Arley "Buster" Benton (July 19, 1932 – January 20, 1996) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

guitarist and singer. He played guitar in

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

's Blues All-Stars and is best known for his

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

rendition of Dixon's song "

Spider in My Stew "Spider in My Stew" is a song composed by Willie Dixon and first recorded by American blues musician Buster Benton. It is performed as a slow, minor-key blues, with Benton's impassioned vocal and B.B King-influenced electric guitar playing. For ...

." Benton was tenacious, and despite the amputation of parts of both legs in the latter part of his lengthy career, he never stopped playing his own version of

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cent ...

Biography

He was born Arley Benton, in

Texarkana, Arkansas Texarkana is a city in the U.S. state of Arkansas and the county seat of Miller County, on the southwest border of the state. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 29,387. The city is located across the state line from its twin city ...

. While residing in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

, in the mid-1950s, and having been influenced by Sam Cooke and

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

, Benton began playing blues. By 1959, he was leading his own band in

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. During the 1960s, the local

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

s Melloway, Alteen, Sonic, and Twinight released several

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

by Benton. However, because of a lack of opportunities in the early 1960s, he gave up playing professionally for several years and worked as an auto mechanic. His earlier work was an amalgam of blues and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

. According to the

music journalist Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

Bill Dahl, "in the late 1970s, when the popularity of blues music was at low ebb, Benton's recordings, particularly for Ronn Records, were a breath of fresh air." Benton joined Willie Dixon's Blues All-Stars in 1971 and was a fixture in the band for some time. He played on the 1973 album ''The All Star Blues World of Maestro Willie Dixon and His Chicago Blues Band'', issued by

Spivey Records Spivey Records was a specialist blues record label founded by blues singer Victoria Spivey and jazz historian Len Kunstadt in 1961. Spivey Records released a series of blues and jazz albums between 1961 and 1985. History of Spivey Records The la ...

. Dixon was credited as the songwriter of Benton's best-known song, "

", released by Jewel Records, based in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

. It gave Benton a modicum of fame, and his 1974 follow-up, "Money Is the Name of the Game", helped to cement his standing. Benton's 1978 album for Jewel's subsidiary Ronn Records (also titled ''Spider in My Stew'') became recognized as one of the more engaging Chicago blues albums of its time. Benton recorded three further albums for

Ichiban Records Ichiban Records is an American independent record label, founded in 1985 by John Abbey and Nina Easton in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. History Wrap Records and Nastymix Records were some of its subsidiary labels. Urgent! Records and Mr. Henr ...

, but in comparison to his work on the Ronn label, they were not commercially successful. One of these albums was ''Money's the Name of the Game'', produced by Gary B.B. Coleman and released in 1989. Benton also issued a record on the Blue Phoenix label. His fortitude did not go unnoticed. He suffered from

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

and received dialysis in the final years of his life. In 1993, part of his right leg was amputated as a result of poor circulation due to the disease; he had already lost a portion of the other leg some ten years before. He soldiered on, playing his brand of the blues until his death. However, as the music journalist Tony Russell wrote, Benton "never found another money spider". Benton died in January 1996, in Chicago, from the effects of diabetes, at age 63. His work has been included on several

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

s, including ''Chicago Blues Festival: 1969–1986'' (2001).

Album discography

*''Spider in My Stew'' (Ronn, 1978) *''Blues Buster'' (Red Lightnin', 1979) *''Buster Benton Is the Feeling'' (Ronn, 1980) *''First Time in Europe'' (Blue Phoenix, 1983) *''Why Me'' ( Ichiban, 1988) *''Money's the Name of the Game'' (Ichiban, 1989) *''I Like to Hear My Guitar Sing'' (Ichiban, 1991) *''Blues at the Top'' (Evidence Music, 1993) *''That's the Reason'' (Ronn, 1997) *''Blues and Trouble'' (Black & Blue, 2002)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benton, Buster 1932 births 1996 deaths People from Texarkana, Arkansas African-American guitarists American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers Chicago blues musicians Deaths from diabetes Singers from Arkansas Songwriters from Arkansas Soul-blues musicians 20th-century African-American male singers American amputees 20th-century American guitarists Songwriters from Illinois Guitarists from Arkansas Guitarists from Illinois Black & Blue Records artists African-American songwriters American male songwriters

Biography

Album discography

See also

References