Brook Benton
JANICE'S BLUES ALLEY PRESENTS
Silky smooth: that was Brook Benton's byword from his first record to his very last, as the singer parlayed his rich baritone pipes into seven #1 R&B hits and eight Top Ten items. Stints on the gospel circuit preceded Benton's first secular session for Okeh in 1953, but his career didn't begin to take off until he teamed with writer/producer Clyde Otis. Benton cowrote and sang hundreds of demos for other artists before frequent collaborator Otis signed his friend to Mercury; together they pioneered a lush, violin-studded variation on the standard R&B sound, which beautifully showcased Benton's intimate vocals.
Benton crashed the top spot on the R&B charts in early 1959 with his moving "It's Just a Matter of Time," then rapidly encored with three more R&B chart-toppers -- "Thank You Pretty Baby," "So Many Ways," and "Kiddio." Pairing with Mercury labelmate Dinah Washington, their delightful repartee on "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)" and "A Rockin' Good Way" paced the R&B lists in 1960.
The early '60s were a prolific period for Benton, but he left Mercury a few years later and bounced between labels before reemerging with the atmospheric Tony Joe White ballad "Rainy Night in Georgia" on Cotillion in 1970. Benton later made a halfhearted attempt to cash in on the disco craze, but his hitmaking reign was at an end long before his death in 1988. -- Bill Dahl, All Music Guide
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01. The Nearness of You 02. I Can't Begin to Tell You 03. Tell Me Your Dream 04. I'm in the Mood For Love 05. But Beautiful 06. When I Fall in Love |
07. Hold Me 08. I'll String Along with You 09. The More I See You 10. Love Me Or Leave Me 11. I Could Have Told You 12. It's Just a Matter of Time |
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01. Lie to Me 02. Chains of Love 03. Got You on My Mind 04. Valley of Tears 05. Take Good Care of Her 06. My True Confession |
07. I Got What I Wanted 08. Will You Love Me Tomorrow 09. Pledging My Love 10. Tomorrow Night 11. Send for Me 12. Looking Back |
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01. That Old Feeling 02. My Darling, My Darling 03. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square 04. Love Is a Many Splendored Thing 05. Once in Love With Amy 06. Try a Little Tenderness |
07. Hey There 08. Call Me Irresponsible 09. Peg O' My Heart 10. Blue Moon 11. The Second Time Around 12. Moon River |
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01. It's Just A Matter Of Time 02. Endlessly 03. So Close 04. So Many Ways 05. Thank You Pretty Baby |
06. Hurtin' Inside 07. Kiddio 08. The Same One 09. The Ties That Bind 10. With All Of My Heart |
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01. All My Love Belongs to You 02. The Hawaiian Wedding Song 03. More 04. There! I've Said It Again 05. I Only Have Eyes for You 06. Hey There |
07. Impossible, Incredible, But True 08. Unforgettable 09. There Goes My Heart 10. Just as Much as Ever 11. Goodnight My Love 12. Love Is a Many Splendored Thing |
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01. That Old Feeling 02. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square 03. Love Is a Many Splendored Thing 04. Once in Love With Amy 05. Try a Little Tenderness 06. Call Me Irresponsible 07. Blue Moon 08. The Second Time Around |
09. Moon River 10. The Hawaiian Wedding Song 11. More 12. There! I've Said It Again 13. I Only Have Eyes for You 14. Unforgettable 15. There Goes My Heart |
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01. It's Just a Matter of Time 02. Kiddio 03. The Same One 04. It's Just a House Without You 05. My True Confession 06. Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread) 07. Think Twice 08. Hotel Happiness 09. Thank You Pretty Baby 10. Boll Weevil |
11. Rainy Night in Georgia 12. So Close 13. Frankie and Johnny 14. Revenge 15. Lie to Me 16. So Many Ways 17. I Got What I Wanted 18. The Ties That Bind 19. Shadrack 20. For My Baby |
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01. That Old Feeling 02. My Darling, My Darling 03. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square 04. Love Is a Many Splendored Thing 05. Once in Love With Amy 06. Try a Little Tenderness 07. Hey There 08. Call Me Irresponsible 09. Peg O' My Heart 10. Blue Moon 11. The Second Time Around 12. Moon River |
13. While There's Life 14. Mother Nature, Father Time 15. I Still Wanna Be With You 16. Life Is Too Short 17. You're So Wonderful 18. It's a Crime 19. Boy I Wish I Was in Your Place 20. Since You've Been Gone 21. The Song I Heard Last Night 22. Foolish Enough to Try 23. You're Mine (And I Love You) 24. More Time to Be With You |
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01. Baby You've Got What It Takes 02. The Boll Weevil Song 03. Rainy Night In Georgia 04. Lie To Me 05. Careless Love 06. Frankie And Johnny |
07. The Intoxicated Rat 08. Johnny-O 09. I Got What I Wanted 10. My Last Dollar 11. Child Of The Engineer |
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01. Rainy Night In Georgia 02. Think Twice 03. Kiddio 04. Endlessy 05. Revenge 06. Lie To Me 07. My True Confession 08. A Rockin' Good Way 09. The Same One 10. Baby (You've Got What It Takes) |
11. Hotel Happiness 12. So Many Ways 13. Thank You My Pretty Baby 14. The Boll Weevil Song 15. Frankie And Johhny 16. It's Just A House Without You 17. For My Baby 18. So Close 19. I Got What I Wanted 20. It's Just A Matter Of Time |
