Benny Joy

Benny Joy was born in Georgia in 1935, but his family moved to Tampa, Florida six years later. Like most budding rockabilly artists, Benny got his start playing C&W, but his true obsession was with R&B. It was at a Tampa high school that Benny formed his first band in 1951, pairing up with Tennessee transplant "Big" John Taylor. Big John was a wild rockabilly guitarist who effortlessly coaxed dark and moody textures from his Stratocaster. Together, they recorded some of the most menacing echo-drenched rockabilly and pre-surf instrumentals ever committed to wax biscuit.

Benny Joy was born in Georgia in 1935, but his family moved to Tampa, Florida six years later. Like most budding rockabilly artists, Benny got his start playing C&W, but his true obsession was with R&B. It was at a Tampa high school that Benny formed his first band in 1951, pairing up with Tennessee transplant "Big" John Taylor. Big John was a wild rockabilly guitarist who effortlessly coaxed dark and moody textures from his Stratocaster. Together, they recorded some of the most menacing echo-drenched rockabilly and pre-surf instrumentals ever committed to wax biscuit. The duo pounded out masterpieces like Wild Wild Lover, Crash The Party, Spin The Bottle, Hey High School Baby, Rollin To The Jukebox Rock, but failed to land a hit outside their home state. Benny Joy retired from performing in the 60's, but remained active as a songwriter, penning Ray Smith's Sun cut "Hey Boss Man" along with tunes for Mel Tillis, Marty Robbins, and Stonewall Jackson. Benny Joy passed away in 1988. His semi-obscure recordings for the Tri-Dec and Antler labels still rank as some of the finest rockabilly music ever recorded. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL..