Benjamin Franklin Peay (September 19, 1931 – April 9, 1988), known professionally as Brook Benton, was an American singer and songwriter whose music spanned rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music genres in the 1950s and 1960s, with hits such as "It's Just a Matter of Time" and "Endlessly".

His last hit was the 1970 ballad "Rainy Night in Georgia". Benton scored more than 50 Billboard chart hits as a singer/songwriter and with compositions he wrote for other performers.

Early life and career Benton began singing gospel music in a Methodist church choir in Lugoff, South Carolina, where his father was choir master.

In 1948, Benton went to New York where he joined The Langfordaires and The Jerusalem Stars before joining The Sandmen. Epic Records signed The Sandmen in 1954, immediately sending the group to record at the Columbia studios in New York. Columbia placed The Sandmen on its Okeh Records. Upon a second recording session, Okeh decided to push Benton as a solo artist. Benton recorded his first solo, "The Kentuckian Song", the theme from a movie of the same name.

Benton switched to RCA's Vik subsidiary in 1957, where he had a single chart appearance, 1958's "A Million Miles From Nowhere", which peaked at No. 82 on U.S. charts. He wrote two songs that charted for other performers, Clyde McPhatter's "A Lover's Question" and Nat King Cole's "Looking Back".

In 1958, Benton signed with Mercury Records, where he recorded hits "It's Just A Matter Of Time", "Endlessly", "Thank You Pretty Baby", "So Many Ways", "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)", "A Rockin' Good Way" (both duets with Dinah Washington), "Kiddio", "The Boll Weevil Song", and "Hotel Happiness".

One of Benton's sisters was the original artist to record "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)", in 1958, under the title "You've Got What It Takes", using the stage name Dorothy Pay, as the B-side of her single "Strollin' with My Baby"."You've Got What It Takes", Secondhand Songs. Retrieved January 12, 2018Singles Discography for Mercury Records - 71000 series, Global Dog Productions. Retrieved January 12, 2018 In August 1959 Benton partnered with Dinah Washington to record the song and their version, released in January 1960, was hugely successful on both the pop and R&B charts, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Hot R&B sides chart for 10 weeks, becoming one of the most successful R&B singles of the 1960s.

Success In 1959, he finally made his breakthrough with hits like "It's Just a Matter of Time" and "Endlessly". "It's Just a Matter of Time" peaked at No. 3 on the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart, sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. "Endlessly" made it to No. 12. Both of the first two hits were written by Benton with Clyde Otis. They were originally offered to Nat King Cole, but when Otis became an A&R manager and producer at Mercury, he convinced Benton to sign with the label and record them himself, while asking Cole not to record the songs as planned.Colin Escott, "Clyde Otis: Looking Back". Goldmine, October 1, 1993, pp. 42–43. Benton followed this success with a series of hits, including "So Many Ways" (No. 6), "Hotel Happiness" (No. 3), "Think Twice" (No. 11), "Kiddio" (No. 7), and "The Boll Weevil Song" (No. 2). In 1960, he had two top 10 hit duets with Dinah Washington: "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)" (No. 5) and "A Rockin' Good Way (to Mess Around and Fall in Love)" (No. 7).

In the mid 1960s, Benton recorded for RCA Records and Reprise Records with minimal commercial success. Then, in 1968, he signed with Cotillion Records, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records, where, the following year, he enjoyed his last major hit with "Rainy Night in Georgia", written by Tony Joe White and produced and arranged by Arif Mardin, a million-seller which topped the Billboard R&B chart. Cornell Dupree played guitar on the song.The Quiet Man dallasobserver.com Retrieved March 14, 2024 Benton recorded a total of five albums with Mardin, including a gospel album, during his stay at Cotillion.

Benton eventually charted a total of 49 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, with other songs charting on Billboards rhythm and blues, easy listening, and Christmas music charts.Joel Whitburn, Top Pop Singles 1955–1999 (Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, 2000), 48–49. The last album made by Benton was Fools Rush In, which was released posthumously in 2005. He also had records released on various other labels, including All-Platinum, Brut, Olde Worlde, Stax and Groove Records.

Death Weakened from spinal meningitis, Benton died of pneumonia in Queens, New York City, at the age of 56 on April 9, 1988. He was survived by his wife, Mary Benton, and six children: Brook Jr., Vanessa, Roy, Is'real, Gerald, and Benjamin.

Discography

Albums Year Album Peak chart positions US 200 US R&B1959 It's Just a Matter of Time—— Endlessly——1960 I Love You in So Many Ways—— The Two of Us (with Dinah Washington)—— Songs I Love to Sing——1961 Golden Hits82— The Boll Weevil Song and 11 Other Great Hits70—1962 If You Believe77— Singing the Blues – Lie to Me40—1963 Golden Hits, Volume 282— Best Ballads of Broadway——1964 Born to Sing the Blues—— Laura (What's He Got That I Ain't Got)156— 1969 Do Your Own Thing189—1970 Brook Benton Today 274 Brook Benton I Wanna Be With You—— Homestyle199— 1971 The Gospel Truth—— 1972 Story Teller—— 1973 Something for Everyone—— 1976 This is Brook Benton(released in the UK as "Mister Bartender")——1977 Makin' Love Is Good for You—— The Incomparable Brook Benton – 20 Greatest Hits (Warwick)——1979 Ain't No Good—— So Close—— 1981 Brook Benton Sings the Standards——1983 20 Golden Pieces of Brook Benton—— Beautiful memories of Christmas—— 1984 Soft—— 1989 Forty Greatest Hits (compilation)—— 2002 Rainy Night in Georgia (compilation, remastered)—— 2021 Just A Matter of Time (compilation)—— "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Singles