A guitar player since his teenage years, he hung out at the Blues Box, a music club and cultural center in Baton Rouge run by guitarist Tabby Thomas. Playing guitar alongside Thomas, Raful Neal, Henry Gray and other high-profile regulars at the club, Benoit learned the blues first-hand from a faculty of living blues legends. He formed a trio in 1987 and began playing clubs in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. He began touring other parts of the south two years later and started touring more of the United States in 1991- and he continues to this day.
Benoit landed a recording contract with the Texas-based Justice Records and released a series of well-received recordings, beginning in 1992 with Nice and Warm, an album that prompted comparisons to blues guitar heavyweights like Albert King, Albert Collins and even Jimi Hendrix. Despite the hype, Benoit has done his best over the years to maintain a commitment to his Cajun roots— a goal that often eluded him when past producers and promoters tried to turn him and his recordings in a rock direction, often against his better instincts. These Blues Are All Mine, released on Vanguard in 1999 after Justice folded, marked a return to the rootsy sound that he’d been steered away from for several years.
That same year, he appeared on Homesick for the Road, a collaborative album on the Telarc label with fellow guitarists Kenny Neal and Debbie Davies. Homesick not only served as a showcase for three relatively young but clearly rising stars, but also launched Benoit’s relationship with Telarc that came to fruition in 2002 with the release of Wetlands —arguably the most authentically Cajun installment in his entire ten-year discography.
On Wetlands, Benoit mixes original material like the autobiographical “When a Cajun Man Gets the Blues” and the driving “Fast and Free” with little-known classics like Li’l Bob & the Lollipops’ “I Got Loaded,” Professor Longhair’s “Her Mind Is Gone” and Otis Redding’s timeless “These Arms of Mine” (Tab’s vocal style has long been influenced by Redding).
Later in 2002, Benoit released Whiskey Store, a collaborative recording with fellow guitarist and Telarc labelmate Jimmy Thackery as well as harpist Charlie Musselwhite and Double Trouble—the two-man rhythm section of bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton that backed Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Benoit, in 2003, released Sea Saint Sessions, recorded at Big Easy Recording Studio (better known among musicians in the region as Sea Saint Studio) in New Orleans. In addition to Benoit and his regular crew—bassist Carl Dufrene and drummer Darryl White—Sea Saint Sessions includes numerous guest appearances by Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Cyril Neville, Brian Stoltz and George Porter.
That same year, Benoit and Thackery took their dueling guitar show on the road and recorded a March 2003 performance at the Unity Centre for Performing Arts in Unity, Maine. The result was Whiskey Store Live, a high-energy guitar fest released in February 2004.
Benoit's 2005 release is Fever for the Bayou,which also includes guest appearances by Cyril Neville (vocals and percussion) and Big Chief Monk Boudreaux (vocals).
An interview with Tab Benoit:
http://www.thecelebritycafe.com/interviews/tab_benoit.html
Gone Too Long
Tab Benoit Lyrics
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You wave bye bye and you blow your horn
You been ridin' around in your Cadillac
It feels like you're never ever comin' back
You been gone too long
You been gone so long
You been a gone, forgone
I need somebody who treats me right
Keeps me warm in my bed at night
I'll do anything, baby, that you ask me to
Just come right home, honey, when you're through
You been gone so long
You been gone too long
You been gone so long
It feels like you're never comin' home
I drive all night and part of the day
All for the love of the blues I play
But the only thing that keeps me sane
Is drivin' down the Bayou in the pourin' rain, y'all
I been gone too long
I been gone too long
I been gone so long, y'all
It feels like I'm never gettin' home
I been gone too long
I been gone too long
I been gone too long
Baby, baby, I been gone
I been a gone, forgone
It feels sometimes like I'm never gettin' home
The lyrics of Tab Benoit's song "Gone Too Long" describe the feeling of longing for a loved one who has been away for too long. The singer keeps asking where the person has gone, but they just wave and blow their horn as they ride around in their Cadillac. The singer is left feeling as though the person may never come back. They need someone who is reliable and will treat them right, someone who will keep them warm at night. The singer is willing to do anything this person asks, as long as they come back home when they're finished.
Throughout the song, the singer describes the lengths they go to for the love of the blues they play, driving all night and day. Even though this brings them some sense of sanity, nothing compares to the feeling of being with their loved one again. The repetition of the phrase "I been gone too long" highlights the longing and desperation the singer is experiencing.
Overall, "Gone Too Long" is a bluesy ballad about the pain of being separated from someone you love for too long. The lyrics express a deep sense of yearning and sadness, as the singer hopes for their loved one's return.
Line by Line Meaning
Now everytime I ask you where you gone
Whenever I inquire about your whereabouts
You wave bye bye and you blow your horn
You simply wave and blow the horn of your car
You been ridin' around in your Cadillac
You have been cruising in your fancy Cadillac
It feels like you're never ever comin' back
It seems like you won't be returning anytime soon
You been gone too long
You have been away for an extended period
You been gone so long
You have been gone for a considerable time
You been a gone, forgone
You have been gone and forgotten
It feels like you're never gettin' home
It seems like you won't be returning home soon
I need somebody who treats me right
I require someone who treats me appropriately
Keeps me warm in my bed at night
Someone who maintains my bed warm in the night
I'll do anything, baby, that you ask me to
I am willing to perform anything you request, darling
Just come right home, honey, when you're through
However, please return home directly after you finish
I drive all night and part of the day
I travel the majority of the night and day
All for the love of the blues I play
I do it all for adoration of blues music
But the only thing that keeps me sane
The only thing that keeps me from going insane
Is drivin' down the Bayou in the pourin' rain, y'all
Is cruising through the Bayou while it's raining heavily, everyone
I been gone too long
I have been absent for too long
I been gone so long
I have been gone for an extended period
I been gone so long, y'all
I have been absent for a considerable time, everyone
It feels like I'm never gettin' home
I sense that I won't be returning home anytime soon
Baby, baby, I been gone
Darling, I have been absent
I been a gone, forgone
I have been gone and forgotten
It feels sometimes like I'm never gettin' home
Occasionally, it appears as though I am not coming home
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: TAB BENOIT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind