Benny Valerio & Texas Thunder - Surrounded By The Blues (1997) [CD Rip]

Personnel:
Guitar – Benny Valerio, Derek O' Brien
Vocals – Benny Valerio
Harmonica – Little Stevie Schneider
Bass – Danny Valerio
Drums – Steve Severson
Keyboards – Riley Osbourn

Benny started playing guitar at the age of 14 with money he had earned from his newspaper route. From the beginning all of his style was learned on his own or from records. He has never taken any guitar lessons. Another fact of interest about Benny is that he is a southpaw player like his biggest influence, Jimi Hendrix.

Within a few years he and brother Danny were hosting jams at clubs around Houston which included such future stars as Johnny & Edgar Winter and Billy Preston. These are times Benny & Danny talk about alot as very influential in their styles and tastes in music.

After a tour of Vietnam with the Marines in the late '60s where he found himself at the seige at Khe Sanh Benny returned to Houston in 1969 to concentrate on good ol' Texas Blues being very glad to be alive when alot of the guys he had known in Vietnam did not make it back at all.

Benny played with several different bands during the 70s, including Houston Natural Gas, Mandrake and Rattlesnake with Johnny Winter. Benny got lucky and came to the attention of Freddie King and was honored to be able to play in Freddie's band for a while in 1972. In the Freddie King Band Benny was able to play the true Texas Blues he enjoyed the most every night.

Thru it all Benny's first love is Texas Blues which you will find plenty of on Surrounded by the Blues along with some tasty blues rock. With the help of Kaz Kazanoff on sax, Riley Osbourn on keyboards and Derek O'Brien on guitar Benny has made a very diverse blues album with Surrounded by the Blues.

Benny lost his battle with liver cancer and passed away January 11, 2006. His take no prisoners style will be missed by his many fans, a truly gifted guitar player.