Search - Brook Benton :: Brook Benton - Forty Greatest Hits

Why Is This One Hidden And Obscure?

Maddie | 08/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 2-CD box set is, quite simply, the best compilation you are ever going to find on Brook Benton, a warm-voiced balladeer born Benjamin Franklin Peay in 1931 in South Carolina who had 50 Billboard Pop Top/Hot 100, 37 R&B, and 21 Adult Contemporary (AC) hit singles between 1958 and 1978. Why it is out of circulation AND presented in such a shoddy manner here is a crime.



First of all, unlike many CDs claiming "greatest" or "best of" this one delivers. And since the tracks are not shown above, I have included them here for your information:



Disc 1: 1) It's Just a Matter of Time; 2) Hurtin' Inside; 3) Endlessly; 4) So Close; 5) Thank You Pretty Baby; 6) With All of My Heart; 7) So Many Ways; 8) This Time Of The Year; 9) The Ties That Bind; 10) Hither and Thither and Yon; 11) Kiddio; 12) The Same One; 13) Fools Rush In; 14) Someday You'll Want Me to Want You; 15) Think Twice; 16) For My Baby; 17) The Boll Weevil Song; 18) Frankie And Johnny; 19) It's Just A House Without You; 20) Revenge



Disc 2: 1) Baby (You've Got What It Takes) - with Dinah Washington; 2) A Rockin' Good Way (To Mess Around And Fall In Love) - with Dinah Washington; 3) Shadrack; 4) Walk On The Wild Side; 5) Hit Record; 6) Lie To Me; 7) Hotel Happiness 8) Still Waters Run Deep; 9) I Got What I Wanted

10) Dearer Than Life; 11) My True Confession; 12) Two Tickets To Paradise; 13) Going Going Gone; It's Too Late To Turn Back Now; 15)Another Cup Of Coffee; 16) A House Is Not A Home; 17) Lumberjack; 18) Do It Right; 19) Love Me Now; 20) Rainy Night In Georgia



All 40 were hit singles - 39 of them while with Mercury where he was backed for the most part by the great Belford Hendricks and his orchestra - and, indeed, represent his very best. The last, done in 1970 for Cotillion and backed by Arif Mardin's orchestra, is included here courtesy of Atlantic Records and IS the original single version.



Twelve of his 50 pop hits were double-sided, with the only one missing being The Lost Penny [# 77 Hot 100 in 1962 and the flip of Shadrack]. Also omitted is his first charter, 1958's A Million Miles From Nowhere which reached # 82 Hot 100 for the Vic label. All this is detailed in the 8 pages of liner notes written by Colin Escott and which also contain a complete discography of the contents.



If ever a singer from the dawn of the R&R era deserves greater recognition it is Brook Benton, who started out with the Bill Landford and Golden Gate gospel quartets, and who died tragically on April 9, 1988 from complications associated with spinal meningitis at age 56. In addition to many of his own big hits he also wrote Looking Back for Nat "King" Cole, and A Lover's Question for Clyde McPhatter.



Does he deserve to be in the R&R Hall of Fame? Like his # 1 R&B (nine weeks at that position) and # 3 Pop Hot 100 hit from 1959 "It's Just A Matter Of Time." Well, wake up you supercilious twits at the R&R Hall Of Fame - that time is NOW. In the meantime, this CD box set should be immediately re-released.

"

Brook Benton as I knew him in 1962

Charles Page | Harrogate, UK | 02/19/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I left boarding school in the UK in 1962 and I had a friend who had reels and reels of BB on his tape-recorder. I spoke of the quality of BB's voice to anyone who would listen over many years but I could never find those original recordings on one CD or set of CDs and their quality anywhere. Well two weeks ago, I bought this set for $59:00 on Amazon Market Place. It needed to stop off with a friend in Chicago before it got sent to the UK as the supplier had no International Delivery. Was it worth the wait? Of course it was! There I was with the first CD remembering those heady days of Summer '62 when my life was all before me as it still is now but enriched with BB's original recordings. Heaven, if you haven't got it pay the earth it will be worth it for every buck or pound spent."