Buster Benton (July 19, 1932 – January 20, 1996^[1]) was an American blues guitarist and singer, who played guitar in Willie Dixon's Blues All-Stars, and is best known for his solo rendition of the Dixon penned song, "Spider in My Stew."^[2] Despite the amputation of parts of both his legs during the latter part of his career, Benton never gave up playing his version of Chicago blues.^[1]

Contents 1 Biography 2 Album discography 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Biography

Benton was born in Texarkana, Arkansas.^[3]

Inspired by Sam Cooke and B. B. King, Benton began playing the blues during the mid 1950s while living in Toledo, Ohio.^[1] By 1959, he was leading his own band in Chicago.^[3] During the 1960s, he recorded several singles for local record labels (Melloway, Alteen, Sonic, and Twinight Records) before joining up with Willie Dixon in 1971.^[1] Lack of opportunity in the early 1960s meant that Benton gave up playing professionally for several years, and worked as an auto mechanic.^[4] Benton's earlier work was an amalgam of blues and soul, which he confusingly dubbed 'disco blues'. According to Music journalist, 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."^[1]

Benton was a member of Dixon's Blues All-Stars for a while,^[1] and Dixon is credited as the songwriter of Benton's best known song, "Spider in My Stew."^[2] Its release on Stan Lewis's Shreveport-based Jewel Records gave Benton a taste of fame, and its follow-up, "Money Is the Name of the Game," solidified his reputation.^[1] A 1973 album by Dixon's Blues All-Stars, featuring Benton, was The All Star Blues World Of Maestro Willie Dixon and his Chicago Blues Band, issued on Spivey. A 1978 album for Jewel's Ronn Records subsidiary (also titled Spider in My Stew) stands as one of the most engaging Chicago blues albums of its era - the contemporary feel abetting Benton's guitar work and soulful vocals.^[1]

Benton recorded three later albums for Ichiban, but compared to his Ronn output, they were uncommercial.^[1] One such LP offering was 1989's, Money's The Name of The Game, produced by Gary B.B. Coleman.^[5] Benton also issued a record on the Blue Phoenix label.^[3] On the Chicago circuit, Benton's courage in the face of physical adversity will long be remembered. He was on kidney dialysis for the last few years of his life as a result of diabetes, and a portion of his right leg was amputated in 1993 due to poor circulation. Benton had already lost part of the other a decade earlier. Nevertheless, he continued to play his brand of uplifting blues until the end.^[1] However, as journalist, Tony Russell, stated in his book The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray, Benton "never found another money spider".^[3]

Benton died in January 1996, in Chicago,^[1][6] from the effects of diabetes, at age 63.

His work has appeared on a number of compilation albums, including Chicago Blues Festival: 1969-1986 (2001).^[7]

[edit] Album discography

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

^[8]

[edit] See also

• List of Chicago blues musicians
• List of soul-blues musicians

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Buster Benton biography at Allmusic.com