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a.k.a. Benny Grunch & the Bunch ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ IN MY OPINION ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ A Real New Orleans Liar & Thief! Would his mother be proud? I don't think so!
As I remember it, this story is pretty cut and dry, but here's a little history to give you and idea of the origins of our association.
In '86, I put a houseband together to play at a local Metairie nightclub five nites a week and hired Benny as bass player, singer and music co-ordinater. I left that gig about mid '87 to play in Jamaica and later that year Benny left the gig also We began to work as a duo off and on and by mid '88 we had a trio together and worked mostly weekends as "Benny Grunch and the Bunch". I thought that name had a "fun" sound to it but I never realized it would go to Benny's head the way it seemed to.In '88 Benny started talking about doing an album/CD and set up to go into the studio to work on it. (*a sidenote here: you don't "work" on your music "in" the studio, you "record" your music there because you've "worked" on it already... unless you have money to waste). Anyway, several of us musicians cut tracks off and on for over a year and a half. On many occasions I was there to also assist, for instance; pointing out bass tracks that were recorded out of tune or to explain to Benny why you 'gate' the reverb in time relative to the tempo to tighten it up.
To make this long story just a little longer... "Rizzum & Blues" came out in early '92. Benny even got national airplay on a couple of songs on a TV show... very profitable for him ($8K+ Benny?) and sold countless numbers of CD (I say countless because Benny won't let anyone know the numbers). After all these years Benny has never paid me (or any of the other musicians that I know of) a single dime! When we've spoken on many occasions over the years he always says it wasn't profitable or he has a daughter to raise... Angel was way past legal age when the CD came out and I never knew I was suppossed to be legally responsible for HIS daughter!
Why won't he show anyone the "books"? When I offered to set up a webpage and sell the product so I could get paid, he flatly refussed! AND... if it wasn't profitable... HOW could he afford to release the What's wrong with this picture?? I'll tell you! Based on my personal experiences, the facts as know them and in my opinion...
is a LIAR & A THIEF !! If you see him, please feel free to tell him I said so! Please don't buy this persons products or support his efforts... he's ripping you off too!
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When asked, Benny would often 'talk' about financial compensation for our efforts when the CD was finished, he'd keep records so everyone could see how well it was doing. In the meantime, as the project progressed he would slowly dis-associate himself from the musicians (and there were many). Joe T. Tillinghast the guitar players, who he nolonger had the 'house gig' with, Tom Fouquet another guitar player, Gerry R. the drummer who he fired from our trio group early in '89. and the Foster Sisters who sang back up parts... there were several others. I was fired January 1st, 1990 but by then, he had most of the tracks recorded and was mixing... you don't need the musicians "after" the tracks are cut.