Franz Benton

Franz Benton (2018)

Franz Benton (* 1952 in Ratingen ) is a German singer-songwriter .

life and career

In the mid-1970s, Benton first emigrated to the mountains of Andalusia in order to make a living from agriculture. However, this project failed after four years, as a landslide destroyed everything. Benton then returned to music and moved to Los Angeles for three years , where he gave concerts in clubs such as " The Roxy ", "Whiskey" and "Troubadour". He returned to Germany, where - inspired by his time in America - he began work on his first album "Talking to a wall", which was released in 1986. In the same year he accompanied Chris de Burgh on his European tour. As a supporting act he played in front of several thousand listeners every evening, only accompanied by the acoustic guitar. In the following years he accompanied Tina Turner , Joe Cocker and Eric Clapton on their open air tours.

This was followed by the album "Promises", released in 1988, whose single of the same name became a hit in Germany and Spain. He made his debut as a producer with the third album "Carry On", on which - just like on his fourth album "Love is the Ocean" - his predilection for the instrumentation of harp, oboe, cello, and accordion, which is otherwise rather unusual in pop music Mandolin became evident. The 1994 CD "Dust to Gold" was followed by the first live CD "Ungeschminkt", and in 1995 Benton's volume of poetry "Silbermohn" was published with a selection of poems from the last 20 years. In the concert break that followed, he produced the CD "Dancing in the Fire" by singer Anne Haigis . In 1998, after a four-year break, he released his sixth studio album entitled "Fragile" and immediately followed in 1999 by his second live CD "Ungeschminkt 1998".

From 2000 to 2003 he was the "BIG little GIG" duo with the well-known Munich soprano and alto saxophonist Klaus Kreuzeder - with whom he had already performed in previous years. This is followed by a CD (2001) and a series of concerts (2002–2003). After his seventh album "You and I", a CD with a German title ("Laufmasche") was released for the first time in 2002, which, in addition to ballads that were no longer available at the time, contained poems by the German poet Thorsten Schüller as a novelty. In 2003 Benton produced the instrumental CD "Paseando" for his long-time band member, the harpist Kiko Pedrozo .

In 2004 he went on tour solo for the first time. This solo concept, entitled "Strictly Private", was largely directed by the audience. In the same year another live CD was released, "Ungeschminkt III - Live 2003". The tenth album entitled "To the Queen of the Islands" was released in 2005. This album pays homage to his favorite island.

In 2006 a major anniversary tour followed on the occasion of his 20th stage anniversary. Following the tour, Benton announced a concert break. In 2008 he received the "Upper Swabian Culture Oscar", the Ravensburger Kupferle . Two years later he released his eleventh studio album, "Once upon a Time". In the same year Benton went on tour again. The chamber music aspect in his music was in the foreground, which became clear not least through the engagement of the violinist Martina Liesenkötter. In 2011 Benton celebrated its 25th anniversary on stage. In the same year the CD "Bach to Benton" was released. In 2012 he gave his farewell tour "The Final Curtain Tour 2012".