Ray Benson, who grew up in a Reform Jewish family in Wyndmoor, said in an interview, “I always felt myself to be an ambassador. I’m not a great practicing Jew on a daily basis, but I’m Jewish, and so I try to bring to others that we’re just people.”[/caption]

by Len Lear

Ray Benson, 68, who was born Ray Benson Seifert in Wyndmoor, is almost unique. The towering (6-foot-7) musician is, according to Wikipedia, one of only two Jewish country music stars in the U.S. (The other one is Richard “Kinky” Friedman, 75, whose band is called The Texas Jewboys.)

Benson, who is currently on a national tour until next May 2, has previously played at World Café Live in University City and at the Conkey Center for the Performing Arts on Valley Green near Springside Chestnut Hill Academy at a benefit for the Friends of the Wissahickon’s Valley Green Restoration Project.

Benson went to both Springfield High School and Penn Charter and co-founded the band Asleep at the Wheel with Springfield resident Ruben “Lucky” Oceans in 1970. Both are Jewish. Since the formation of the band, which specializes in southwestern swing, they have recorded more than 30 albums and won nine Grammy awards.

"I spent a lot of time in the Wissahickon as a kid," explained Benson in an earlier interview with this reporter. "My friends and I would pretend we were Davy Crockett. I'd hunt snakes and toads, and we rode horses a lot. It's just a shame that the park has gone downward since then."

Several years ago, when Asleep at the Wheel appeared at the SCH campus, the event was a sellout. Unhappily, dozens of late ticket buyers were turned away at the door because the auditorium's capacity was reached at 400 people. However, the event was also a huge success for Friends of the Wissahickon and contributed more than $17,000 for trail maintenance and work around the Valley Green Inn.

Asleep at the Wheel, which has had more than 100 different members down through the years but has always had Benson at the helm, had its origin in Wyndmoor, where Benson grew up. The band's co-founder, Lucky Oceans, was the son of Under the Blue Moon restaurant owners Gene and Phyllis Gosfield. Benson played varsity basketball at Penn Charter High School, but "they threw me off the team in my senior year because I wouldn't cut my hair. Then they threw me out of school later that year. I was a rebel."

Benson, who is also an actor and voice actor and producer of albums for other country music stars, is also a founding member of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, which raises money to help aging R&B artists. Benson has been presented numerous awards throughout his career such as “Outstanding Producer” by the National Academy of Recording Arts in 1988. Benson, who always wanted to be a musician, began playing professionally at the age of 11 when he played folk music at the Robin Hood Dell as part of the Youth Concert Series.

"I also played tuba in a marching band, and I was in a square dance band. I listened to every kind of music, but I just felt that country roots' music was my thing. In about 1960 or '61, I first heard the music of Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline and Conway Twitty, and I just loved it.

"I also played bass in my school band in 10th grade, and my musical director introduced us to Count Basie. And I knew jazz because Philadelphia is a great jazz community. And Lucky's parents were sort of like beatniks; his dad gave us some Lester Young records when we were still in high school, but I was a weird kind of guy. I was also into folk music, Chicago blues and country. My goal was to be more different than anybody, and that's what Asleep at the Wheel was all about doing roots music that was different and eclectic."

Benson, who has lived in Austin, Texas, for 46 years (and has picked up a Texas accent), recalls going to the Chestnut Hill Library and Allens Lane Art Center for nature classes. He was a "Stage Door Johnnie" who would hang outside the Electric Factory in hopes of meeting stars like Eric Clapton and Cream. In fact, he swears that "Janis Joplin could not get her car started after a concert, and I actually helped her start it."

Benson, who jokingly calls himself "the only hillbilly to come out of Springfield Township," said his parents discouraged him from pursuing a career in music, but he never hesitated. As to the seemingly contradictory notion of a Chestnut Hill area native playing country music, he replied, "It's what's in your heart that counts. If a guy like Van Cliburn, who was from Texas, could play classical music, I can play country music."

In addition to being the only Chestnut Hill area native who ever became a country music star, Benson is the tallest country music star at 6'7". (Trace Adkins comes closest at 6-foot-6.)

In an interview with a publication called the Jewish Journal, Benson was quoted as saying, “I didn’t want to be known as a Jewish country & western singer; I wanted to be known as a country & western singer who happens to be Jewish. You don’t usually tell your religion or politics on stage. For years, because I’m 6’7” and people don’t think Jews are tall, and because I guess I don’t look like the stereotyped Jew, most people don’t know I’m Jewish.”

The Hill area native, who is on the road doing one-night stands much of the year, said he will keep playing music "as long as I'm alive. Every time that I figured I was going to quit, we'd have an incredible show where the people were so appreciative of this music that it's like, ‘Well, hell, this beats working, so why not keep doing it?'"

For more information, visit AsleepattheWheel.com. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com