Buster Benton

Buster Benton (July 19, 1932 – January 20, 1996) was an American blues guitarist and singer, who played guitar in Willie Dixon's Blues All-Stars, and is best known for his solo rendition of the Dixon-penned song "Spider in My Stew." He was tenacious and in the latter part of his lengthy career, despite the amputation of parts of both his legs, Benton never stopped playing his own version of Chicago blues.

Biography

Arley Benton was born in Texarkana, Arkansas.

Whilst residing in Toledo, Ohio, during the mid-1950s, and having been influenced by Sam Cooke and B.B. King, Benton began playing blues music. By 1959, he was leading his own band in Chicago. During the 1960s, local record labels, such as Melloway, Alteen, Sonic, and Twinight Records released several Benton singles, before in 1971 he joined Willie Dixon. Indeed, a lack of opportunity in the early 1960s meant that Benton gave up playing professionally for several years, and he worked as an auto mechanic. Benton's earlier work was an amalgam of blues and soul, which he confusingly dubbed 'disco blues'. However, according to Music journalist, Bill Dahl, "in the late 1970s, when the popularity of blues music was at low ebb, Benton's recordings, particularly for Ronn Records, were a breath of fresh air."

Talk to Me Baby

"Talk to Me Baby", also known as "I Can't Hold Out", is a blues song written by Willie Dixon and recorded by Elmore James in 1960. Called a classic and a "popular James standard", it has been interpreted and recorded by a variety of artists.

Original song

Blues arranger/songwriter Willie Dixon wrote "Talk to Me Baby (I Can't Hold Out)" in late 1958 or 1959 in Los Angeles while he was on tour with Memphis Slim. According to Dixon, he was inspired to write the song after a telephone conversation with his wife Marie.

I just talked to my baby, on the telephone
She said 'Stop what you're doin', and come on home'
I can't hold out, I can't hold out too long
I get a real good feelin', talkin' to you on the phone

When Dixon returned to Chicago, Elmore James had a recording session for Chess Records and invited Dixon to participate. Together, they "made that 'Talk to Me Baby (I Can't Hold Out Too Long)'", although Dixon does not perform on the song. For the recording session, James, who sang and played slide guitar, was accompanied by his long-time backing band the Broomdusters: J. T. Brown on saxophone, Johnny Jones on piano, Odie Payne on drums, and Homesick James on guitar.