Duster Bennett

:(This page covers the British musician Tony "Duster" Bennett. For the US singer Tony Bennett, see linked page.)
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Anthony "Duster" Bennett (23 September 1946 – 26 March 1976) was a British blues singer and musician. Based around London, his first album Smiling Like I'm Happy saw him playing as a one-man band, playing a bass drum with his foot and blowing a harmonica on a rack while strumming a 1952 Les Paul Goldtop guitar given to him in 1968 by Peter Green. Backed by his girlfriend Stella Sutton and the original Fleetwood Mac on three tracks, the album was well received. He remained popular on the local blues club scene until his death in a car crash in 1976. (Read more at Wikipedia)
== Links to Peel ==
Duster Bennett emerged on the British blues scene in 1968, signing for Blue Horizon Records, which also included Peel favourites Fleetwood Mac and Chicken Shack on its roster and was one of the most frequently played record labels on Top Gear. Peel enthused over Bennett's first LP in his International Times column:
:There is an LP by Duster Bennett coming through the Blue Horizon mill which is the best thing Mike Vernon has ever produced. It opens up many new and unknown aspects of Duster Bennett and may be the best blues LP yet generated between the seaweed and sand of our coasts. Listen for it on 'Top Gear' 
Peel especially liked Duster Bennett's one-man-band style because it was strongly influenced by the DJ's own favourite bluesmen from his time in Texas - Jimmy Reed, Slim Harpo and Lightnin' Slim among them. Peel played Bennett's records on Top Gear, introduced him on live performances and featured him in session. Although Bennett's career seemed to slump after the late 1960s country blues boom had ended, he continued to work into the mid-1970s. The simplicity and directness of his music would probably have enabled him to survive the "punk wars" of the late 1970s, had he not been killed in a road crash when driving home from a gig in March 1976. Peel retained a fondness for Duster Bennett's music, as can be seen from the inclusion of tracks by the artist in the playlists of some of his shows in 2002 and 2004. On the 03 February 2004 show, the DJ played a track to Jack White of the White Stripes, noting Bennett's similarity to Jawbone, a current favorite.
== Festive Fifty Entries ==
*None.
== Sessions ==
Seven sessions. No known commercial release.
1. Recorded 1968-03-20. First broadcast 10 April 1968.
*Worried Mind / I’ve Been A Fool / Everybody’s Got A Friend But Me / Blues With A Feeling
2. Recording date unknown. First broadcast 03 November 1968. Repeated 15 December 1968.
* Worried Mind / I'm Gonna Wind Up Ending Up / Country Jam / Jumping At Shadows / I Want You To Love Me / Sleeping In The Ground
3. Recorded 1969-04-16. First broadcast 16 April 1969.
*Further Up The Road / What A Dream / Hot Roddin’ / Rock Of Ages Cleft For Me / Morning Star Blues / Life Is What You Make It
4. Recorded 1969-12-09. First broadcast 24 January 1970. Repeated 16 May 1970.
* Hill Street Rag / I Chose To Sing The Blues / I Worship The Ground You Walk On / I Was Fooled
5. Recorded 1972-02-28. First broadcast 31 March 1972. Repeated 05 May 1972.
*I Love My Baby / Walkin Pork Shops / Country Breakdown / I Feel So Good / Watcha Gonna Do
6. Recorded 1972-07-24. First broadcast 11 August 1972. Repeated 22 September 1972
*Pride Of Place / Let Your Light Shine On Me / Back In The Same Old Bag / Blue River Rising
7. Recorded 1973-09-24. First broadcast 01 November 1973. Repeated 29 November 1973.
*Gone Gershwin / Summertime / Them That Got / Coming Home
== Live ==
Recorded at the Paris Theatre. Broadcast: 11 January 1970. Repeated: 16 August 1970.
# Just Like A Fish
# All I Need
# I Choose To Sing The Blues
# Bright Lights
== Other Shows Played ==
(The list below was compiled only from the database of this site and Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive. Please add more information if known.)
;1968
*28 July 1968: It's A Man Down There (7") Blue Horizon 57-3141
*11 August 1968: It's A Man Down There (7") Blue Horizon 57-3141
*01 September 1968: It's A Man Down There (7") Blue Horizon 57-3141
*27 October 1968: Country Jam (LP - Smiling Like I'm Happy) Blue Horizon
*22 December 1968: 40 Minutes From Town (LP: Smiling Like I'm Happy) Blue Horizon
;1969
*12 January 1969: Raining In My Heart (7") Blue Horizon 57- 3148
*26 January 1969: Raining In My Heart (7") Blue Horizon 57- 3148
*25 October 1969: I'm Gonna Wind up Endin' Up Or I'm Gonna End Up Windin' up With You (single) Blue Horizon
*29 November 1969: I'm Gonna Wind Up Endin' Up Or I'm Gonna End Up Windin' Up With You (single) Blue Horizon
;1994
*11 November 1994: Morning Star (CD - Jumpin' At Shadows) Indigo
*19 November 1994 (BFBS): Morning Star (CD-Jumpin' At Shadows) Indigo
;2002
*18 June 2002: It's A Man Down There (7") Blue Horizon
*10 July 2002 (BBC World Service): It's A Man Down There (7") Blue Horizon
;2004
*03 February 2004: You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now (LP - Bright Lights Big City)
*18 February 2004: Got A Tongue In Your Head (LP- Smiling Like I'm Happy) Blue Horizon
;Others
*Radio 1 Vintage - John Peel: It's A Man Down There
== See Also ==
*ABC Of Beauty
*Singles Reviews
*Gigography 1968
*Gigography 1969 
== External Links ==
*Wikipedia
* Official site
* Other
Category:Artists