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231:, and so forth and started to satisfy the people. If I had to hazard a guess, his audience included about seventy percent of the Black population. I don't know how fast his recognition came, as far as sponsors, but as soon as the word got around that there was a guy on radio playing those records, and the word was passed along in the Black community, Benson was made.
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have ever known". His power to influence the record-buying public gave him great influence over the local recording industry. It was said that he "revolutionized
Chicago's Black radio programming," and that "..he was the main reason why so many independent black record companies featuring rhythm and blues and even gospel artists grew."
326:, in 1978 at the age of 70. At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife, Norma Jean, who later succumbed to brain cancer. He had two surviving children, Arleta Leaner (Parker) who took after her father and worked in radio and television and his youngest daughter, Bertina Leaner (Clark). In 2017, he was nominated for the
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Radio was a field that was very difficult for Black people to get into in the 1940s.... When I got into radio it was my very ambition and intention to let people know who I was. However I did not identify myself by being degrading, being uncouth or using bad
English. But I used certain terms that we
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Al Benson, he started broadcasting a regular weekly one-hour secular show on WGES, in a different slot in which – unlike in the religious program – he was allowed to advertise products. He referred to himself on air as "the Old
Swingmaster". Within two years, his output had increased to twenty hours
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By 1950, he was broadcasting ten hours each day on three stations: WGES, WJJD, and WAAF. He became popular among both local and national advertisers for his ability to sell the products that they were marketing, former WGES executive
Elizabeth Hinzman describing him as "the greatest salesman that I
698:, p. 52 : Another early Benson group was the Pelicans. The group was led by Roger Heard and came from Detroit. The Pelicans' two sides, released on Parrot in late 1953, were "Aurelia" and "White Cliffs of Dover." "Aurelia" was a deep-sounding ...
187:", which he won for several consecutive years, a testament to his huge popularity among African-Americans in the city. This is attributed to the fact that he spoke in colloquial terms with a strong Southern accent, like many of those who had
319:. In later life he encountered problems and became ill with poor blood circulation, causing amputation of his legs, thus limiting his ability to work and pay taxes, resulting in the IRS taking his home. He later became ill with lung cancer.
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Black folks are accustomed to using. Slang usage—and that alone picked up my identity. My approach to the people was down to earth. I did not talk down to them. I was on their level. I made them feel that "he is one of us."
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and R&B concerts in
Chicago. He encouraged younger black DJs to follow in his path. He also became the owner of a newspaper, record shop, restaurant, and boutique, which all hired mostly African-American staff.
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played the music that they were accustomed to hearing and that music could not be found anywhere else on the radio. Nobody was playing the blues. The blues that was played might be
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Bands produced by Benson included The
Parrots, the first group he produced; The Pelicans with "Aurelia" and "White Cliffs of Dover" (1953); and many others.
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Although changing tastes and Benson's "flamboyant and self-willed" character eventually undermined his popularity, he remained actively involved in the
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of nightclubs that had refused to serve black customers, and on one occasion in 1956 hiring an airplane to drop 5,000 copies of the
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records that had previously been ignored by broadcasters because of their "suggestive" lyrics and "lowlife" connotations.
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and others. At the height of his popularity in the 1950s he had regular television shows, and sponsored many
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Leaner was also an ordained minister and activist, and became an important figure in the
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between the 1940s and 1960s. He was particularly significant for his promotion of
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Although there had been earlier black personalities on radio in
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shows before moving with his parents in 1923 to
Chicago. There, he founded a
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Radio DJ, music promoter, preacher, businessman, civil rights activist
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Charles Walton, "Al Benson—the
Godfather of Black Radio in Chicago"
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and black involvement in the recording industry in
Chicago.
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Biography by Robert Pruter, in Edward Komara (ed.),
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American businessman and radio promoter (1908–1978)
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586:"Black Waves – A Tribute to DJ Al Benson"
239:In the early 1950s he also helped set up
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19:For the American basketball player, see
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223:or Jazz. Al Benson came on and played
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595:. Oocities.org, Retrieved 18 May 2014
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471:Legendaries of Radio: Al Benson
144:band as a child, and worked in
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293:civil rights movement
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174:In 1945, using the
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566:Clovis E. Semmes,
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502:2018-07-03 at the
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140:with his father's
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305:Mississippi
297:integration
265:Albert King
257:J.B. Lenoir
185:Bronzeville
154:Congressman
138:tap dancing
709:Categories
696:0252065069
451:References
146:vaudeville
46:1908-06-30
662:Blues.org
445:Jive talk
405:DJ Nat D.
281:Magic Sam
249:Blue Lake
176:pseudonym
171:in 1943.
128:Biography
105:owner in
95:Al Benson
30:Al Benson
672:March 4,
666:Archived
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508:AllMusic
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342:See also
189:migrated
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245:Parrot
334:Bands
303:over
193:blues
692:ISBN
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142:jazz
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