Benny Goodman was entitled to spend two weeks at a summer camp near Chicago. It was the only time he could get away from his bleak neighborhood. He also received two years of instruction from classically trained clarinetist Franz Schoepp. When he was 17, his father was killed by a passing car after stepping off a streetcar. His father's death was "the saddest thing that ever happened in our family", Goodman said. He attended Lewis Institute (Illinois Institute of Technology) in 1924 as a high-school sophomore and played clarinet in a dance hall band. His early influences were New Orleans jazz clarinetists
Benny Barnes (singer) Bear Family Records issued a compilation titled "Benny Barnes: The Complete 1950s Recordings" in 2007. Benny Barnes (singer) Benjamin Milam "Benny" Barnes, Jr. (January 1, 1934 – August 8, 1985) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known for his 1956 hit "Poor Man's Riches". Barnes was born January 1, 1934 in Beaumont, Texas. He first played ukulele, and then guitar, in his childhood, and entered various talent shows in Beaumont in his teens. He then befriended George Jones, who also mentored him and had him play rhythm guitar in his road band. At a