Benjamin Eidson, known professionally as Benny Joy (November 5, 1935 – October 24, 1988) was an American

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

guitarist and singer who released three

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

in his recording career, and was popular regionally in Florida. As a result of the rockabilly revival in England, Joy's material was met with renewed interest.

Biography

Joy was born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Georgia, United States, soon moving with his family to

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater i ...

, Florida, where he was taught to play guitar by his neighbors. He performed on the local music club circuit, quickly gaining a reputation for his spontaneous dancing theatrics, and meeting contemporary guitarist Big John Taylor. The manager of the

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

TRI-DEC Records, Daz Dodds, was encouraged to sign the two musicians, which resulted in several demos accompanied by Taylor, including Joy's best-known song "Spin the Bottle" being released as a single in 1957 to regional success. Much of Joy's material from the

recording sessions A studio recording, or a recording session is any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance. Studio cast recordings In the case o ...

, which was mostly self-composed, such as "Little Red Book", "Hey High School Baby" and "Miss Bobby Sox" had a common theme revolved around teenage angst. In 1958, Joy switched to

Ram Records RAM Records is an independent record label established in 1992 by Andy C with the help of his friend Ant Miles. It specialises in drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance m ...

, releasing his second single the

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texa ...

-influenced "Ittie Bittie Everything". Also during the year, he became one of the earliest rockabilly music artists to tour Europe as Joy supported

the Platters The Platters are an American vocal group formed in 1952. They are one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound bridges the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the new burgeoning genre. The act ...

Barry De Vorzon Barry De Vorzon (born July 31, 1934) is an American composer, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He worked as a pop musician during the 1960s and co-founded Valiant Records, before being known as a composer of film and television scores ...

, and

Raymond Scott Raymond Scott (born Harry Warnow; September 10, 1908 – February 8, 1994) was an American composer, band leader, pianist and record producer. Known best in his time as a composer of production music, Scott is today regarded as an early ...

, among others. Joy followed it up with a similar tour six weeks later in the summer of 1959, by which time his final single "Crash the Party" was issued on

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

to both the U.S. and Europe. Joy failed to have a breakout record and began working as a disk jockey and on the television program ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...

''. He also became a songwriter, penning several songs for

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular and successful singers of his genre for most o ...

Jackie Wilson Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer who was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a master showman and one of th ...

Charlie Rich Charles Allan Rich (December 14, 1932July 25, 1995) was an American country singer. His eclectic style of music also blended influences from rockabilly, jazz, blues, soul, and gospel. In the later part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname t ...

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American Folk music, folk singer and actor with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his o ...

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer and entrepreneur. Her acting career spanned almost 70 years. Reynolds performed on stage and television and in films into her 80s. She was nom ...

Johnny Rivers Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella; November 7, 1942) is a retired American musician. He achieved commercial success and popularity throughout the 1960s and 1970s as a singer and guitarist, characterized as a versatile and influential art ...

, and Carl Smith. As a result of England's rockabilly revival, Joy's recordings are championed among

record collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine focussing on rare and collectable records, and the bands who recorded them. It was founded in September 1979 and distributes worldwide. It is promoted as "the world’s leading authority o ...

s. His material has been made more accessible as much of his recordings are featured on the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

s ''Crash the Rockabilly Party'' and the five-LP collection, ''The Benny Joy Story 1957–61''. One of his 1958 recordings, "Dark Angel", was included in another compilation album, ''Hillbillies in Hell: Country Music's Tormented Testament'' (2016). He died in October 1988, from cancer at the age of 52.

Discography

Singles

* 1957 – "Spin the Bottle" b/w "Hey' ... High School Baby!" – Tri-Dec 8667 * 1958 - "Spin the bottle" b/w "Steady with betty" - Dixie 45-2001 * 1958 – "Crash the Party" b/w "Little Red Book" – Antler DJ-41X45 * 1959 - "Ittie bittie everything" b/w "Money Money" - With Big John Taylor - Buck Ram BRP 1000 * 1961 - "Sincerely Your Friend" b/w "New York-Hey Hey" - Decca 31199 * 1961 - "You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)" b/w "Birds Of A Feather Fly Together" - Decca 31280 * 1963 - "Somebody Else's Heartache" b/w "I'm Of No More Use To You Old Death" - Dot 45-16445

Compilation albums

* ''Rockin' and Rollin' with Benny Joy'', Collector Records, CLCD 4401 (1992) * ''Crash the Rockabilly Party'',

Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

, CDCHD 703 (1998)

References

External links

Benny Joy
on

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joy, Benny 1935 births 1988 deaths Decca Records artists American rockabilly musicians 20th-century American musicians Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state)