Joe Bennett (February 21, 1940 – June 27, 2015) was the lead guitarist and singer of The Sparkletones.
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| Joe Bennett |
The Sparkletones formed in 1956. Joe Bennett (vocals, lead guitar), Wayne Arthur (upright bass), Howard "Sparky" Childress (guitar), and Jimmy "Sticks" Denton (drums) ranged in ages from 13 to 16 when they first got together, and all had been raised in Spartanburg, S.C. All four attended Cowpens High School in Spartanburg, and came from respectable, middle-class families. Indeed, in contrast to a lot of kids who wanted to play music for a living, all four members of the Sparkletones were regular churchgoers, and Joe Bennett, the singer and lead guitarist, was one of the leaders of the Church Youth Movement in South Carolina.
A CBS talent agent named Bob Cox came through Spartanburg and was auditioning young performers for the network. The Sparkletones were one of dozens of amateur outfits from all over the state who turned up at Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium in January of 1957. They took first prize, and were good enough that they took Cox's career at CBS. He resigned his position to become their manager, and two days later the quartet, who'd never been out of their home state before, were on a plane to New York City, and a few days after that they were signed to ABC-Paramount.
At their first recording session they recorded the 12-bar blues "Black Slacks". Paul Anka, who had been recording “Diana” in the studio earlier that day, added falsetto background on a different song that the group recorded that day, "Boppin' Rock Boogie". "Black Slacks" was a stunner: fast-paced, with rippling lead guitar, and filled with teen catch-phrases of the period, it sounded a little like the Everly Brothers on uppers, with a guitar part that was somewhere midway between Carl Perkins and Buddy Holly. It was the almost perfect song at just the right moment to get the band a foothold, but it needed to be worked, and that where Bob Cox came in.
Cox was not only the group's manager but, in effect, their legal guardian as he booked them on an extended series of concerts and personal appearances that stretched for many months."Black Slacks" became a local hit and slowly built up national recognition as the group set out on a tour that crisscrossed the U.S. several times over, also performing on The Nat King Cole Show, American Bandstand, and The Ed Sullivan Show. Those appearances allowed the Sparkletones to cross paths with the likes of the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Bobby Darin and Elvis Presley, among numerous others. "Black Slacks" remained on the U.S. charts for over four months, peaking at No. 17 on the Billboard Top 100 in late 1957.
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| Joe with Ed Sullivan |
The Sparkletones' next single, "Penny Loafers and Bobby Socks", reached No. 42 on the Billboard pop chart early in 1958, staying on the charts for eight weeks, while "Cotton Pickin' Rocker", "We've Had It", "Late Again", "Run Rabbit Run", all failed to chart over the course of the next three years. In 1959, the group's contract with ABC-Paramount expired, and they released three singles on Paris Records, and only the single "Boys Do Cry" had any semblance of success, peaking at No. 105 in 1959. Around this time original guitarist Sparky Childress and drummer Jimmy Denton left and were replaced by Gene Brown and Donnie Seay, respectively. In 1960 Joe Bennett joined the U.S. Air Force and served in the Vietnam War. During that time he was exposed to Agent Orange. The band's history came to a close around 1960-1961, and the band members, having seen a considerable amount of the world and adventure as teenagers, returned to more conventional lives.
Childress played country in the 1960s. A compilation LP was released by MCA Records in 1980, and European bootleg CD reissues were put out in the 1990s. The band members did occasional reunions in South Carolina into the 2000s.Wayne Arthur sang with a gospel group in his spare time, and Denton ran an auto parts store. Donnie Seay remained in music as a guitarist, and Gene Brown, after a stint in the paratroopers, became a corporate security director. In recent years, several members of the group have reunited informally in the area around Spartanburg.
(Edited from Wikipedia & AllMusic)