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
Keep Yourself From Crying Too
Tab Benoit Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
kalau beristri dua
Oh seperti dunia
Ana yang punya
Kepada istri tua
Kanda sayang padamu
Oh kepada isteri muda
I say i love you
Balik ke rumah istri muda
Kalau dua-dua merajuk
Ana kawin tiga
Mesti pandai pembohong
Mesti pandai temberang
Oh tetapi jangan sampai
Hai pecah tembelang
These are actually Indonesian lyrics from a song called "Istri Dua" by Rhoma Irama, and they roughly translate to: "How happy I am if I have two wives. It's like owning the whole world. To my old wife, I still love you. To my new wife, I say I love you. If the old wife gets angry, I'll go back to the new one. If both get angry, I'll marry a third. But I have to be good at lying and not break the family apart."
The song is a controversial one, as it speaks to the practice of polygamy which is legal in Indonesia, but seen as immoral by many. The lyrics can be seen as either glorifying the act of having multiple wives or as a commentary on the pitfalls and difficulties of polygamous relationships. It's up to listeners to interpret the lyrics as they see fit.
Line by Line Meaning
Aii… senangnya dalam hati
Feeling happy inside
kalau beristri dua
If you have two wives
Oh seperti dunia
It's like having the whole world
Ana yang punya
You're the one who owns it
Kepada istri tua
To the old wife
Kanda sayang padamu
Husband loves you
Oh kepada isteri muda
Oh, to the young wife
I say i love you
I say, 'I love you'
Istri tua merajuk
Old wife is sulking
Balik ke rumah istri muda
Go back to the young wife's house
Kalau dua-dua merajuk
If both are sulking
Ana kawin tiga
I will marry three
Mesti pandai pembohong
Must be good at lying
Mesti pandai temberang
Must be good at deceiving
Oh tetapi jangan sampai
But don't let it happen
Hai pecah tembelang
Or your head will explode
Contributed by Aubrey T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.