Biography
Not to be confused with the Motown drummer William "Benny" Benjamin, the enormously productive tunesmith Bennie Benjamin achieved major commercial breakthroughs in the 1940s and 1950s, above all as a lyricist. Born Claude A. Benjamin on November 4, 1907, in Christiansted, St. Croix, he became the first Virgin Islands native to succeed in the American music business. When his family could not cover seminary costs, he set aside his plan to enter the ministry and relocated to New York in 1927 to pursue a musical career. After training on guitar and banjo at Hy Smith's School of Music, he performed with various modest ensembles and vaudeville acts, continued refining his songwriting, and later enrolled at the Juilliard School of Music. He joined a publishing company as a staff songwriter and immediately scored with the 1941 smash "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire," a collaboration with Sol Marcus, Eddie Seiler, and Eddie Durham that became a major success for the Ink Spots. Over the following five years he worked chiefly as part of a trio alongside Marcus and Seiler, supplying such well-received numbers as "Strictly Instrumental" for Harry James, "When the Lights Go On Again (All Over the World)" for both Vera Lynn and Vaughn Monroe, and "Cancel the Flowers" for Tony Martin.
Beginning in 1946, Benjamin formed a richly productive alliance with composer George David Weiss that generated a rapid series of hits, among them "Oh! What It Seemed to Be" for Frank Sinatra, "Rumors Are Flying" for the Andrews Sisters, and "Confess," the Doris Day–Buddy Clark duet. Between 1947 and 1948 the pair also supplied material for the Disney animated features Fun and Fancy Free and Melody Time. Perry Como recorded numerous Benjamin–Weiss compositions in the late 1940s, including "I Want to Thank Your Folks" (1946), the chart-topping "Surrender" (1946), "Pianissimo" (1947), and "I Don't See Me in Your Eyes Anymore" (1949); in 1950 the two men established a joint music-publishing venture. Their 1950 composition "I'll Never Be Free" proved one of their strongest successes, appearing in popular recordings by Tennessee Ernie Ford and Kay Starr as well as Dinah Washington. That same year they placed "Can Anyone Explain (No, No, No!)" with both the Ames Brothers and the Ella Fitzgerald–Louis Armstrong duo. Their most celebrated song, "Wheel of Fortune," arrived in 1952 as a major Kay Starr hit and was also cut by Dinah Washington and many others. Additional successes included "Cross Over the Bridge" for Patti Page in 1954 and "How Important Can It Be?" for Joni James in 1955, after which Benjamin and Weiss parted ways.
Benjamin resumed his partnership with Sol Marcus in the early 1960s and supplied Elvis Presley with two 1960 recordings, "I Will Be Home Again" and "Lonely Man," the latter featured in the film Wild in the Country. In 1964 Nina Simone included six Benjamin songs—most of them co-written with Marcus—on her album Broadway-Blues-Ballads. One of those pieces, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," became a notable hit for the Animals the following year and resurfaced as a disco success for Santa Esmeralda in 1977. Benjamin launched his own publishing company in 1968 and received induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984. Through a charitable foundation created with his wife, he provided substantial support for medical facilities and education in the Virgin Islands. He died in Manhattan on May 2, 1989.
Beginning in 1946, Benjamin formed a richly productive alliance with composer George David Weiss that generated a rapid series of hits, among them "Oh! What It Seemed to Be" for Frank Sinatra, "Rumors Are Flying" for the Andrews Sisters, and "Confess," the Doris Day–Buddy Clark duet. Between 1947 and 1948 the pair also supplied material for the Disney animated features Fun and Fancy Free and Melody Time. Perry Como recorded numerous Benjamin–Weiss compositions in the late 1940s, including "I Want to Thank Your Folks" (1946), the chart-topping "Surrender" (1946), "Pianissimo" (1947), and "I Don't See Me in Your Eyes Anymore" (1949); in 1950 the two men established a joint music-publishing venture. Their 1950 composition "I'll Never Be Free" proved one of their strongest successes, appearing in popular recordings by Tennessee Ernie Ford and Kay Starr as well as Dinah Washington. That same year they placed "Can Anyone Explain (No, No, No!)" with both the Ames Brothers and the Ella Fitzgerald–Louis Armstrong duo. Their most celebrated song, "Wheel of Fortune," arrived in 1952 as a major Kay Starr hit and was also cut by Dinah Washington and many others. Additional successes included "Cross Over the Bridge" for Patti Page in 1954 and "How Important Can It Be?" for Joni James in 1955, after which Benjamin and Weiss parted ways.
Benjamin resumed his partnership with Sol Marcus in the early 1960s and supplied Elvis Presley with two 1960 recordings, "I Will Be Home Again" and "Lonely Man," the latter featured in the film Wild in the Country. In 1964 Nina Simone included six Benjamin songs—most of them co-written with Marcus—on her album Broadway-Blues-Ballads. One of those pieces, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," became a notable hit for the Animals the following year and resurfaced as a disco success for Santa Esmeralda in 1977. Benjamin launched his own publishing company in 1968 and received induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984. Through a charitable foundation created with his wife, he provided substantial support for medical facilities and education in the Virgin Islands. He died in Manhattan on May 2, 1989.
Albums
Singles
