From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Tue Nov 5, 2002  6:17 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Benny Joy
 
BENNY JOY (By Jean-Marc Pezet)

Born Benjamin Joy Eidson, 5 November, 1935, Atlanta, Georgia
Died 28 October 1988, Tampa, Florida

Benny Joy was a highly gifted musician. He never took a music lesson in his
life, but was able to play the guitar his father bought him when he was 12.

Benny's father first worked on the farm, then in an oil company when the
family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and later to Tampa, Florida in 1941. At 8,
Benny sang at the local church and later became the School's President of
the Guitar Club. It is likely there that he met John Wilkie Taylor, aka Big
John Taylor with whom Benny started his first group around 1951.
They played the high school gymnasium and local theaters, mainly the country
music of Red Foley, Ernest Tubb and Hank Williams they heard on the radio.
It is reported that Benny also had a deep love for black Blues and Rhythm &
Blues, and was often hanging with the coloured people.
All this led to a combination of country and blues in a style not far from
Elvis Presley's, whom he subsequently heard when the first Sun singles
came out. After graduating from school, Benny took a trip to Memphis where
he met Sam Phillips (or Jack Clement) who told him to return when he had
written some more songs. He returned later but the real story is a bit cloudy
here. It appears that Benny didn't get on Sun because he had a job and a
girlfriend in Tampa and didn't want to risk leaving either of them.
Back in Florida, Benny kept his day job and played, along with Big John
Taylor, all over Tampa at every occasion, often in association with another
local band, Gene Watson and The Rockets, who had recorded for Tri-Dec.
In July 1957, Benny, with Big John, cut their first session, putting in the
can numbers such as "Spin The Bottle", "Steady With Betty", "Hey High
School Baby" and Big John Taylor's instrumental "Stompin" (Tri-Dec 8457).
The first single, "Hey High School Baby" c/w "Spin The Bottle", Tri-Dec 8667,
is nothing less than wild rockabilly and a high priced sought after item
nowdays.
Tri-Dec arranged further sessions which produced other great tracks such as
"Kiss Me", "Ittie Bitty Everything", "Rollin' To The Jukebox Rock" and Big
John's instro "Money Money".
Meanwhile "Spin The Bottle" had caught the attention of Shelby Singleton
and the single was re-released on the Starday subsidiary Dixie (Dixie 2001).
With something like a local following, Benny also caught the attention of
Buck Ram (who brought The Platters to Mercury), apparently through demos
Benny had previously sent . Ram and Mercury were prompt to sign a
management and recording contract with Benny and his guitarist.
A first single soon appeared on Ram's Antler label. "Crash The Party"
(Antler 4011) is also a great slice of southern rockabilly at its best, but
Mercury failed to distribute the records properly and the record sank
without the proverbial trace. Some recordings followed in Nashville with the
city's finest session players, but they were rejected by Mercury and Ram
issued an older Tri-Dec master "Ittie Bitty Everything" c/w Big John Taylor's
"Money Money" on Ram 1000-1 in 1959.
The same year, Benny Joy surprisingly embarked on a European tour which
brought him to France, Italy and Yugoslavia.
Big John Taylor and Benny Joy parted company in 1961 and in 1962, Benny
started a career in songwriting. He stayed in Nashville for 10 years, writing
over 200 songs for high profile artists such as Ray Smith, Red Sovine,
George Morgan (a Top 30 hit "One Dozen Roses"), Charlie Rich, Marty
Robbins, Carl Smith, Webb Pierce, Warner Mack, and above all Stonewall
Jackson with the # 1 C&W hit "BJ The DJ" in 1964.
In 1972, after a divorce, he returned to Florida to his family.
In the 1980s, there was talk of appearances in the UK when he was diagnosed
with cancer. He died in Tampa in 1988, aged 52.

I first heard the music of Benny Joy years ago on the old Cees Klop's White
Label LP and have been a fan since then. Hardly known outside the rockabilly
circles, Benny Joy stands out as a master of the genre.

Recommended listening:
"Crash The Rockabilly Party" ACE CDCHD 703