Anthony "Duster" Bennett (23 September 1946 – 26 March 1976) was a British blues singer and musician.[1] Based in London, his first album Smiling Like I'm Happy saw him playing as a one-man band, playing a bass drum with his foot and blowing a harmonica on a rack while strumming a 1952 Les Paul Goldtop guitar given to him in 1968 by Peter Green.[2] Backed by his girlfriend Stella Sutton and the original Fleetwood Mac on three tracks, the album was well received. He remained popular on the local blues club scene until his death in a car crash in 1976.
Bennett's music was country blues with the occasional gospel music offering, but his last albumFingertips (1975) differs from the earlier records; it was made with influences of soul, R&B and funk. Bennett recorded three albums and a string of singles for Blue Horizon. Bright Lights was recorded live at the Gin Mill Club in Godalming, Surrey. Bennett's "Jumping at Shadows" was subsequently covered by Fleetwood Mac and revived in 1992 by Gary Moore, who covered it in his After Hours album. Attempts to gain wider appeal with Mickie Most were unsuccessful.[1] For decades, a clutch of live and home recordings on Indigo seemed to be all that remained of his work until the 2006 release of the Complete Blue Horizon Sessions.
Death
After performing with Memphis Slim on 26 March 1976, in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Bennett was driving home in a Ford Transit van in Warwickshire when he apparently fell asleep at the wheel. The van collided with a truck and Bennett was killed.[3]
1975: Levi's Blues (Toadstool Records) – Live album with Hound Dog Taylor and The Houserockers, Alexis Korner and Duster Bennett, recorded (engineer Ian McKenzie) at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds, Ascot Vale, Victoria, Australia. Contains the track by Duster Bennett, "Bright Lights, Big City" (6:10)[4]
Dick Heckstall-Smith (2004), The Safest Place in the World: A Personal History of British Rhythm and Blues, Clear Books, ISBN0-7043-2696-5 – First Edition: Blowing The Blues – Fifty Years Playing The British Blues.
