Rarely does Tampa appear in the annals of early rock history. It was there bluesman Hudson Whittaker, aka Tampa Red, worked up his slide chops before making his career in Chicago, and Ray Charles lived in town for a while, playing with Charlie Brantley’s Honey Dippers and cutting some of his own early sides. But Benny Joy was the Bay Area’s first homegrown rocker. Throughout the late ‘50s, young Joy was the prince of the dancehall circuit in central Florida. He had a raw sound that combined country & western with rhythm & blues -- one that he claimed to have developed before ever hearing Elvis. Plus, he wrote most of his own material: hormonal boppers with titles like “Spin the Bottle” and “Crash the Party.” Accompanied by Big John Taylor’s raunchy electric guitar, Joy’s peninsular gestation begat an uninhibited, youthful style that led to an audition with Sam Phillips and Jack Clement at Sun Records.
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