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Brendan Benson

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Brendan Benson

Brendan Benson is a Michigan born musician and songwriter. He sings and plays guitar, bass guitar, keyboard and drums. He has released three solo albums and is a member of the band The Raconteurs.

Benson's major musical influences include The Cars, David Bowie, The Electric Light Orchestra, Elvis Costello, The Kinks, Robyn Hitchcock, Paul McCartney, and Todd Rundgren.[citation needed]

One Mississippi

His debut album, One Mississippi, was released in 1996 on Virgin Records. The album featured several contributions with Jason Falkner and gained many favourable reviews in the music press but failed to sell in sufficient numbers and Benson was dropped by Virgin.

Due to this, Brendan fell into a sort of depression and didn't do much musically for six years.

Lapalco

In 2002 the follow up to One Mississippi was released, Lapalco. Again the critical plaudits poured in but this time the record enjoyed a certain degree of commercial success. The song "Good To Me" from this album appeared on the British show Teachers during series three and was included on the series soundtrack. The song "Tiny Spark" featured on an episode from the fourth series.

Also from Lapalco, "Tiny Spark" generated some heat around Brendan for awhile as an indie hit.

While touring this record Benson played the Reading and Leeds Festivals and finished his Leeds set with a performance of the track "Jet Lag" featuring guest appearances from Meg White of The White Stripes along with members of The Datsuns and Soledad Brothers. [1]

In 2003 Benson re-released his debut album along with bonus tracks including the unreleased six track extended player, Welfed Boy EP, featuring songs from a demo session with Falkner.

Also in 2003, Benson released an EP, Metarie, with his then band, The Wellfed Boys. The EP featured a cover of Paul McCartney's "Let Me Roll It". This was the first song written completely by another artist to be featured on a Benson release. Another cover, this time "Strong Boy", from Gram Parsons International Submarine Band's 1968 album, Safe at Home, was released as a b-side in 2005.

Alternative To Love

In 2005, Benson released his third album, The Alternative to Love, and toured extensively in the US, UK and Europe with his new touring band, The Stiff Tissues.

The song "Cold Hands Warm Heart" was released as a single from this album and has appeared in many commercials and TV shows and is Brendan's biggest hit to date.

"Spit It Out" was the first single, and also generated some buzz for Brendan.

This album is his best selling to date.

The Raconteurs and 4th Album

Benson is also a member of The Raconteurs, a collaboration with Jack White of The White Stripes and two members of The Greenhornes, Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler. The group's debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers, was released in the US on May 16th, 2006, with "Steady, As She Goes" the first single.

Brendan currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

He has also worked as a producer for The Greenhornes, The Nice Device, The Mood Elevator (a permutation of The Wellfed Boys), and Stiff Tissues member Dean Fertita's former band, The Waxwings.

In early March of 2007, a handful of demos from Benson's upcoming (and untitled) album were released on the Brendan Benson Myspace, and found around the internet.

"Feel Like Taking You Home Now" was the first of these demos to appear. It so far has gained praise for combining some Raconteur elements along with Brendan's normal solo sound. It is not unlikely that this will be the first single.

Other demos include "Forget," "Poised And Ready," and "Go Nowhere." These were found through the Brendan Benson Forum. On his myspace, "Feel Like Taking You Home Now," "Lesson Learned," "Eyes On the Horizon," and "Untitled (possibly titled Poisoned Mind)" are available for streaming. It is also possible that one or more of these songs could end up on the new Raconteurs album as "Call It A Day" and "Together" were originally slated for this upcoming album but instead appeared on Broken Boy Soldiers.

Also possible for inclusion are the songs "Left And Right," "Baby On A Rug," "Some Day," and "Christopher's Revolt." These songs were b-sides on singles from the last album, but seeing as "Alternative to Love" was originally a b-side, it's quite possible all or some of these will appear on the new album.

Dean Fertita, who played keyboards with the Raconteurs on tour and now is with Queens of the Stone Age, plays piano on all the Benson demos, with all other instruments played by Brendan.

As of May 2007, "What I'm Looking For" has been used in a Sears commercial.

Brendan was also recently featured in a humorous video with the White Stripes where Jack Lawrence and Jack White's roles are switched and Brendan is seen as the producer of the Stripes.

Discography

Albums
EPs
Singles
B Sides and Covers
  • Son Of A Welder (B Side from Folk Singer EP)
  • Unfortunate Guy (B Side from Folk Singer EP)
  • Feel Like Myself (B Side from Folk Singer EP)
  • Metarie (Wellfed Version from Metarie EP)
  • Metarie (Uk Version from Metarie EP)
  • Alternative To Love (Early version from Metarie EP)
  • You're Quiet (Well Fed Boys Version from Metarie EP
  • Let Me Roll It (Cover of Paul McCartney from Metarie EP)
  • Meaning To Write (B Side from Tiny Spark Single)
  • No Dial Tone (Recorded Live @ Bowery Ballroom 8/04/2002 from Tiny Spark Single)
  • Old Fashioned (B Side from Good To Me Single)
  • Pleasure Seeker (Recorded Live @ Bowery Ballroom 8/04/2002 from Good To Me Single)
  • Left And Right(B Side from Spit It Out Single)
  • Baby On A Rug (B Side from Spit It Out Single)
  • Some Day (B Side from Cold Hands (Warm Heart)Single)
  • Christopher's Revolt (B Side from Cold Hands (Warm Heart)Single)
  • Cold Hands (Warm Heart) (Live Acoustic Version from Cold Hands (Warm Heart) EP)
  • Cold Hands (Warm Heart) (Chris Shaw Mix from Cold Hands (Warm Heart) EP)
  • Strong Boy (Gram Parsons Cover from from Cold Hands (Warm Heart) Single)
  • What I'm Looking For (Michael Brauer Mix from What I'm Looking For EP)
  • Them And Me (Alternate Version from What I'm Looking For EP)
  • Floating (Jape Cover Recorded Live in Newcastle, 22/03/06)

References

  • "BrendanBenson.com". Official website. Retrieved 04 January. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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