Renamed Jo Jo Benson by a record company who thought his birth name awkward.
He loved singing in church as a child.
At fourteen he joined a band as a singer.
He went on to tour with Chuck Willis and met greats like B.B. King and Smokey Robinson.
In 1968 he met 17-year-old Peggy Scott of Florida.
“Lover’s Holiday” was their first gold recording together. Two more gold singles “Pickin’ Wild Mountain Berries” and “Soulshake.” followed.
The pair separated in 1971, but briefly reunited in the mid-’80s for a reunion album.
In 1999 he released an album of spirited traditional soul that he called “Reminiscing in the Jam Zone.” The album was praised as “among the finest soul albums of the year — indeed, of the decade” by Living Blues Magazine.
In 2001 Benson’s released the follow-up album “Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha.”
