Rockstar Records present a twenty-nine song CD album entitled Benny Joy, Little Red Book with recordings from the years 1957 to 1963. There are two recordings which are dually credited to Benny Joy and "Big" John Taylor, and one solo "Big"John Taylor release. Their initial recording from the year 1957 "Hey" . . . High School Baby! b/w Spin The Bottle were released using only Benny Joy’s name, and they were recorded for the Haines City, Florida based Tri-Dec label. The CD album includes the Dixie version of Spin The Bottle which was the undubbed master leased to Shelby Singleton who added his name to the writing credits.
Featured within the album are several high profile artists and numerous songs are reissued for the first time on this CD album. Artists taking advantage from Benny Joy's song writing skills include; Marty Robbins, A Time And A Place For Everything, Sonny Hines,Teardrop Avenue, Give Me Back My Heart, and Follow Your Heart, Darrell McCall,(What'll I Do) Call The Zoo, Carl Smith,If I Had You (I'd Live For You Only), Ray Smith, Hey, Boss Man (Twist), Charlie Rich, She Loved Everybody But Me, and several others, many of whom did something Benny Joy failed to achieve, they sold vast quantities of their recordings.
Benjamin Joy Eidson was born on the 5th November 1935, in Atlanta, Georgia and his guitarist side-kick John Wilkie Taylor Sr., aka "Big" John Taylor was born on 5th January 1937. They both studied at different schools and during their school years they befriended each other and began performing together. Of interest Taylor was the guitarist for Rod Willis's The Cat b/w Will Travel.
Benny Joy passed away on Friday 28th October 1988 aged fifty-two. John Wilkie Taylor Sr., passed away on Thursday 13th April 1995 aged fifty-eight. They were both victims of cancer. The sleeve notes will provide information on the other artists featured on the album.
The Benny Joy story sleeve notes from reissue producer Dee Jay Mark Armstrong are informative, enlightening, and provide information on the other artists featured on the album. The album is topped off with the best possible sound quality possible from our mastering team at our El Paso, Texas, Studio. The concept is lavishly decorated by design artist Dayvk Martins, and the sleeve is made from top-quality eco-friendly cardboard specially designed to avoid the use of plastic and be environmentally friendly.
Rockstar Records endeavours to use some lesser-known and for some, perhaps more obscure titles and adds something unexpected to every album. The album is ideal for Dee Jays to fill the dance floor with, and for home listening or while cruising around and scaring the neighbourhood. You are listening to music from the past and preserving the future! Rockstar Records “Often imitated, never duplicated.”
All that remains is to say, “Crank up the volume and dig these musical gems.”
Dee Jay Mark Armstrong Bühl, Germany
Benny Joy – Little Red Book (Rockstar Records)
Bringing the joy is the brand-new compilation via Rockstar Records featuring the work of rockabilly singer-songwriter Benny Joy. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, before moving to Tampa Bay, Florida, Benny Joy earned his musical chops learning guitar and then performing on the local music circuit. It was during this time that the rockabilly artist met with, and established a working relationship with guitarist “Big” John Taylor, leading to the two musicians signing to TRI-DEC Records, and the label issuing several singles. Bringing together the songs of Benny Joy, Little Red Book is released via two formats with a 10” album consisting of ten tracks, in addition to a separate twenty-nine track CD. The album Little Red Book begins with a pairing from Tri-Dec – ‘Hey…High School Baby’ and renowned ‘Spin The Bottle’ – before digging deeper with a selection of songs on different imprints as Capitol, Decca, Dot, Memory, and SUN for example. For those interested in a more extensive body of work, then the CD version of Little Red Book is worth dipping into, simply for the fact that the songs collected here reveal Benny Joy as a talented songwriter with numerous and established musicians performing his songs including Marty Robbins (‘A Time And A Place For Everything’), Carl Smith ‘If I Had You (I’d Live For You Only)’, Burl Ives (‘Home, James’), Charlie Rich (‘She Loved Everybody But Me’) to name but a few. From those early songs featuring much teenage angst, to later work displaying similar, if not the same patterns of relationship woes, with song titles alone providing plenty of clues, Benny Joy was clearly a prolific and talented songwriter, not forgetting performer, who certainly dug deep into his soul when looking for inspiration as Little Red Book clearly demonstrates.
Nathan Olsen-Haines
01 Benny Joy "Hey" . . . High School Baby! (Eidson) Tri-Dec 8667 (1957)
02 Benny Joy Spin The Bottle (Eidson) Tri-Dec 8667 (1957)
03 Benny Joy Steady With Betty (Eidson, Singleton ) Dixie 45-2001 (1958)
04 Benny Joy Spin The Bottle (Eidson, Singleton) Dixie 45-2001 (1958)
05 Benny Joy Little Red Book (Eidson) Antler DJ-41X45 (1958)
06 Benny Joy Crash The Party (Eidson, Taylor) Antler DJ-41X45 (1958)
07 Benny Joy and Big John Taylor Ittie Bittie Everything (Taylor, Eidson) Buck Ram Presents BRP 1000 (1959)
08 Benny Joy and Big John Taylor Money, Money (Taylor) Buck Ram Presents BRP 1000 (1959)
09 Benny Joy New York - Hey Hey (Eidson) Decca 31199 (1961)
10 Benny Joy Somebody Else's Heartache (Montgomery) Dot 45-16445 (1963)
11 Benny Joy You Go Your Way (And I´ll Go Mine) (Joy) Decca 31280 (1961)
12 Benny Joy Birds Of A Feather Fly Together (Joy) Decca 31280 (1961).
13 Benny Joy I'm Of No More Use To You Old Earth (Joy) Dot 45-16445 (1963)
14 Benny Joy Somebody Else’s Heartache (Montgomery) Dot 45-16445 (1963)
15 Marty Robbins A Time And A Place For Everything (Joy) Columbia 4-41809 (1960)
16 Marty Evans Eyes Of Tears (Joy) Coral 62251 (1960)
17 Sonny Hines Teardrop Avenue (Joy) Decca 31290 (1961)
18 Sonny Hines Give Me Back My Heart (Joy) Decca 31290 (1961)
19 Darrell McCall (What'll I Do) Call The Zoo (Joy) Capitol 4609 (1961)
20 Carl Smith If I Had You (Walker, Joy) Columbia 4-42610 (1962)
21 Sonny Hines Follow Your Heart (Joy) Decca 31373 (1962)
22 Carl Smith If I Had You (I'd Live For You Only) (Walker, Joy) Columbia 4-42610 (1962)
23 Ray Smith Hey, Boss Man (Twist) (Joy) Sun 375 (1962)
24 Bill Phillips Let's Walk Away Strangers (Joy, Tillis) Decca 31480 (1963)
25 Burl Ives Home, James (Joy, Tillis) Decca LP DL 4433 (1963)
26 Carl Belew The Masquerade Party (Burch, Joy) RCA Victor 47-8132 (1963)
27 Debbie Reynolds Is Goodbye That Easy To Say (Wilkin, Joy) Dot 45-16473 (1963)
28 Skeeter Bonn & Shirley Starr Old Memories (Joy) Memory NV 5145 (1963)
29 Charlie Rich She Loved Everybody But Me (Joy) Groove 58-0020 (1963)
30 Big John Taylor Stompin' (Taylor) Tri-Dec 8457 (1957)
