Chanteur Country US né Ray Benson Seifert, le 16 Mars 1951 à Philadelphie (Pennsylvanie). Ray Benson est le leader d'Asleep At The Wheel.

From the 1970s onward, few if any artists have done more to keep the sound and spirit of classic western swing alive than Ray Benson, the founder and leader of the group Asleep At The Wheel. While Benson has long been the sole constant member of AATW, he's occasionally made time in his busy schedule to cut solo albums and collaborate with like-minded friends. He was born Ray Benson Seifert in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 16, 1951. Ray grew up with an eclectic taste in music, with a special appreciation for jazz (he once saw John Coltrane play a club gig in Philadelphia, and shook his hand afterward). Benson was attending Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio when a friend and fellow student, Ed Ward, brought the band Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen to campus to play a concert. Benson and his friend and fellow Antioch student Gene Dobkin were knocked out by Commander Cody's fusion of old-school country, western swing, and freak-friendly rock. As Benson was awakened to the possibilities of vintage Western sounds, he and Dobkin decided to form a band. Teaming up with Floyd Domino (aka Jim Haber), Lucky Oceans (aka Ruben Gosfield), Leroy Preston, and Chris O'Connell, they formed a band called Asleep At The Wheel, and after months of rehearsal in Paw Paw, West Virginia, they started playing out. While the group followed Commander Cody to California and landed their first record deal there after Van Morrison praised the group in Rolling Stone magazine, Asleep At The Wheel truly found their home when they were booked to play the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas in 1973. Benson and his bandmates fell in love with the city, and a local musician named Willie Nelson suggested they should stay. With time, Asleep At The Wheel became an Austin institution and one of country's most indefatigable acts, constantly criss-crossing the country, winning several Grammy awards, and sharing stages with everyone from Bob Dylan to George Strait, even as Benson became their sole constant member, while over 80 musicians made their way through the lineup. Meanwhile, Benson became a behind-the-scenes figure of note in Texas, opening a recording studio (Bismeaux Studios) and an affiliated record label, co-founding the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, sitting on the board of directors of the TV show Austin City Limits, and hosting another show, Texas Music Scene. In 2003, after releasing nearly 20 albums with Asleep At The Wheel, Benson cut his first solo effort, Beyond Time. Benson released a second solo album, A Little Piece, in 2014, and 2015 saw the publication of Comin' Right at Ya, an autobiography Benson wrote in tandem with David Menconi. In 2017, Benson teamed up with another Lone Star roots music traditionalist, Dale Watson, to release the duo album Dale & Ray.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Benson

Talents : Vocals, Guitar, Songwriter, Actor, Producer

Style musical : Tradiotional Country, Western Swing

https://youtu.be/3q9mhdW550w  

Years in activity :

1910 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 2000 10 20

Singles

08/1991 SP ARISTA 07822-12340-7 (US) .

Four Scores And Seven Beers Ago (Ray BENSON) / Eyes (ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL)

1991 CD ARISTA ASCD-2340 (US) (promo) Four Scores And Seven Beers Ago

Albums

06/2003 CD ANA / Audium / Koch 8168 (US)

Beyond Time - Sorry / Annabelle / Mary Anne (Ray Benson feat: Jimmie Vaughan) / Hands of Time (Ray Benson feat: Stanley Jordan) / Isn't It Strange / Let's Get Lost / Haven't Gotten To You Yet / Leave That Cowboy Alone (Ray Benson feat: Dolly Parton) / Small Town / El Paso (Ray Bensonfeat: Flaco Jiménez) / Ain't Chet Yet / Clearing Up to Be Cloudy (Ray Benson feat: Delbert McClinton / Jimmie Vaughan)

01/2014 CD Bismeaux 1312(US)

A Little Piece - A Little Piece / I Ain't Lookin' For No Trouble / Give Me Some Peace / It Ain't You / In The Blink Of An Eye / Killed By A .45 / JJ Cale / Over And Over / Lovin' Man / Heartache And Pain / Marie

01/2017 CD AmeripolitanHome 1000 (US)

Dale & Ray - Dale Watson / Ray Benson - The Ballad Of Dale And Ray / Feelin’ Haggard / I Wish You Knew / Bus’ Breakdown / Write Your Own Songs / Cryin’ To Cryin’ Time Again / Forget About Tomorrow Today / A Hangover Ago / Nobody’s Ever Down In Texas / Sittin’ And Thinkin’ About You

© Rocky Productions 11/01/2022