Ben Branch
Encyclopedia
Ben F. Branch was an American
entrepreneur, jazz
tenor saxophonist
, and bandleader
.
Although possibly better known as being one of the last people Martin Luther King Jr spoke to moments before his assassination in 1968, Branch had been a leading bandleader for many years.
in 1949. "My very first recordings were for a company out of Nashville called Bullet, the Bullet Record Transcription company," King recalls. "I had horns that very first session. I had Phineas Newborn
on piano; his father played drums, and his brother, Calvin
, played guitar with me. I had Tuff Green on bass, Ben Branch on tenor sax, his brother, Thomas Branch, on trumpet, and a lady trombone player."
Branch recorded with King again on an early 1952 Memphis recording with the B.B. King Orchestra with, among others, Hank Crawford
and Ike Turner
.
For much of the 1950s, Branch was the bandleader for the houseband, The Largos, at Curry's Club in North Memphis, which occasioned a young Isaac Hayes
his first professional gigs.
Future M.G.
bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn was the first white member of Branch's big band in the early 1960s.
In 1982 Branch founded the American Music Hall of Fame, a private music school in Chicago
.
A few months before his death Branch appeared with his band at the 1987 Chicago Blues Festival
backing Rosco Gordon
.
Branch also recorded with Brother Jack McDuff and Etta James
, Little Milton
and Phil Upchurch
.
Branch held a degree in music from Memphis State University.
-owned soft-drink manufacturing company. The company eventually signed a $355 million agreement with Kemmerer Bottling Group, bottler of several well-known soft drinks, including 7Up, to distribute the Doctor Products beverages.
Operation Breadbasket
he led the Breadbasket Orchestra and Choir that performed benefits for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Operation/PUSH. Just moments before being assassinated, Dr. King had just asked Branch to play a Negro spiritual, "Precious Lord, Take My Hand
," at a rally that was to have been held two hours later.
Cannonball Adderley, in the introduction to the title track of his 1969 album Country Preacher
, makes a specific mention of Branch in recognition of his work as leader of the Operation Breadbasket Orchestra and Choir.
While musical director of the Breadbasket Orchestra and Operation/PUSH, he arranged for gospel singer Deleon Richards
to perform at the Chicago Stadium (later the United Center).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
entrepreneur, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
tenor saxophonist
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, and bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
.
Although possibly better known as being one of the last people Martin Luther King Jr spoke to moments before his assassination in 1968, Branch had been a leading bandleader for many years.
Musical career
With his brother, Thomas, on trumpet, Branch was a member of the horn section on B.B. King's first recordings for Bullet RecordsBullet Records
At least three record labels with the name Bullet Records have existed.The earliest one was a record label based in Nashville, USA, which was started in 1945 by Jim Bulliet and C.V. Hitchcock. Bulleit was an early partner in Sun Records...
in 1949. "My very first recordings were for a company out of Nashville called Bullet, the Bullet Record Transcription company," King recalls. "I had horns that very first session. I had Phineas Newborn
Phineas Newborn
Phineas Newborn, Jr. was an American jazz pianist, whose principal influences were Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson and Bud Powell. Newborn came from a musical family with his father, Phineas Newborn, Sr., being a blues musician and his younger brother, Calvin, a jazz guitarist...
on piano; his father played drums, and his brother, Calvin
Calvin Newborn
Calvin Newborn is an American jazz guitarist.-Career:He is the brother of pianist Phineas Newborn Jr. , with whom he recorded between 1953 and 1958. They also formed an R&B band, with their father Phineas Newborn Sr. on drums and Tuff Green on bass...
, played guitar with me. I had Tuff Green on bass, Ben Branch on tenor sax, his brother, Thomas Branch, on trumpet, and a lady trombone player."
Branch recorded with King again on an early 1952 Memphis recording with the B.B. King Orchestra with, among others, Hank Crawford
Hank Crawford
Bennie Ross "Hank" Crawford, Jr. was an American R&B, hard bop, jazz-funk, soul jazz alto saxophonist, arranger and songwriter...
and Ike Turner
Ike Turner
Isaac Wister Turner was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. In a career that lasted more than half a century, his repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk...
.
For much of the 1950s, Branch was the bandleader for the houseband, The Largos, at Curry's Club in North Memphis, which occasioned a young Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
his first professional gigs.
Future M.G.
Booker T. & the M.G.'s
Booker T. & the M.G.'s is an instrumental R&B band that was influential in shaping the sound of southern soul and Memphis soul. Original members of the group were Booker T. Jones , Steve Cropper , Lewie Steinberg , and Al Jackson, Jr....
bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn was the first white member of Branch's big band in the early 1960s.
In 1982 Branch founded the American Music Hall of Fame, a private music school in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
A few months before his death Branch appeared with his band at the 1987 Chicago Blues Festival
Chicago Blues Festival
The Chicago Blues Festival is an annual event held in June that features three days of performances by top-tier blues musicians, both old favorites and the up-and-coming. It is hosted by the City of Chicago Mayor's Office of Special Events, and always occurs in early June...
backing Rosco Gordon
Rosco Gordon
Rosco Gordon was an American blues singer and songwriter. He is best known for his 1952 #1 R&B hit single, "Booted", and two #2 singles "No More Doggin'" and "Just a Little Bit" .-Biography:...
.
Branch also recorded with Brother Jack McDuff and Etta James
Etta James
Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
, Little Milton
Little Milton
James Milton Campbell, Jr. , better known as Little Milton, was an American electric blues, rhythm and blues, and soul singer and guitarist, best known for his hit records "Grits Ain't Groceries" and "We're Gonna Make It."-Biography:Milton was born James Milton Campbell, Jr., in the Mississippi...
and Phil Upchurch
Phil Upchurch
Phil Upchurch is an American jazz and R&B guitarist and bassist.Upchurch started his career working with The Kool Gents, The Dells, and The Spaniels before going on to work with Curtis Mayfield, Otis Rush and Jimmy Reed. He then returned to Chicago to play and record with Woody Herman, Stan Getz,...
.
Branch held a degree in music from Memphis State University.
Business career
Branch was president of Doctor Products Inc., founded in 1983, in Chicago, Illinois, the nation's only blackBlack people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
-owned soft-drink manufacturing company. The company eventually signed a $355 million agreement with Kemmerer Bottling Group, bottler of several well-known soft drinks, including 7Up, to distribute the Doctor Products beverages.
Operation Breadbasket
As musical director for the SCLC'sSouthern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...
Operation Breadbasket
Operation Breadbasket
Operation Breadbasket was an organization dedicated to improving the economic conditions of black communities across the United States of America....
he led the Breadbasket Orchestra and Choir that performed benefits for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Operation/PUSH. Just moments before being assassinated, Dr. King had just asked Branch to play a Negro spiritual, "Precious Lord, Take My Hand
Take My Hand, Precious Lord
"Take My Hand, Precious Lord" is a gospel song, lyrics by Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey , melody by George Nelson Allen .-History:...
," at a rally that was to have been held two hours later.
Cannonball Adderley, in the introduction to the title track of his 1969 album Country Preacher
Country Preacher
Country Preacher is a live album recorded by the Cannonball Adderley Quintet in 1969.Recorded at an unidentified church meeting of the Chicago chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Operation Breadbasket, the album spent two months in the Cash Box R&B charts in 1970.Described by...
, makes a specific mention of Branch in recognition of his work as leader of the Operation Breadbasket Orchestra and Choir.
While musical director of the Breadbasket Orchestra and Operation/PUSH, he arranged for gospel singer Deleon Richards
Deleon Richards
Deleon Richards is an American gospel singer. She is the wife of baseball player Gary Sheffield. DeLeon Richards was a child star in the gospel music industry...
to perform at the Chicago Stadium (later the United Center).
Discography
- 1964: "Beach Bash"/"Bush Bash" - The Mar-KeysThe Mar-KeysThe Mar-Keys, formed in 1958, were an American studio session band for the Stax label from Memphis, Tennessee, in the 1960s. As the first house band for the label, their backing music formed the foundation for the early 1960s Stax sound.-Career:...
- Wayne Jackson (tp) Ben Branch (ts) Floyd Newman (bars) Booker T. JonesBooker T. JonesBooker T. Jones is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. and the MGs. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, earning him a Grammy Award for lifetime...
(org) Steve CropperSteve CropperSteve Cropper , also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T...
(g) Donald "Duck" Dunn (el-b) Al JacksonAl JacksonAl Jackson, Jr. was a drummer, producer, and songwriter. He is best known as a founding member of Booker T. & the M.G.s, a group of session musicians who worked for Stax Records and produced their own instrumentals...
(d) (Stax 45-156) - 1968: The Last Request - Operation Breadbasket Orchesta and choir (Chess)
- 1969: Gin and Orange – Brother Jack McDuff