Let's Remember Benny Martin

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 14 Apr 2009 11:47 am

When I was a kid, and a bluegrasser back in the early 60's, I loved Benny Martin. Benny was a great fiddler who played with Flatt and Scruggs and others. He also gave it a shot at being a star on his own, and I had his albums... a lot of which were country, but not bluegrass, per se.

Here's a great video of one of his featured tunes, Me And My Fiddle, one that I played over and over when I was a Young'un.

Also dig Sonny Burnette sitting behind his Bigsby in the background, and Johnny Johnston slapping rhythm on his Super 400.

BTW, when he lived in Los Angeles, mid-60's, the great Scott Stoneman and I were pals, and Scotty idolized Benny Martin. That's a high recommendation, IMHO.

Rick Campbell · Post by **Rick Campbell** » 14 Apr 2009 12:28 pm

Thanks Herb. Benny and I share the same birthday (different years). He wrote the liner notes for one of my fiddle albums.

Here's a picture of me in the studio with Benny. He was a great player and keep us laughing all the time. He had some good country records. BTW: The video of "Me and My Fiddle" Benny uses a four string fiddle, but on the record he used the eight string. I've tried to find out the tuning on the eight string without success. Buddy Spicher didn't even know.

Scotty Stoneman was one of the greatest. Aside from his "trick fiddling" he could play some beautiful stuff. Every fiddle player should hear his Live album that was recorded in CA.

Bill Cunningham · Post by **Bill Cunningham** » 14 Apr 2009 1:32 pm

Find a 1980's Flying Fish LP by Benny named Tennessee Jubilee. It has Buddy Emmons on steel and dobro and a who's who of 'grassers including Lester Flatt, Kenny Ingram, and John Hartford off the top of my head.

As an aside, I asked BE about this record and he also volunteered that the first session he ever played on in Nashville was one of Benny's recordings.

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 14 Apr 2009 6:38 pm

Benny was quite a guy, at one point he even had an eight string fiddle which was strung in pairs like a mandolin. I think he was known around Nashville as "Big Tige" or something like that. A couple of my favorite recordings of his was "A Bar With No Beer" and "Ice Cold Love"........An excellent fiddler and a pretty dang good vocalist to boot........JH in Va.

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 14 Apr 2009 6:45 pm

"Ice... cold love,
Your love is cold... as the North Pole
You said you loved me dear
But now it's awful cold, your ice cold heart."

Great song, haven't thought of it in years! Thanks, Jerry. Benny was great, eh?

Rick Campbell · Post by **Rick Campbell** » 14 Apr 2009 7:39 pm

I recorded "Ice Cold Love" a couple of years ago. There's a sample on my website.

Jody Sanders · Post by **Jody Sanders** » 14 Apr 2009 8:24 pm

The Tiger was a good one. Jody.

Scott Shipley · Post by **Scott Shipley** » 14 Apr 2009 9:15 pm

Big Tige! What a picker!

Glenn Suchan · Post by **Glenn Suchan** » 15 Apr 2009 10:33 am

Find a 1980's Flying Fish LP by Benny named Tennessee Jubilee.

A great album featuring other great, but sadly, deceased players John Hartford, Lester Flatt, Roy Huskey, Jr., as well as many others still with us: Pig Robbins, Curly Sechler, Buddy Spicher, D. J. Fontana, and, as mentioned previously, Buddy Emmons. This has been one of my favs since it was released in the 70's. The version of "Ice Cold Love" on this is excellent. So is "One Drink Is Too Many", and the light-hearted "Smell Good On Sunday".

Tennessee Jubilee is available on iTunes for $9.99 and at Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Tennessee-Jubilee ... 284&sr=1-3

I'm with Herb on this, I loved Benny Martin's music, too. I can't get enough of Bobby Hicks and Richard Greene, either. Both are fiddle/violin maestros. Since I don't wish to hijack Herb's thread, I'm starting a new thread with a couple of links to Bobby and Richard.

Herb, thanks for reminding me how much I enjoy Benny's music and sadly, how much I miss him.

Keep on pickin'!
Glenn

Bill Cunningham · Post by **Bill Cunningham** » 15 Apr 2009 10:52 am

Thanks for the iTunes info, Glenn!

Last night while surfing YouTube I found several nice clips of Benny. Here's one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdubPVACYTY

I see that Big Howdy is the other fiddler. So is this an Acuff band? Who is the steel player?

Benny had a couple of cuts on a Starday fiddle compilation that my dad had in the '60's. Me and My Fiddle and Lee Highway Blues I believe.

Rick Campbell · Post by **Rick Campbell** » 15 Apr 2009 11:56 am

Bill,

Great clip of Benny. When he started to play the break, I though he was twinning with Howdy, but I soon realized he was playing the eight sting fiddle.

You know I heard the Stanley Brothers made a statement that "there never was a good fiddle player that came out of Tennessee". They must have forgot about Benny. Benny was from Sparta, TN, as was Lester Flatt.

I'd love to know what the tuning was on the eight string. I knew Benny and played guitar on some sessions with him, and some twin fiddles. I was so stupid that I never asked him about the eight string fiddle. If anybody out there knows the tuning, let me know. I'd like to set one up that way. It's not just a two strings like a mandolin. It could be a cross tuning like Monroe used on "Get Up John". I know how to do that, maybe I'll give it a try sometime.

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 15 Apr 2009 12:07 pm

Rick
I think one of the DC mando guys, either Buzz Busby or John Duffy, sometimes tuned the 4th strings to a minor third interval, didn't they? Like G/Bb?

JERRY THURMOND · Post by **JERRY THURMOND** » 16 Apr 2009 4:55 am

I had the time of my life jamming with Benny many times,some of his licks are still standard licks in
bluegrass today. I just loved to sit an hear the stories about his years in music. When asked about electric being used on bluegrass music, he said 'If
I could put electric on my shoes I would". Me an several other people was once snowed in with Benny all night, must have got ten inches of snow that night. So he just entertained us. What a guy.
Any one who knew Benny misses him.

Jerry

Rick Campbell · Post by **Rick Campbell** » 16 Apr 2009 7:05 am

Snowed in with Benny for a night....Wow, that must have been a treat. He was a funny guy for sure.

Clyde Mattocks · Post by **Clyde Mattocks** » 16 Apr 2009 7:06 am

Yes, Benny was a genuine character. When he worked single, he would always call me to get him a backing band in this area. I loved the man and his stories. On his going electric, he said "My daddy told me if I was going to be in show business, I'd
have to be big enough to be seen and loud enough to be heard. and I'm working on both."

Rick Campbell · Post by **Rick Campbell** » 16 Apr 2009 9:23 am

I was doing a session with Benny, John Hartford, Josh Graves, etc.. in the late 80's. Viagra had not been developed, but they had a shot they could give for ED. I read in the paper that morning that a guy in Nashville had got a shot and it worked so well........that it kept working for four days. He was suing the doctor claiming it caused great pain and permanent damage. I brought the article with me and Benny went bannanas over it. He talked and joked about that all day..... calling the guys name, and the doctors name over and over, asking the engineer,over the mic, to get him the doc's phone number, etc... Those of you that knew Benny can imagine what an event that was.

Jeff Jackson · Post by **Jeff Jackson** » 16 Apr 2009 9:40 am

One of my favorite 45's of all time "Big Footed Dan".