I got a YouTube email in which somebody asked me what I thought of Duster Bennett and pointed me towards a video on YouTube called "You Don't Love Me."
The name Duster Bennett was vaguely familiar, but I realized suddenly that I had no idea what he sounded like.
I was very pleasantly surprised and realized, once again, that we're all ignorant, even those of us who think we've heard everything.
I'm sure that our British cousins will have lots to say about DB. To my amazement, this thread is the first REFERENCE to Duster Bennett, much less thread focused on him. How have we missed him? From the handful of videos I've just auditioned--and they all audio recordings with visuals, not video recordings--Bennett ranks with the best two or three UK blues harmonicists ever. To my ears, he plays with notably more passion than John Mayall. And he's a terrific blues singer.
Let's start with this, which the person whose posted it frames by saying, "Just about the best blues song done by a white man." It's called "My Lucky Day."
Bennett has perhaps not fully integrated his (black) influences: here he sings like Jackie Wilson and plays like Little Walter. On the next video he sings like Jimmy Reed and plays like Big Walter. But the funny thing is, he does a REALLY uncanny job of summoning up those influences. Most white guys of that era couldn't do that. On the following video, his harp is almost painfully sharp (or flat) from the guitar. Still, the artistry and the intensity shine through:
Anyway, fire away.
From my quick study, Duster Bennett certainly deserves to be on my honorable mention list.
"From my quick study, Duster Bennett certainly deserves to be on my honorable mention list."
Really? Maybe I'm missing something. I honestly can't see why.
As a "British cousin" I can't say I have ever been inclined to listen to Duster Bennett, Cyril Davies or John Mayall ever again after my initial listening.
The British players of today like Paul Lamb, Lee Sankey, West Weston, Steve Baker (although Steve is based in Germany), Johnny Hewitt, Lyndon Anderson, Brian Lynam and Errol Linton are in my opinion much better.
Last Edited by on Jan 25, 2010 5:11 AM
@harmonicanick: Lots of people are much better, I'm sure, 40 years down the line! Phil King, for example, is a fantastic blues singer, as his lead vocals in the following clip demonstrate:
But here's my challenge to you: find me another white player in 1970, apart from Paul Butterfield and perhaps Paul Osher, who could play Big Walter style harp with the combination of technical proficiency and intensity that Bennett demonstrates in "I Want You to Love Me," above. Mayall certainly couldn't--and his singing, although original, didn't show the depth of blues knowledge (melismatic multi-note cascades) that Bennett's does.
That's what intrigues me. Of course, these days, after 40 years of Kim Wilson, Rod Piazza, and several dozen other purveyors of the Chicago/West-Coast style, everybody has incorporated a great deal of knowledge and upped their game. Bennett should get credit for doing what he did WHEN he did it--i.e., when virtually no other white harmonica player, with a couple of well-known exceptions, had the faintest idea what a guy like Big Walter was really doing. Add to that his vocals, and I'm impressed.
But thanks to you and Kingley for mentioning those other players. Their names certainly deserve to be in play. As for Eddie Martin: very good traditional stuff on this cut, somewhat indebted to John Hammond, Jr. but very soulful nonetheless:
When I first discovered blues,I'd read anything I could about the blues greats and then seek out their records. I kept hearing about T-Bone Walker. It took me a while to find his records,but when I finally did,I was not impressed. "He's not playing anything I haven't heard before". What I didn't know was that nobody was playing that before him. I had no knowledge of music history to know better. In the context of the times,Duster was pretty unique.
Last Edited by on Jan 25, 2010 8:58 AM
Adam is right. They didn't have custom harps back then, nor did they have all the electrical technology of today. The blues of today was built on the foundation of the 50-60's sound. At that time, little walter was cutting edge. Today, his recordings would still be good, but nothing exceptional, speaking from a technical view compared to todays super harp players. That is a fact, but my opinion is none of todays players will ever touch the little walter or sonny boy II sound because it isn't theirs. They are either imitators of it, and I will defer to my recordings of the originals, or are inovating on it like LW did on his predicessors. Today if you brough back a lot of famous black players from the 50's, and put them in white bodies, they probably wouldn't make it. They would be to sloppy, out of tune, and simple. But where would we be without Jimmy Reed? No one to date can catch his groove like he put it down. Today's world of blues, especially white blues, is very polished. Duster Bennet was right up there IMO. One guy that also goes unmentioned is Bill Dicey. Bill was big on the NYC scene when I was starting out. When I lived with Louisiana Red, I was introduced to him. I hung around Bill quite a bit. He was in decline, but could still play enough to keep me glued to him. He could play the harp as good as anyone in his heyday. Listen to Alabama Train by Louisiana Red if you want to hear his playing. Bill has been at least as negleted as Buster Bennet in the early white harp players legacy. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
I have Duster Bennett's 2 CD "The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions". I Like it. He has a different sound from other British blues of the same period (which I also like). I discovered 60's British blues indirectly as a result of my interest in scooters and learning about the British Mod movement and they're love of American blues and R&B (I also bought a '63 Vespa that I've yet to restore). It's funny how the purchase of a Chinese Dayang scooter for cheap transportation could lead back to the blues. ---------- Ozark Rich
Found an album on I tunes called The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions: Buster Bennett. Very Very good. I'm like, How in the hell did I miss this guy. Oh well, never to late to find great blues players. Thanks Adam.
OK, WOW. I'm listening to Duster on LALA.COM right now. Great sound and soul. My first impression is that he was doing the whole 'english blues' thing along with The Yardbirds, etc., but he's doing them right. Thanks for another turn-on Adam.
---------- "Take out your false teeth, momma, I want to suck on your gums."-P. Wolf
Another player from the 60's and 70's that gets no props is John Mayall....I know that he is FIRST a guitar player..but listen to "Room To Move" and tell me.....At that time..... what other white blues players were doing THAT KIND of stuff ? You can probably count them on one hand.
Being a kid from suburban upstate New York...I had never heard anyone other than PB play like that. The album "Turning Point" was a huge influence on my future musical interests ---------- Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. - Charlie Parker
re: Mayall: I actually spent a lot of time early on listening to an album of his from the early 70s--I think it was called "Jazz Blues" or somesuch. He didn't have a particularly strong or potent tone; didn't have a whalloping swing. But he had a snaky distinctive sound nonetheless, and he was a superior vocal stylist (as opposed to a superior singer), almost like Bob Dylan. Even his flat or wrong notes sounded right somehow, and you know instantly who is singing. Mayall was always more of a bandleader/catalyst, as I understand it, than a dangerous player. (Kim Wilson, James Cotton, Jason Ricci are dangerous players.)
Bill Dicey was part of the Dan Lynch blues scene in the early and mid 1980s when I first started going down there. Nice guy, actually. He certainly knew how to use his tongue! He had all those powerful sounds--tongue-swishes and flutters. He was a little old-school to me, after I got into overblowing, but he was a major presence in that bar. Charles "Honeyboy" Otis and Harry Holt were his band.
The Mayall album you referred to was Jazz-Blues fusion and it had Freddy Robinson on guitar, Blue Mitchell on trumpet, and Red Hollaway on sax amongst others. Terrific band- and different at the time too- Didn't I see you with Robert Ross at Terra Blues about 5 years ago (RR being Bill D's old partner). My best. dennis
Hi Adam: I was there the same time as you. I think we met outside tramps one night. Kind of blurred times......... Bill was easily threatened. That is what led me to stop hanging around him, and the whole NYC blues scene. I tried to break in and even tried to get those guys to come play in NJ. I was just a PATH ride away in Newark, was playing clubs with 2-3 times more people, and making a lot more money. No one would come except Red. The others acted like it was a step down or something. I could never figure that out. The NYC clubs were more the dive than what I was playing. I eventually got thrown out of dan lynchs and usually ended up playing outside the club or in danny russo's cab. Tramps, and Terry, were the exception to the NYC scene for me. He was a great guy that often got me up to jam with the touring guys. Thanks for running this forum! Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
Ok..how is he playing that first song lucky day? Is that a Chromatic? If so can he play one in a rack AND play a guitar? I would really like to learn to play this song...any hints how go about it? I love this song.
Oisin - definitely a chrom, but I haven't tried playing along (cannot find my chrom anywhere!). Maybe it's a different key chrom? I know that sounds wrong, but you can get chroms where the base layout is in a key other than C major.
Last Edited by on Jan 27, 2010 10:13 AM
He's probably playing a Koch C diatonic, which has a semitone slide like a chromatic - they're still made by Hohner. And it's clearly overdubbed. Duster Bennett wasn't 'about' harp playing so much as being a modern blues-format songwriter; he just happened to be a highly proficient player, AND he played guitar and a cut-down drumkit at the same time. His songs haven't aged well, unfortunately - but I think Marc Bolan might have cribbed a few things at the time.
Many thanks for your positive appraisal of my good friend Tony 'Duster' Bennett.
Vocally, his influences were Slim Harpo, B.B.King, Bobby Bland, Lazy Lester, Junior Parker. Harp-wise, he was a huge fan of Cyril Davies, Harpo and Parker, Little Walter, both Sonny Boys, Snooky Pryor, Papa Lightfoot and Stevie Wonder. Also - although we never discussed this - he must have studied Larry Adler and others in that vein, as he was able to play Bach fugues on the chromatic harp.
I really don't want to get into who is 'better' on the U.K scene now (although I think West Weston is great) but I would like to say that investigation into Duster's 'Blue Horizon' work will be a pleasure for anyone into this great music/art form we call the blues. Duster's rack harp on songs like 'Got A Tongue In Your Head' and many of the tracks from his second, 'live' album, would challenge a player who is not using a rack. I speak from the experience of trying and failing...
Lastly, I would like to say that you are a superb player and a brilliant author. Keep on!
Keith: Thanks very much for weighing in, and of course for your generous comments. There's so much information available these days that I don't have the time to follow up. But I've put Duster B. on my "honorable mention" list, happily. One of the things a website like this can do is bring a little more attention to people who seems to have fallen out of the public eye, or the aficionados' eyes. He strikes me, even on first hearing, as somebody who deserves more attention. I'll leave it to others to follow up. But I'm really delighted that somebody who knew him would weigh in here, and I thank you for that.
Hello Again Regarding Duster's influences, on reconsideration: Juke Boy Bonner, Jesse Fuller and Blind Willie Johnson were very important to him. He also liked Country Blues in general but particularly Blind Willie McTell.
Frankie Lee Sims also got a highly enthusiastic mention in passing and although Duster didn't listen to Butterfield on record very much, he saw the Butterfield Band in London in 1966 and I quote: "The world was different"... (after the gig).
Just one more thing: Little Walter is STILL cutting-edge in my house... Best wishes from the U.K.
Last Edited by on Feb 14, 2012 12:54 PM
I never heard of Duster Bennett before reading this thread. Then I got myself 4 of his CD's and listened to them very carefully, all I can say is.... WOW! This guy is great!
Duster Bennett is a great harmonica player, guitarist and singer. He plays both diatonic and chromatic harp. He does alot of stuff like Slim Harpo and Lazy Lester, so if you like those guys, you're gonna love Duster. Duster's first position work on the top end of the harp is fantastic, better than Jimmy Reed, in my opinion. He also plays traditional blues and rock harp as well as any of the great ones.
I looked up Duster's biography on the web, and it turns out that his "backup" band was the original Fleetwood Mac... (Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer). I'm a big fan of early Fleetwood Mac and Duster fits in to that group perfectly.
Unfortunately, we lost another great harp player at an early age. Duster was killed in a car accident in 1975. If not for that, I believe he would have become a big star.
But his music lives on. Get yourself some of Duster's CD's and get blown away.
What a coincidence! Spent an hour trying to learn Peter Green's cover of Duster's 'Jumping at Shadows' yesterday, then this thread appears! I'd strongly reccomend anybody to check out sed track, strong examples of Duster's grasp of that melamismatic stuff Adam was on about on there ;)
I think him and Greeny were meant to have been good buddies, sort've influenced eachother back and forth. Two legends.
As for John Mayall, I'd reccomend any doubters to check out 'As it All Began' a collection that displays a nice selection on his songs. He wasn't the most technically accomplished of players, but he played with his soul and his balls, and the right idea was always there. A track like 'Parchman Farm' illustrate this nicely.
Melismatic - A passage containing a melsima, that is, a group of many notes (usually at least five or six) sung melodically to a single syllable, is said to be melismatic.
---------- www.Youtube.com/Jaybird33066
Last Edited by on Mar 03, 2010 11:21 AM
I like Duster because he played a lot holes 5-10; very original player back in the 60's especially, when I was priveliged to see him. I would propose our UK bluesman Eddie Martin as a worthy successor on rack, not the same type of artist but still check him out.
This a (polite - this isn't YouTube) reply to several posts regarding Duster's 'My Lucky Day'.
Although he did own and play a Koch harp (I still own and play his harps now) he is definitely playing the big 64 chromatic on that recording. Of course, there's no rack involved but when you're backed by the great Fleetwood Mac, then arguably at their peak, you don't need to play guitar or drums yourself! And I doubt that it was overdubbed as Duster was not intimidated by the studio environment.
As for The Ramones, that's the second time in as many weeks I've seen their name in relation to blues, and harp playing: there's a review of The Red Devils' 'King King' album where someone opines that it's: "...like Little Walter meets The Ramones"! But, no...Duster had phenomenal energy and so did Fleetwood Mac - put the two together and you have 'My Lucky Day', and 'Shady Little Baby' plus two other, less intense but still very fine indeed tracks from the same album, Duster's debut. Duster played through his Selmer Truvoice amp on 'Shady Little Baby', and straight into the studio's vocal mic on 'My Lucky day'.
Thanks to all for your interest in my main man, Duster.
Last Edited by on Feb 04, 2012 3:39 AM
great thread-the british were very influential in supporting music that came from america that was largely ignored and scorned-the original fleetwood mac played in chicago in 1969 with some legends and there was mutual admiration between them-I just recently have heard of duster bennetts original recording of jumping at shadows that I always thought was the great peter greens composition-so happy I have been made aware of this musician who has long since passed
When discussing British blues harmonica players I'm a little surprised Paul Jones (Manfred Mann, The Blues Band) and Mark Feltham (9 Below Zero, Rory Gallagher) aren't mentioned.
Paul Jone's personality can come across a little cheesy and a bit posh but hey, he's an actor don't ya know, but there is no denying his ability as a harp player or more importantly his support and promotion of blues music. I mean this was a guy who was offered a gig singing with Keith Richards and Brian Jones before Mick.
There was a time when almost every time you heard a recording with harmonica on TV themes, commercials, etc., it was either Paul Jones or Mark Feltham.
Legend has it that Mark Feltham had never played outside his bedroom when a mate of his told guitarist and leader Dennis Greaves about him. They went over to Mark's place, he jammed a bit with Dennis and the rest is a life long career.
After the usual ups, downs, and breakups, 9 Below Zero continue to be very popular on the European blues circuit. A friend of mine who played bass for Stan Webb's Chicken Shack told me he caught them at a festival where 9 Below Zero was on the same bill. Apparently they seriously kicked ass.
after hearing dusters version of junping at shadows,I bought the cd from amazon-there is an instrumental on it called fresh country jam-he really smokes on the harp on this one
haha! Glad to see this topic resurrected after morethan two years! I have much more knowledge harp and melisima these days and the latter, I know from experience, does not come easy! Especially to make it sound so authentic and not 'white', a nice flow to it. (white mightn't sound like the word to use here but I mean a whole lot more than the obvious connotations it suggests, idiots, of course, will pull me up on this. come at me bro :P)
Peter Green was a master of it.
Van Morrison IS the master of it. (imho ofcourse)
Eric Clapton is very capable, and more importantly, very shrewd when itcomes to using it(i.e he doesn't attempt phrases that he is incapable of).
And now listening back with my superior blues knowledge :P I can tellthat Duster Bennett was a master of it, perhaps better than any of the others I've listed. His harp playing is unbeleivable. Mind-blowing really. I don't care WHEN he done it, or who's done it since - anybody with sense can tell that this guy was a magnificent artist, a blues-scholar who made it his own. Genius probably isn't too strong a word. If he'd lived longer and recorded a successful body of work there's no doubt in my mind that its an accolade he'd be bombarded with nowadays, probably to his annoyance lol.
Kudos to Kudzu for pointing it out! Big love from Northern Ireland =D
haha! Glad to see this topic resurrected after morethan two years! I have much more knowledge harp and melisima these days and the latter, I know from experience, does not come easy! Especially to make it sound so authentic and not 'white', a nice flow to it. (white mightn't sound like the word to use here but I mean a whole lot more than the obvious connotations it suggests, idiots, of course, will pull me up on this. come at me bro :P)
Peter Green was a master of it.
Van Morrison IS the master of it. (imho ofcourse)
Eric Clapton is very capable, and more importantly, very shrewd when itcomes to using it(i.e he doesn't attempt phrases that he is incapable of).
And now listening back with my superior blues knowledge :P I can tellthat Duster Bennett was a master of it, perhaps better than any of the others I've listed. His harp playing is unbeleivable. Mind-blowing really. I don't care WHEN he done it, or who's done it since - anybody with sense can tell that this guy was a magnificent artist, a blues-scholar who made it his own. Genius probably isn't too strong a word. If he'd lived longer and recorded a successful body of work there's no doubt in my mind that its an accolade he'd be bombarded with nowadays, probably to his annoyance lol.
Kudos to Kudzu for pointing it out! Big love from Northern Ireland =D
@DirtyDeck I have bought 2 of his cds from amazon since the posting of jumping @ shadows he was a brilliant harp player and blues singer-so glad I was made aware of him by this forum
@groyster Yeah man he's been a revelation for me lately, a true artist!
Here's my impression of Van Morrison, a song I wrote today and recorded, stealing almost all of his vocal traits :L Not exactly blues, but a similar attention to detail with the vocal phrasing :)
I felt compelled to respond to your post. As the youngest of Duster's children, I was never to meet him so, like you, I have got to know him through his music legacy(along with much insight from his true friend and fellow musician Keith R, who has contributed to this post).
I'm afraid his musical talent did a fine job of skipping a generation, so i do not hold much weight on this forum; however from your comments I get the impression that you really 'get' The Duster, in terms of what hes was all about.
Whilst he soaked up all of the finest Blues he could get hold of at the time with incredible passion, his music was always to be his own. I honestly think that, had he lived, he would still have surprised new listeners today, albeit that he may have progressed into non-mainstream Blues. I thinh he was very much about being a whole package rather than a straight harp player (which I feel was well demonstrated if you were to listen to his singing when accompanying himself on the piano).
Anyhow, not sure what he would have made of the forum phenomenon, but I shall be sure to tell mum that his contribution to British Blues is clearly far from forgotten!
@Ben thanks so much for posting-I have been a long time fan of the original fleetwood mac and peter green-I wish they would have recorded with your father-he could outplay peter green on harp although greenie was an awesome guitar player
The very best DB imho is the 'Bright Lights' live album. Check out side two: 'My Babe' - he rips out of the quiet section with total top-notch playing. Also: Bright Lights (Big City) - esp the final 20 seconds of the encore. I saw DB a couple of times. Not only did he play bass drum, he also used his other foot on a hi-hat cymbal, and you can hear this clearly on 'Bright Lights'. He could really let rip on all four instruments. Magic. RIP DB RIP
