| Genres: |
R&B / Soul
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| Descriptive "tags": |
new orleans • soul • rhythm and blues • new orleans rhythm and blues • new orleans soul • rb • northern soul • 60s • funk
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| Decades Active: |
1960s
•
1980s
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| Links online: |
Wikipedia
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Biography
11 December 1931, Pensacola, Florida, USA. Although a minor hit by chart standards, Benny Spellman’s ‘Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette)’ is one of the most fondly recalled New Orleans R&B hits of the early 60s and was subsequently revived by the O’Jays. Its b-side, ‘Fortune Teller’, impressed the young Rolling Stones enough for them to cover it. Spellman won a talent contest at college and, after a stint in the army, went professional, joining Huey Smith And The Clowns in New Orleans. In 1959, Spellman was signed to Minit Records but had little luck with his first few releases. To make ends meet he took a job as a background studio vocalist, appearing on Ernie K-Doe’s ‘Mother-In-Law’, among others. Spellman’s two-sided hit came in 1962, both songs having been penned by famed producer/writer Allen Toussaint. Benny was unable to follow it with further hits and left music in 1968. He returned to the profession in...
Read the Full Biography of Benny Spellman
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