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Hi and welcome to my website!
I am Ben Sims and I sing in several bands. On my website you
can see what music I perform and where and when I'm performing.
Enjoy!
Philosophy: To bring music that all people can enjoy, no matter
what they enjoy. Motto: Music is the lifes blood for peace and
love. "Let it flow". |
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Name: Benjamin Sims
Born: March 25, 1944 (age 65)
Where: Hartselle, Alabama, US
Height: 5 feet, 8 inches
Weight: 175 lbs
Eyes: brown
Hair: black
Hobbies: fittness, bridge, cycling |
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I have been in music my whole
life. My mother was a piano teacher, a famous contralto gospelsinger
and the choir director for our Methodist church. My father sang
baritone in church choirs. I had two sisters (one has passed
away) and one brother and we all had musical training in schools
and at home. My younger sister went deaf at the age of three
but she can still feel beats and dance and sing to the music.
My brother has a classical music degree at the University of
Illinois. My older sister passed away in 2000. She was a poet
and had written a book The boy under the apple tree. She was
also a singer and my longtime harmony partner.
I started singing in churches at the age of six (in 1950). I
had a little singing group of five called "The 105's",
because we lived on 105th Street in Cleveland, Ohio. Often we
had competitions against groups from Detroit. Some of these
groups became pretty famous, like The Supremes, The Temptations,
Smokey Robinson and Sam Cooke.
I started a professional singing career in 1964 in San Francisco,
California when I was in a five-man group called "The Persidioes".
We did shows at the famous Fillmore West and in the audience
would be famous musicians like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Tower
of Power and Richie Havens. We had a backup band called Sly
and the Family Stone who were just starting out. Sly was just
a disc jockey at that time.
In 1967, I joined the Air Force and went to Vietnam. There I
joined the "Tops In Blue" (TIB) and performed around
the world. TIB were the very best musicians in the US Air Force
and it was my job to entertain the troops as the lead vocalist
in a group of seven singers.
In 1975, I left the military and moved to Germany and formed
a group called "Pain, Passion & Surrender. We were
a 16 piece band: a male singer (me, Pain), two female singers
(Passion) and the band (Surrender). Four horns, two guitars,
a piano, bass, drums, percussion, sound engineer and two roadies.
We performed all kinds of music, such as blues, soul, funk,
pop and jazz.
The blues has always been in my system and is a part of my soul.
Some of my blues influences are Bobby 'Blue' Bland, Al Green,
Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, B.B. King and Johnny Taylor. In the
past three years, I have developed an appreciation for others
types of blues, like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Gary
Moore and Joe Bonamassa.
In 1984, I retired from the music business to concentrate on
raising my four children and continuing my formal education.
Right now I am active in various bands. My bluesband Blue Friday
presents a mixture of the blues influences I mentioned. Rockgroup
Gimmick, which I sang in, really challenged my creativity. And
the funkcombo I started, called Mellow Chaos, allows me to sing
the music in "real time grooves". I also perform solo
on weddings and parties.
But my main inspiration is you, the audience, the generator
of my engine. I really hope to perform for you one day. I promise
to bring the best music I can to and for you.
Sincerly,
Benjamin J. Sims |
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