Just me! For more info please call Ben Blakemore at 562.921.2898 or on my cell 714.746.6682. Email bnblakemore@aol.com
Influences
Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, Peter Gabriel, SRV, Little Richard, The Who, Yes, King Crimson, ELP, Gentle Giant, Elvis, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, ZZ Top, Grand Funk Railroad, Led Zepplin, Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight...and too many more to mention! Great music of many genres...
Sounds Like
I’v been told I sound a little like Robert Cray...I’ll take it. And maybe a little McCartney-Lennon mixed in with some Stevie Ray for the "twang". Listen to the music, then you decide!
Originally from the great state of Oklahoma, Ben Blakemore was the bassist/vocalist for the southern rock group appropriately called "Oklahoma" (Capitol Records, 1977) and was the principle writer on their album entitled Oklahoma (produced by Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and the Raiders and Terry Melcher, producer for the Byrds and the Beachboys). In the early 80's Ben was the founding member of the theatrical rock group Splitters. With Splitters, Ben's song My Ford was featured on Playboy Video's Girls of Rock and Roll. An edited version of that video was seen on MTV. In 1984, as a member of Splitters, Ben was very proud to have performed for the athletes in the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Splitters also performed at the 100th Anniversary of Coca-Cola in Atlanta and the Sheraton/ITT Convention in Honolulu. Ben feels very priviledged to have performed and worked with some of the biggest names in Rock 'n' Roll history...
Mark Lindsay (Paul Revere and the Raiders), Willie Dixon, Tim Bogert (Vanilla Fudge), Mike Finnegan (Finnegan and Wood), Charles Conner (Little Richard's original drummer), Iron Butterfly, Ted Nugent, and many more.
Currently Ben performs with great cover bands in the LA area such as Hot Tin Roof, Electric Rainman, and Mad Man Billy. He is also working on a new project (featuring original music as well as great arrangements of cover songs) with red-hot guitarist Pete Castle called Blue Frontier. The songs on this site were recorded and produced by Blue Frontier. (Gotta Make a Livin' and What Kinda Love were both written by Ben Blakemore. Angel Dance was written by Ben Blakemore and Pete Castle.)
Ben sings lead on great songs such as...
AIN'T NO SUNSHINE, ALL DAY AND ALL OF THE NIGHT, ALL MY LOVIN', ALL SHOOK UP, BACK IN THE USSR, BLACK MAGIC WOMAN, BORN TO BE WILD, BROWN EYED GIRL, CALIFORNIA DREAMIN', CAN'T BUY ME LOVE, CHAIN OF FOOLS, CISCO KID, CROSSROADS, DON'T LET ME BE MISUNDERSTOOD, EVIL WAYS, GLAD ALL OVER, GREAT BALLS OF FIRE, HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE, HEARTBREAK HOTEL, HEY JOE, HOLD ON I'M COMIN', I HEAR YOU KNOCKIN', IN A GADDA DA VIDA, KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF, KILLIN' FLOOR, KNOCK ON WOOD, LADY MADONNA, LITTLE WING, LOUIE LOUIE, LOVE ME TWO TIMES, LOW RIDER, MAGIC CARPET RIDE, MY GIRL, PAINT IT BLACK, PAPA WAS A ROLLIN' STONE, PRETTY WOMAN, PRIDE AND JOY, RESPECT, RUNAWAY, SATISFACTION, SLOW DOWN, SOME KINDA WONDERFUL, STAND BY ME, STONE FREE, SUSIE Q, THE HOUSE IS ROCKIN', THE LETTER, THE SKY IS CRYIN', THE THRILL IS GONE, TUSH, TUITTI FRUITTI, UNCHAIN MY HEART, USE ME UP, WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN' GOIN' ON, WILD THING, WOOLY BULLY, YOU REALLY GOT ME...
Currently Ben is putting together songs for "unplugged" all acoustic performances. You can hear a sample of Ben's work by clicking on the song titled Acoustic Collage in the music window. Look for Ben Blakemore performing at cafes and coffee houses very soon...
