home builders, trendy clothing manufacturers and outlets, and notably, at the request of famed coach Jerry Tarkanian, the original University Of Nevada Las Vegas fight song and school song for the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels basketball team.

1972: Album with Elvis Presley's band

Maher went on to produce Hester's first two albums, the self-titled ''Benny...'', on Bill Porter's VMI Records/Vegas Music International, and his first CCM album for Billy Ray Hearn's Sparrow Records. Hester first became a Christian while attending an evangelical rally at a traveling tent crusade called Christ is the Answer. He later attended a local church called The Neighborhood Church. Hester's unexpected spiritual awakening resulted in his prophetic "second coming" song, and first VMI single, "We All Know He's Coming", recorded with Elvis Presley’s TCB Band.

Hester learned from sitting behind the console and watching recording and sound engineer, and VMI Records president, Bill Porter, mix the live concerts each night for Elvis Presley, in the main showroom of the International Hotel, later the Las Vegas Hilton. Hester was taken, not only with Elvis’s performances, but with Elvis’s band, which included drummer, Ron Tutt, who had recently played drums on the recording of Cat Stevens’, “Peace Train”. Maher and Porter brought Elvis's band, the TCB Band, to record with Hester for his first album. The band was made up of Ron Tutt, James Burton, Glen Hardin and Jerry Scheff, as well as Larry Muhoberac and Joe Osborn

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