Joseph M. Hewell (April 15, 1938 – December 23, 2014) was an American R&B and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

singer better known under his stage name Jo Jo Benson. He was best known for his recordings in the late 1960s with Peggy Scott.

Life and career

He was born in Phenix City, Alabama, and began singing in

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

s when in his teens. He joined

Chuck Willis Harold "Chuck" Willis (January 31, 1926 – April 10, 1958) was an American blues, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll singer and songwriter. His biggest hits, " C. C. Rider" (1957) and "What Am I Living For" (1958), both reached No.1 on the ''Bil ...

as a

backing singer A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

in the 1950s, before joining forces with fellow singer Peggy Scott, who previously backed

Ben E. King Benjamin Earl King (né Nelson; September 28, 1938 – April 30, 2015) was an American soul and R&B singer and record producer. He is best known as the singer and co-composer of " Stand by Me"—a US Top 10 hit, both in 1961 and later ...

, in a duo. The pair were heard and encouraged by record producer

Huey Meaux Huey Purvis Meaux (March 10, 1929 – April 23, 2011) was an American record producer and the owner of various record labels and recording studios including Crazy Cajun Records, Tribe Records, Tear Drop Records, Capri Records, and SugarHill R ...

, and were recruited by

Shelby Singleton Shelby Sumpter Singleton, Jr. (December 16, 1931 – October 7, 2009) was an American record producer and record label owner. Early life He was born Shelby Sumpter Singleton, Jr. in Waskom, Texas. His parents were Shelby Sumpter Singleton, Sr. and ...

's SSS International label in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, in order to record duets. Their first recording for the label, "Lover's Holiday", reached #8 on the '' Billboard''

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

and #31 on the pop chart in 1968, eventually becoming a

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

. They followed it up with "Pickin' Wild Mountain Berries", which was also a hit and for which they were nominated for a Grammy. Benson and Scott had two more hits in 1969, "Soulshake" and "I Want to Love You Baby", and released two albums together, ''Lover's Heaven'' and ''Soulshake''. Biography by Greg Prato, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved December 23, 2014. Peggy Scott and Jo Jo Benson, ''Discogs.com''
Retrieved December 23, 2014. The pairing of Benson and Scott split up in 1971. Benson later owned several nightclubs in the Chattahoochee Valley, and was seriously wounded in a shooting incident in 1979. He and Scott temporarily reunited in the mid-1980s for an album. In 1999, Benson recorded a solo album, ''Reminiscing in the Jam Zone'', which ''

Living Blues ''Living Blues: The Magazine of the African American Blues Tradition'' is a bi-monthly magazine focused on blues music, and America's oldest blues periodical. The magazine was founded as a quarterly in Chicago in 1970 by Jim O'Neal and Amy van ...

'' magazine called "among the finest soul albums of the year - indeed, of the decade". In 2001, he followed it up with the album ''Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha''. On December 23, 2014, Jo Jo Benson was found dead at a motel in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

, at the age of 76. The coroner's office stated that he died of natural causes.Alva James-Johnson
"Jo Jo Benson dies at Victory Drive motel"
, ''Ledger-Enquirer'', December 23, 2014.

Discography

Chart singles with Peggy Scott

Albums

With Peggy Scott

* ''Lover's Heaven'' (1969) * ''Soulshake'' (1969) * ''Nothing Can Stand In Our Way'' (1984)

Solo

* ''Reminiscing in the Jam Zone'' (1999) * ''Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha'' (2001)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Jo Jo 1938 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American singers 20th-century African-American male singers American rhythm and blues singers American soul singers People from Phenix City, Alabama Singers from Alabama 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century African-American male singers