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
I Put A Spell On You
Tab Benoit Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You better stop the things that you do
I ain't lyin', no, I ain't lyin'
I just can't stand it babe
The way you're always runnin' 'round
I just can't stand it, the way you always put me down
I put a spell on you because you're mine
You better stop the things that you do
I ain't lyin', no, I ain't lyin'
I just can't stand it babe
The way you're always runnin' 'round
I just can't stand it, the way you always put me down
I put a spell on you because you're mine
I put a spell on you. I put a spell on you
I put a spell on you. I put a spell on you
The lyrics of "I Put A Spell On You" tell the story of a person who is deeply in love with someone, but that person is not reciprocating the same feelings. The song is about the desperation and frustration that this person feels when their loved one is constantly running around and putting them down. They are so desperate to keep this person to themselves that they resort to using magic to keep them under their spell.
The repeated lines of "You better stop the things that you do, I ain't lyin', no, I ain't lyin'" are a warning to the person they are in love with. The singer cannot take the way they are being treated and will resort to drastic measures to keep their loved one close. The line "I just can't stand it, the way you always put me down" emphasizes the desperation of the singer and their love for this person.
The repetition of "I put a spell on you" drives home the idea that the singer is serious about keeping their loved one, and they will go to great lengths to make sure they stay together. Overall, the song is about the lengths people will go to in the name of love, and how far one can be pushed to keep the person they love close.
Line by Line Meaning
I put a spell on you because you're mine
I cast a magical curse over you because you are my possession
You better stop the things that you do
You should cease your current actions and behaviors
I ain't lyin', no, I ain't lyin'
I am telling the truth, I am not lying
I just can't stand it babe
I cannot tolerate it, my dear
The way you're always runnin' 'round
Your constant movement and activity is troublesome to me
I just can't stand it, the way you always put me down
I cannot bear the way you consistently belittle and insult me
I put a spell on you because you're mine
I cast a magical curse over you because you are my possession
I put a spell on you. I put a spell on you
I cast a magical curse over you. I cast a magical curse over you
Lyrics © DistroKid, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Jay Hawkins
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind