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
Seventh Son
Tab Benoit Lyrics
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But in the whole round world there is only one, and
I'm the one, yes, I'm the one
I'm the one, I'm the one,
I'm the one they call the seventh son
Well I can tell your future before it comes to pass
And I can do things for you that make your heart feel glad
I can tell when a woman's got another man
I'm the one, yes, I'm the one
I'm the one, I'm the one,
I'm the one they call the seventh son
Now I can hold you close and I can squeeze you tight
And I can make you cry for me both day and night
And I can heal the sick and even raise the dead
And make you little girls talk out of your head
I'm the one, yes, I'm the one
I'm the one, I'm the one,
I'm the one they call the seventh son
Now I can talk these words that sound so sweet
I can make your little heart even skip a beat
I can take you, baby, hold you in my arms
And make the flesh quiver on your lovely bones
I'm the one, yes, I'm the one
I'm the one, I'm the one,
I'm the one they call the seventh son
Well now everybody cryin' 'bout the seventh son
But in the whole round world there is only one, and
I'm the one, yes, I'm the one
I'm the one, I'm the one,
I'm the one they call the seventh son
I'm the one they call the seventh son
I'm the one they call the seventh son
In the blues tradition, the "seventh son" is a mystical figure with supernatural abilities. In "The Seventh Son," Tab Benoit claims to be this figure, the one who possesses clairvoyance, healing powers, and seductive abilities. He declares that despite the widespread myth of the seventh son, there is only one true seventh son in the "whole round world," and he is the one
Benoit boasts that he can tell the future before it happens and sense rain just by looking at the sky. He can also sense when a woman has another man, suggesting that his powers extend beyond just the supernatural. He claims to have the ability to heal the sick and raise the dead, as well as make little girls talk out of their heads.
Furthermore, he uses his seductive powers to make women fall for him, claiming that he can make their hearts skip a beat and make their flesh quiver on their bones. Throughout the song, Benoit emphasizes that he is the only true seventh son with these powers, suggesting that he is exceptional in a world full of imitators.
Line by Line Meaning
Well now everybody cryin' 'bout the seventh son
People are fascinated by the seventh son
But in the whole round world there is only one, and
Despite the fascination, there is only one true seventh son
I'm the one, yes, I'm the one
Tab Benoit is the real seventh son
I'm the one, I'm the one,
He is emphasizing that he is the only one
I'm the one they call the seventh son
Tab Benoit is known as the seventh son
Well I can tell your future before it comes to pass
He has the gift of foresight
And I can do things for you that make your heart feel glad
He has the ability to please people
Look at the skies and predict the rain
He can predict the weather
I can tell when a woman's got another man
He can sense infidelity
Now I can hold you close and I can squeeze you tight
He is physically affectionate
And I can make you cry for me both day and night
He can evoke strong emotions
And I can heal the sick and even raise the dead
He has miraculous abilities
And make you little girls talk out of your head
He can make young women infatuated with him
Now I can talk these words that sound so sweet
He is charming and persuasive
I can make your little heart even skip a beat
He can make people feel deeply
I can take you, baby, hold you in my arms
He is romantically inclined
And make the flesh quiver on your lovely bones
He is sexually alluring
I'm the one they call the seventh son
Reiterating that he is the real seventh son and has extraordinary abilities.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Willie Dixon
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind