Friday, January 19, 2018

Trailblazers in Black History: Brook Benton


Brook Benton was a very popular soul singer in the early 60's and sold many, many records for the Mercury label. He had a voice that had a very wide appeal and was also a talented songwriter.

Born Benjamin Franklin Peay in Camden, South Carolina in 1931, he became a gospel singer at a young age. While still a child, he worked delivering milk in the morning and joined the Camden Jubilee Singers.

He enjoyed writing songs and in 1948, at age 17, journeyed to New York City to try to sell some of them. With his gospel singing background, it was not long before he drifted in and out of gospel groups such as Bill Langford's Spiritual Singers, the Langfordaires, the Golden Gate Quartet, and the Jerusalem Stars. Brook returned to South Carolina and drove a truck while continuing his music career. He joined an R&B singing group, the Sandmen, and once again went north in search of a big break.

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Source: http://www.shewins.com

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