Review: Benny Turner ‘BT’
By Jim Hynes
Benny Turner, vocalist/bassist/guitarist/songwriter, is one of the last links to the original bluesmen. The younger brother of Freddie King, Turner celebrates his 85th birthday and the tenth anniversary for the label for which he was the catalyst, NOLA Blue. We now have the long-awaited BT, perhaps the crowning achievement of his storied career. Besides being the bassist in his brother’s band, Turner played with blues great Mighty Joe Young, was the bandleader for the “Blues Queen of New Orleans” Marva Wright, and worked with gospel greats Otis Clay, Dee Clark and the Soul Stirrers. Because he lived in Chicago from 1950 to 1990, he is one of the few living bluesmen, along with Bobby Rush and Buddy Guy, who knew greats such as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Jimmy Reed and others. He and blues great Luther Allison were once roommates. Turner shares his stories in his award-winning 2017 autobiography, Survivor – The Benny Turner Story. Like the book, BT is a walk down memory lane as Turner revisits songs from these blues and gospel luminaries while adding three originals.
The album started in 2018 at FAME in Muscle Shoals, then continued with sessions in New Orleans, and was completed this past August in Columbia, PA. BT was put on hold so that Turner could work with his friend Cash McCall’s Going Back Home pre-Covid. He wanted to honor his friend who had a terminal illness. Beyond that Turner dealt with the destruction of his New Orleans home due to Hurricane Ida that, along with other events, prompted his move to the Keystone state. Turner produced BT along with guitarist Bobby Gentilo who co-produced three tracks and plays guitar on the record in both studios. Prominent guests include Billy Davis (last original member of Hank Ballard’s Midnighters Band), Harrell “Young Roll” Davenport, and Sax Gordon.
These ten songs mirror Turner’s eclectic career. He may not be the blues shouter of his surname’s sake Big “Joe” Turner, but he had the immortal Blues Shouter in mind with the opening vintage ‘50s R&B of “Bump Miss Susie.” Compared to almost anyone else out there today from the ‘old school’, Benny is a force-of-nature vocalist on the far too often covered “Going Down Slow.” This is a favorite in Benny’s live shows as he turns it into a gospel tune at the end with his refrains of “Pray for Me” which take on chilling effect as he prances the stage and exhorts the audience in those three words. This one benefits from the piano of Muscle Shoals great Clayton Ivey and harmonica. Turner honors West Coast great with a funky version of “The Walk” which features Sax Gordon. Listen closely to Turner’s bass playing, so forceful and at times creative that he’s “The Jaco Pastorius” of blues bassists.
His signature melding of gospel and blues is evident on the B-side of Dee Clark’s 1958 hit “Nobody But You” with this rendition of “That’s When I Call on You,” replete with Ivey’s B3 and background vocalists. He then turns to obscure song of Muddy Waters with “Born in This Time,” honoring the historical foundation of the blues. Turner calls it “The Ballad of a Slave,” pouring out his heartfelt vocals. He later delivers his own original for blues icon Jimmy Reed in the witty shuffle “Drunk.” Two other tributes are here. He sings both lead and backgrounds on “Finger Poppin’ Time,” inviting Billy Davis to play guitar in a nod to both Davis and Davis’s bandleader, Hank Ballard. Turner salutes his days in New Orleans in a tribute to Big Chief Bo Dollis, inviting Marva Wright to assist in background vocals on “Smoke My Peace Pipe (Smoke It Right).” His bassline is strikingly dominant among a group of eight musicians and singers.
The final two Turner originals cap this versatile outing. Turner plays guitar back porch style, leading a backing quartet through the fully instrumental “Sleepy Time in the Barnyard,” a throwback to his days as a teenage growing up in Gilmer, TX. His closing “Who Sang It First” reminds us of the originators of America’s indigenous art form, the blues. There are not many originals left but Turner is one of its most vital torchbearers as evidenced throughout BT.
Benny Turner website
“Drunk”
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