Ben Tucker

Ben Tucker
Birth nameBenjamin M. Tucker
Born(1930-12-13)December 13, 1930
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedJune 4, 2013(2013-06-04) (aged 82)
Hutchinson Island, Georgia, U.S.
GenresJazz
Occupations
  • Musician
  • businessman
  • composer
Instruments
  • Bass
  • tuba

Benjamin M. Tucker (December 13, 1930 – June 4, 2013)[1] was an American jazz bassist who appeared on hundreds of recordings. Tucker played on albums by Art Pepper, Billy Taylor, Quincy Jones, Grant Green, Dexter Gordon, Hank Crawford, Junior Mance, and Herbie Mann.[2]

He was born in Tennessee.[1] As bass player in the Dave Bailey Quintet in 1961, he wrote the instrumental version of the song "Comin' Home Baby!", first issued on the album Two Feet in the Gutter.[3] Bob Dorough later wrote a lyric to the song, and the vocal version became a Top 40 hit for jazz singer Mel Tormé in 1962.

Tucker released the album Baby, You Should Know It (Ava, 1963) with Victor Feldman, Larry Bunker, Bobby Thomas, Ray Crawford, Tommy Tedesco, and Carlos "Patato" Valdes.

By 1972, Tucker owned two radio stations, WSOK-AM, which had over 400,000 listeners, and WLVH-FM. Both of these were located in his hometown of Savannah, Georgia. During the 1990s he owned a jazz bar in Savannah called Hard Hearted Hannah's.

He died in a traffic collision in Hutchinson Island, Georgia,[1] on June 4, 2013.[4][5]

  1. ^ a b c Doc Rock. "The Dead Rock Stars Club 2013 January to June". Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  2. ^ "Ben Tucker - Credits". AllMusic. December 13, 1931. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  3. ^ "The Dave Bailey Quintet - 2 Feet In The Gutter". JAZZDISCO.org. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  4. ^ "The Marietta Daily Journal - Georgia jazz musician killed in car crash". Mdjonline.com. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  5. ^ "Chicago - Chicago : News : Politics : Things To Do : Sports". Chicago Sun-Times.