Rockabilly REbels
An Archival Interview with Bandleader Joe Bennett By Michael Buffalo Smith
The following feature interview dates back 23 years the fall of 1995 when I sat down with Joe Bennett in between guitar lessons at Smith Music Store in Spartanburg, SC to learn all about the first band to put Spartanburg on the map, the Sparkeltones. Although Joe is no longer with us, his band mates continue to play shows here and there even today. Their legacy cannot be denied.
The Sparkletones
Francis, Chuck Berry, Sam Cooke, Pat Boone and countless others. The Sparkletones appeared twice on The Ed Sullivan Show and three times on American Bandstand, and held the country spellbound with a new type of music that fused hillbilly country, rhythm and blues and rock and roll, called “rockabilly.” One of The Sparkletones’ most memorable shows found the boys rocking out in front of a very special guest. “We loved Elvis Presley,” says Joe Ben-
Joe Bennett and his band, The Sparkle-
tones, cracked the Top Ten back in 1957 with an original song called “Black Slacks.” The boys from Spartanburg, South Carolina, lead by seventeen year old Joe, the oldest band member, found themselves performing with people like Connie
nett, relaxing in his studio, just before starting on a mile-long line of students. “We all loved Elvis. We had just gotten a record in the top ten and we were hot. Our manager knew that Elvis was ap- pearing across town, and he went and talked to Tom Parker, and told him, ‘Hey, I’ve got some kids from Spartanburg, South Carolina who are playing in town. I’m going to get you a table and reserve it. Do you think Elvis would come?’ And he said ‘Sure, I’ll get him there.’ We didn’t know anything about it. So the curtain opens and the bright lights are hitting us in the eyes, and we’re hearing all this commotion from down in front. People squealing and such. And we were dancing and rocking and rolling. Then the lights come down and there he is, sitting right there at the front of the stage, Elvis. We went to pieces. I couldn’t even remember how to make a G-sev- enth chord. My knees were knockin’ home sweet home. And he’s sittin’ out there laughing and en- joying himself, with about five or ten body guards around him. He stayed for the whole show, and then after it was over he came back to the dress- ing room. The first thing he did was to grab one of our costumes. We had those custom-made cos- tumes with the sparkles and the stand-up collars. And in later years, Elvis wore similar costumes on stage.”
The boys had been discovered by talent
scout Bobby Cox, who was so impressed by the band that he quit his job at CBS Records to be-
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