Marc Benno
Winters, Texas, United States | Established. Jan 01, 1970 | MAJOR | AFTRA
Music
Press
Marc Benno brings to the stage not only his formidable vocal talents, which include a keen and perceptive realization of the lyric content of the piece being performed but also such a relaxed and mature style of singing and playing guitar that the listener immediately becomes captivated and enchanted with the easy professionalism with which he imbues his chosen material. Moreover, he's great to watch. You know he knows what he's doing. He has a wonderful sense of time...and humor, which he shares with his audiences, but not the ultra-hip, exclusive brand, of which the average person is outside. Benno's real...and for real. One can't help but enjoy a Marc Benno performance. He's been out of the public eye for much too long, but thankfully, he's interested in returning...we need him. This rare breed of a seasoned and confident, talented and sensitive performer is not in abundance these days. -- Steve LaVere (Music Historian/Robert Johnson Estate) - Marno Music Inc.
Marc Benno brings to the stage not only his formidable vocal talents, which include a keen and perceptive realization of the lyric content of the piece being performed but also such a relaxed and mature style of singing and playing guitar that the listener immediately becomes captivated and enchanted with the easy professionalism with which he imbues his chosen material. Moreover, he's great to watch. You know he knows what he's doing. He has a wonderful sense of time...and humor, which he shares with his audiences, but not the ultra-hip, exclusive brand, of which the average person is outside. Benno's real...and for real. One can't help but enjoy a Marc Benno performance. He's been out of the public eye for much too long, but thankfully, he's interested in returning...we need him. This rare breed of a seasoned and confident, talented and sensitive performer is not in abundance these days. -- Steve LaVere (Music Historian/Robert Johnson Estate) - Marno Music Inc.
Discography
1968 Look Inside the Asylum Choir (with Leon Russell)
1970 Marc Benno
1971 Minnows
Asylum Choir II (with Leon Russell)
1972 Ambush
1979 Lost In Austin
1990 Take It Back To Texas
1994 Snake Charmer
2000 Sugar Blues
2002 Live In Gillespie County
2003 Golden Treasure
2003 Hit The Bottom
2004 I Got It Bad
2005 Live at the Chi Chi Club
(with John Cipollina, Pete Sears)
2006 Crawlin
(with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Doyle Bramhall)
2007 Live In Japan
2007 Shadow
2010 Lovers Prayer
2010 From the Vault
2011 Live at The Pour House
2012 Nearly Famous
2013 Hollywood Texas
Photos
Bio
Marc Benno has been giving blues, rock and pop music an unmistakable Texas flavor for years. A singer/songwriter who plays the guitar and piano, Benno is a behind-the scenes force, helping some of rock and blues greatest talents sound even better. The list of legends hes worked with includes The Doors, Eric Clapton, Lightnin Hopkins, Bill Wyman, Georgie Fame, Rita Coolidge, Eddie Murphy, Leon Russell and many more!
In the 60's, after performing in Dallas with Steve Miller, Boz Scaggs, the Eagles, first known as Felicity and The Moving Sidewalks, Aka ZZ Top, Benno headed to Los Angeles to further his career. That put him in the right place at the right time!
Marc Benno recorded a pair of albums with Leon Russell as a duo under the name The Asylum Choir. These recordings are considered rock classics by Billboard Magazine. Benno was then picked to play guitar on an album by the psychedelic rock greats The Doors. The sessions were for the classic L.A. Woman (1971), the groups last LP before Jim Morrisons death.
Benno recorded four albums for A&M Records in Hollywood in the 70s. Eric Clapton played guitar on two tracks from Bennos 1979 album Lost in Austin, recorded in London, produced by Glyn Johns who was famous for producing The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
He toured with Rita Coolidge as lead guitarist and band leader opening for The Byrds at Royal Albert Hall in London!
After two years serving as Lightnin Hopkins bandleader and lead guitarist, Benno formed Marc Benno & TheNightcrawlers, opening shows across America for Humble Pie and The J. Geils Band. One of the Crawlers was a young guitarist named Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Bennos career got an unexpected boost in 1985, when his song Rock & Roll Me Again, recorded by The System for the movie Beverly Hills Cop, won a Grammy for Best Composition for a Motion Picture Soundtrack!
Guitar World Magazine credits Benno for giving The Doors a Texas flavor, with his style of guitar playing on their album titled LA Woman release in 1971. He is featured on The Doors Greatest Hits album. Leon Russells Greatest Hits, a long overdue release, features the Asylum Choir II classic, Tryin to Stay Live, co-authored by Marc and Leon.
Management/Booking/Publicity:
Randie Benno
randiebenno@gmail.com
Links
