18 Facts About Benny Bell

Benny Bell was born on Benjamin Samberg or Benjamin Zamberg, March 21,1906 – July 6,1999 and was an American singer-songwriter who reached popularity in the 1940s, with a comeback in the 1970s.

Benny Bell is particularly remembered for his risque but cheerfully optimistic songs.

Benny Bell was born to an immigrant Jewish family in New York City.

Benny Bell's father wanted him to be a rabbi, but after trying various odd jobs including self-employed street peddler, he decided to pursue a career in vaudeville and music, sometimes under the names Benny Bimbo and Paul Wynn.

Benny Bell's first record, "The Alimony Blues", for Plaza Records on December 16,1929 was a comical song about preferring to spend time in jail rather than pay alimony.

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Benny Bell went on to write approximately 600 songs, most of which are documented in his many notebooks, ledgers and copyright papers.

Benny Bell enjoyed writing risque lyrics, and in 1939 he was advised that he could make so-called party records with "blue" lyrics, primarily for use in juke boxes in cocktail bars.

Benny Bell entered into this endeavour using his self-established record company, while continuing to make ethnic and mainstream comedy records.

Benny Bell's first juke box release was a hot jazz arrangement of a traditional risque drinking song, "Sweet Violets", but his first big success in this field was an original song, "Take a Ship for Yourself".

Benny Bell continued recording and releasing records into the 1980s, but he remained little-known beyond New York City until the 1970s when "Shaving Cream" was played regularly on the Dr Demento radio program, leading to its re-issue as a single in 1975 on the Vanguard Records label, along with a similarly titled album.

Around this time, Benny Bell was still writing new songs about current topics such as disco music and the Watergate scandal.

Benny Bell continued self-releasing vinyl albums into the 1980s, and they often resemble 1950s releases, featuring somewhat plain covers with the same graphics re-used for decades, or with no art except a plain cover with hole to view the label.

Benny Bell continued to issue 10-inch albums long after that format was considered obsolete.

Some albums have new spoken jokes edited into breaks in older songs as "asides", a technique Benny Bell had been using since the 1950s, and some songs contain comic interruptions made over several decades.

Book called Grandpa Had a Long One: Personal Notes on the Life, Career and Legacy of Benny Bell, which is a combination biography and memoir written by his grandson, Joel Samberg, was published by BearManor Media and released in 2009.

Joel Samberg, who collaborated with his grandfather on a few recordings and videos in the 1970s and 1980s, recorded several new versions of "Shaving Cream" after Benny Bell's death, using his grandfather's music with updated lyrics.

In 1995, Benny Bell suffered a fall and was admitted to Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, New York.

Benny Bell entertained Schuepfer by singing several of the songs and he recounted many anecdotes about the New York music scene of the 1940s, including meetings with Irving Berlin.