Dutch musician and composer Oscar Benton is a real "veteran" of classical blues. The artist, who has unique vocal abilities, conquered the world with his compositions.
Almost every song of the musician was awarded one or another award. His records regularly hit the top of the charts of various times.
The beginning of the career of Oscar Benton
Musician Oscar Benton was born on February 3, 1994 in The Hague. The real name of the artist is Ferdinand van Eys. The artist was very popular due to his extremely unusual vocal abilities. His hoarse voice ("luxurious vocals with a touch of rudeness") was appreciated by all lovers of classic blues.
From early childhood, the future world-famous singer showed interest in various types of musical creativity. Throughout his youth, an unknown guy did not get tired of studying, attending violin and mandolin lessons.
The training took place in one of the Hague music conservatories. And he gained practice thanks to bars and pubs working in the “open microphone” format.
Benton formed the Oscar Benton Blues Band in 1967 immediately after graduating from the violin class. The young team had great creative ideas. The team had great talent and was very fond of the blues. Throughout 1967, the group performed at various venues - the blues scenes in the Netherlands and Belgium.
A year later, the Oscar Benton Blues Band released their debut album, Fells So Good. Recorded under the Phonogram Records label, it was a chic work - an example to follow for all the blues artists of that time.
A few months after the release of the record, musicians began to be invited to popular European jazz festivals. Even decades later, the Fells So Good album has retained its relevance, striking listeners with the quality of the work done.
The popularity of Oscar Benton
The debut album of the Oscar Benton Blues Band turned out to be very successful. All members of the group, who make up the main backbone of the line-up, worked on the album: Tanny Lent, Gans Vann Dame and Hank Houkins. Thanks to the work done, the musicians received the title of the most popular blues band in the Netherlands.
Thanks to the first success, the team gained experience and confidently took up further work. 12 months after the release of the debut album, the second album of the Oscar Benton Blues Band was released.
The work was called The Blues Is Gonna Wreck My Life. In 1971, the musicians again released the album Benton 71. At the same time, Oscar recorded two singles with the famous Dutch artist Monica Vershure. The compositions were released in 1970 and immediately became worthy of the title of hits.
Solo career
In 1974, Oscar Benton left his own group, leaving all rights to the old team. The team changed the composition and chose the new name Blue Eyed Baby. Then the artists released a disc of the same name, which received very strong support from listeners and "fans" of the band.
For some time, Oscar continued to work on songs with the singer Monica Vershure. They experimented, trying to move away from the usual genres and working on pop tracks in the form of modern pop music.
However, all subsequent compositions did not find significant success. And the artist refused such cooperation, never having achieved the fame of a pop singer. General performances have been suspended. Benton plunged into the creative process, working on the creation of new solo compositions.
Artist success
A huge "breakthrough" in Oscar's career came in 1981. The famous French actor and film director Alain Delon used the bluesman's song as the soundtrack to his own film "In the Skin of a Policeman".
The work of Bensonhurts Blues became a real international hit, occupying leading positions in all European national charts. Citizens of France, Romania, Bulgaria, and even Japan, Israel and Morocco were added to the listeners and "fans" of the artist.
The incredible success inspired the "king of the blues", forcing him to revive the Oscar Benton Blues Band. The artist created a new team, inviting a bassist and drummer. In this composition, the group began world tours. The team traveled around the world, performing in Europe, Asia and America.
Numerous tours continued until 1993 - at the end of the summer period of this year, the team broke up. During the time spent together, the artists have achieved significant success, releasing an album and participating in the organization of famous music festivals in Europe.
The end of Oscar Benton's career
In 2010, Oscar Benton had an accident. A very sad and tragic event had a negative impact on his creative ideas. The author of many hits and a living legend of the world blues decided to record a farewell concert. After the events that took place almost 10 years ago, listeners practically did not believe in the possible return of the blues master.
However, Oscar Benton was able to surprise his "fans" - the artist returned to the stage, starting a long series of solo concerts. A true veteran of the blues world travels the world, visiting Romania, France, Turkey, and even Russia. Despite his age and the consequences of injuries, Oscar feels great and does not stop his creative activity.
