The Profesional Work of Barnes, Benny
(Jan. 1, 1934 ~ Aug. 8, 1987), Beaumont, Texas
Singer and guitar player, Benjamin M. Barnes Jr., was born on January 1, 1934, in Beaumont, Texas, USA. At the age of 15, Barnes, like his father and grandfather before him, was working in the Texas oilfields. He learned to play guitar and developed a love for country music. He started playing guitar on an early George Jones Starday recording session. In late 1950's, recorded and made popular several songs of J. P. Richardson (Big Bopper); "Poor Man's Riches" and "Beggar to a King," a later hit was "Token of Love" in 1959. Barnes became one of the biggest properties of Jack Clement's and Bill Hall's Gulf Coast Recording Company.
In 1956, after an oilfield injury, he began singing locally and joined Starday himself. The following year, he charted a number two country hit with ‘Poor Man’s Riches.” This led to him making appearances on the Grand Old Opry and becoming a regular on the Louisiana Hayride.
In 1959, he recorded Gold Records InThe Snow, a tribute to Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens. He switched to Mercury Records in 1961, but he was unable to generate subsequent chart success. Therefore, he gave up recording and relocated to Beaumont, where he opened a bar, The Blue Lantern. He scored a final Top 40 single in 1961, when Mercury Records decided to release his earlier recording of ‘Yearning’ (No. 22, 1961).
He ran his bar for several years, during which time he wrote a song called Bar With No Beer,” a major hit, in 1959, for Slim Dusty. However, Barnes’ 1965 recording achieved little success. In 1970, he moved to California but returned to Beaumont the following year and built his Benny Barnes Melody Ranch, where, with his band the Ranch Hands, he proved to be a popular entertainer. In 1977, Barnes tried to revive his career when he signed a contract with Playboy Records. However, the attempt was futile as his only single, Ï’ve Got Some Getting’ Over You to do,” (No. 94, 1977), narrowly broke into the Billboard Top 100.
Barnes also recorded for Hallway (1962-65), Musicor (1965-68), Kapp (1968), Mega (1972), Starday (1973) and Playboy (1976).
