The Professional Work of Ben (James) Peters
Songwriter Ben Peters reigned among the most successful Nashville tunesmiths in country during the 1970s. When Ben Peters arrived in Nashville in 1966 it only took him a year to land his first number one hit. The legendary Eddy Arnold (Tennessee Plowboy) took his composition Turn the World Around to the top of Billboard country charts. He reached the pinnacle of his songwriting career by winning a Grammy for Best Country Song for "Kiss an Angel Good Morning in 1971.
Born June 20, 1933, in rural Hollandale, Mississippi, Peters spent much of his childhood picking cotton. After discovering an old saxophone in his grandfather's attic he taught himself to play. Turning to music, he began performing professionally at the age of fourteen. After graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi (1952 to 1956), Ben served a four-year stint in the U.S. Navy serving as a pilot.
After his discharge, he worked a variety of jobs while developing his songwriting skills. Not gaining mush ground, Peters was contemplating giving up songwriting, but that changed when famed label executive Shelby Singleton called with an offer to join his publishing company.
Peters moved to Nashville in 1966, first focusing on a solo career. Ben briefly recorded records for Capitol and Liberty. However, he decided to channel all of his energy into songwriting. One year later, Roy Drusky charted Ben’s first composition, "If the Whole World Stopped Lovin' "(No. 12, 1966). However, Eddy Arnold brought Peters into the national spotlight with "Turn the World Around (No. 1, 1967).
Ben formed his own production house, Ben Peters Music (1970) and two years later, his daughter Angela inspired a song that turned out to be the pinnacle of his songwriting efforts. Peters penned, "Kiss an Angel Good Morning” (No. 1, 1971), which became the biggest hit of Charley Pride's long and lucrative career.
That same year Peters composed "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" (No. 1, 1975). Recorded by Duane Dee, it was released as a single, but when Dee was drafted, it faltered before it finally became a smash hit for Freddy Fender. The “overnight success”
of Fender in 1974 was twenty years in the making, as he'd been recording in his native Texas since the mid -1950s, where he turned out Spanish versions of rock 'n' roll hits. That year, his producer Huey Meaux convinced him to sing, half in English, half in Spanish, a Ben Peters song that had been lurking for years with several unsuccessful versions to its credit. “Before The Next Teardrop Falls” caught the mood of its times so much that it also hit the top of the Pop charts and crossed over to R&B , as well as being the biggest Country hit of the year.
Artists as diverse as Dean Martin, Ray Charles and Alan, Jackson have recorded Peters’ songs, but it was Charley Pride who emerged as Peters' foremost champion. Pride, a prolific country hit-maker, cut over forty of Peters' compositions, including "It's Gonna Take a Little Bit Longer (No. 1, 1972), "More to Me" (No. 1, 1977) and "You're So Good When You're Bad" (No. 1, 1982).
One of the most successful country songwriters of his era, Ben Peters wrote a cache of chart-toppers, including fellow Texans Kenny Rogers and Johnny Rodriguez. They topped the charts with "Love Put a Song in My Heart" (Johnny Rodriguez: No. 1, 1975) and "Daytime Friends" (Kenny Rogers: No. 1, 1977). Peters also scored hits for Brenda Lee "Tell Me What It's Like" (No. 8, 1979) and John Conlee "Before My Time" (No. 2, 1979).
The Nashville Songwriters Association named Peters Songwriter of the Year in 1975 and he was elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980, after writing 27 BMI award-winning songs, including fourteen number one songs and two CMA Awards. Peters had 271 songs registered with BMI. Peters won a Grammy for Best Country Song for "Kiss an Angel Good Morning (1972). Peters, who was married to Jackie Macon, his wife for 48 years, died in Nashville, Tennessee on 25 May 2005. He had one son and two daughters.
Songwriter Ben Peters reigned among the most successful Nashville tunesmiths in country during the 1970s. When Ben Peters arrived in Nashville in 1966 it only took him a year to land his first number one hit. The legendary Eddy Arnold (Tennessee Plowboy) took his composition Turn the World Around to the top of Billboard country charts. He reached the pinnacle of his songwriting career by winning a Grammy for Best Country Song for "Kiss an Angel Good Morning in 1971.
The Nashville Songwriters Association named Peters Songwriter of the Year in 1975 and he was elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980, after writing 27 BMI award-winning songs, including fourteen number one songs and two CMA Awards. Peters had 271 songs registered with BMI. Peters won a Grammy for Best Country Song for "Kiss an Angel Good Morning (1971).
Peters, Ben: Song Catalog, Partial Listing:
- A Whole Lotta Things to Sing About ~ Charley Pride (No. 1976)
- Before My Time ~ John Conlee (No. 1979)
- Before the Next Teardrop Falls ~ Freddy Fender (No. 1975)
- Burgers and Fries ~ Charley Pride (No. 1978)
- Daytime Friends ~ Kenny Rogers (No. 1977)
- It's Gonna Take a Little Bit Longer ~ Charley Pride (No. 1972)
- Kiss An Angel Good Morning ~ Charley Pride (No. 1, 1971)
- Love Put a Song in My Heart ~ Johnny Rodriguez (No. 1975)
- More to Me ~ Charley Pride (No. 1977)
- Turn the World Around ~ Eddy Arnold (No. 1967)
- You're So Good When You're Bad (1982)
