The World of Soul and R&B Mourns the Passing of One of Its Kings

Benjamin Earl Nelson, known to the world as Ben E. King, passed away on April 30, 2015. He will be missed by millions of fans of a superb body of work and a career which spanned five and one half decades.

Best known for his exquisite composition and recording of "Stand By Me" in 1961, "Bennie" began his long successful career with the Drifters, singing lead vocal on "Dance With Me", "This Magic Moment","Lonely Winds," "I Count The Tears," "Save The Last Dance For Me," and others.

Following a refusal by their manager to give Ben E. a $50 per week raise, he reluctantly went "solo." "Now you know' he said to the man behind the desk, 'I don't WANT to quit.' I was bluffing. I didn't think he
would call it. As I walked to the door, I must have taken five minutes to turn that ----. He never did call to me to sit back down. That's how I went solo."

He then approached Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller to record and produce him. They readily agreed. During a Sunday afternoon session, Leiber and Stoller asked him if he had any of his own songs. He immediately began singing the gospel styled "Stand By Me Jesus" which he had by that time refined to simply, "Stand By Me". It was a tune he had originally offered to his former group, The Drifters. They passed on it. Mike Stoller--immediately sensing the song's commercial potential--added the distinctive introductory bass line to Ben E's soulful, sincere vocal. The hit was born.

Then came "Spanish Harlem", " I Who Have Nothing" and "Amor." During the following decades of performing and recording, Ben E. paired with Average White Band to record an album which proved to be both excellent and commericially successfully. Entitled "Bennie And US", it contained the hit single, "Star In The Ghetto", an urban anthem written by Louisville's own, Phillip Mitchell, aka Prince Phillip.

In 1975, Ben E. took a vocal departure from his mellifluous bass delivery to record the hit single,"Supernatural", which he sang in a stunning falsetto. When asked as to why he chose to sing it in that fashion, he replied, "Man, I just thought it might be something different and cool. Did you like it?" ( Of course I did!) " I was always proud of that tune and of course thrilled that it went over so well".

In 1986, Rob Reiner's film, "Stand By Me", used Ben E.'s original recording as its theme, sending the song back into the TOP TEN, 25 years after it first became a hit.

Through the years I had the pleasure of swapping stories with this warm-hearted man. Some of his were hilarious. On one of these occasions, he recounted a vignette that involved fellow performers Jerry Butler and Solomon Burke. When I had stopped laughing I asked, "Is that true?" With a wide grin, he replied, "Does it matter?". It didn't.

Ben E. King was a wonderful performer, a consumate gentleman, and a warm and caring human being. His contributions to the world of Soul and R&B will continue to shine on through the ages.

Thank you Bennie. We will miss you.