Benmont Tench
Benmont Tench
Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench IIIis an American keyboardist best known as a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPianist
Date of Birth7 September 1953
CountryUnited States of America
damn good life playing spent tom
I've spent most of my life playing with Tom Petty, and he's a damn good songwriter.
calls good heard hired played playing secret somebody whoever
Whoever hired me might've just heard 'Refugee.' Well, I'm not the secret to 'Refugee.' The secret to 'Refugee' is the song. But if somebody really good calls me up to play on something because they like the way I played on 'Refugee,' then I wind up playing on another really good song.
couple play special
I got to play on a couple of records with the Rolling Stones, and that was really special to me.
thinking play trying
Jeff Lynne is an arranger, and I think it's probably much easier for him to go ahead and play a part himself than to try to show somebody else what he wants. But it's hard for me to say; I barely know Jeff.
overly player
I'm not an overly skilled piano player or organ player at all, but I think I'm the right piano and organ player for the Heartbreakers. And I've been the right piano and organ player for a lot of sessions that I've been called on.
great mike producers recognized shared songs tom
We've had producers who've all shared at least one thing. They've all recognized that Tom and Mike write great songs and that's what it's about.
liked people
The idea that I could write songs that people wanted to hear came from other people who said they liked what I did.
kid since songs written
I've always written songs since I was a kid - always.
best
I'm not the best singer, but I like the way I sing my songs.
faith gotta shows songs
I was just writing songs because, if a song shows up, you've gotta write it. I didn't know what to do with them. I didn't have any faith in my voice.
dad neglected
I quit college and neglected to tell my dad.
kept record sake songs tom wrote
In Mudcrutch we all wrote songs, and when it got to the focus on Tom and the Heartbreakers, I kept writing songs, but it wasn't anything that was up the Heartbreakers tree, I didn't think - and I don't think they did, either. So I kept writing songs for the hell of it, but I didn't want to make a record just for the sake of making a record.
came enjoyed experience gary learned nicholson people songs wrote
I learned that the songs that mean the most to me are the songs that I write by myself. While there were people I wrote really well with, particularly Gary Nicholson and Delbert McClinton, and I really enjoyed the experience, I came away from it feeling like I need to write by myself.
Besides, I'm fairly incompetent. I can't play that fast.