Claude A. Benjamin was a songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

, often teaming with George David Weiss

George David Weiss

George David Weiss was an American songwriter and former President of the Songwriters Guild of America.-Career:...

. He was born on November 4, 1907 in Christiansted on the island of St. Croix (United States Virgin Islands

United States Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...

). At the age of twenty, he moved to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. There, he studied the banjo

Banjo

In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...

 and guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 with Hy Smith. He then performed in vaudeville

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 and with various orchestras, until, in 1941, he started composing songs.

In 1968, he became a music publisher, starting his own company named for himself. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame

Songwriters Hall of Fame

The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The goal is to create a museum but as of April, 2008, the means do not yet exist and so instead it is an online...

 in 1984. He died in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 on May 2, 1989.

With Sol Marcus, Ed Durham and Ed Seiler

• "Cancel the Flowers"
• "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire"
• "Strictly Instrumental
  Strictly Instrumental
  Strictly Instrumental is the title of a recording by American folk music artists Doc Watson, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, released in 1967.-Reception:...
  
  "
• "When the Lights Go On"

With George David Weiss

• "Can Anyone Explain? (No! No! No!)
  Can Anyone Explain? (No! No! No!)
  "Can Anyone Explain? " is a popular song written by Bennie Benjamin and George David Weiss and published in 1950.The biggest hit version of the song was recorded by The Ames Brothers. The recording was made on May 17, 1950, and released by Coral Records as catalog number 60253...
  
  "
• "Confess
  Confess (song)
  Confess is a popular song written by Bennie Benjamin and George David Weiss.The song figures in the early careers of two important female singers:...
  
  "
• "Cross Over the Bridge
  Cross Over the Bridge
  "Cross Over the Bridge" is a popular song written by Bennie Benjamin and George David Weiss and published in 1945.The best-selling version of the song was recorded by Patti Page in 1954...
  
  "
• "Echoes
  Echoes (1950 song)
  "Echoes" is a popular song.It was written by Bennie Benjamin and George David Weiss and published in 1950.It was popularized in 1950 by Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae. The Stafford/MacRae recording, released by Capitol Records as catalog number 782, was backed with "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo " on the flip...
  
  "
• "How Important Can It Be?
  How Important Can It Be?
  "How Important Can It Be?" is a popular song written by Bennie Benjamin and George David Weiss and published in 1955. The lyrics of the song find the narrator asking her lover why her indiscretions with other boyfriends before him matter at all, now that she loves him so and vows to be true to...
  
  "
• "I Don't See Me In Your Eyes Anymore
  I Don't See Me in Your Eyes Anymore
  "I Don't See Me in Your Eyes Anymore" is a popular song, written by Bennie Benjamin and George David Weiss and published in 1949. The song was popularized that year by Gordon Jenkins and the Stardusters and by Perry Como....
  
  "
• "I’ll Never Be Free"
• "I Ran All the Way Home"
• "Jet"
• "Rumors Are Flying
  Rumors Are Flying
  "Rumors Are Flying" is a popular song.It was written by Bennie Benjamin and George David Weiss and published in 1946.It was popularized in 1946 by Frankie Carle and by Les Paul. It was a number-one hit in America for eight weeks from late October that year....
  
  "
• "Surrender"
• "To Think You've Chosen Me"
• "Wheel of Fortune
  Wheel of Fortune (song)
  "Wheel of Fortune" is a popular song written by Bennie Benjamin and George David Weiss and published in 1951. It was originally recorded in 1951 for Atlantic Records by The Cardinals. In one of the earliest examples of a major record label covering an independent black hit, Capitol recreated The...
  
  "

with Sol Marcus

• "Always On My Mind"
• "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
  Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
  "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" is a song written by Bennie Benjamin, Gloria Caldwell and Sol Marcus for the singer/pianist Nina Simone, who first recorded it in 1964. "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" has been recorded or performed by many artists, and is widely known by the 1965 blues rock hit...
  
  "
• "How Can I?"
• "I Am Blessed"
• "Of This I'm Sure"
• "Our Love (Will See Us Through)"
• "Don't Take All Night"

All five above songs were written for and performed by Nina Simone

Nina Simone

Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...

 on Broadway-Blues-Ballads

Broadway-Blues-Ballads

Broadway-Blues-Ballads is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . It was her second album for Philips. In contrast to her first Philips album, the live In Concert, which was politically laden with civil rights motifs, this studio album is more playful...

(1964).

• "I Love Your Lovin' Ways"
• "Why Keep On Breaking My Heart"
• "Fabulous Character"
• "Lonely Man"

External links