Benny Meroff Benny Meroff Benny Meroff (1899-1973) was an American dance bandleader active in the swing jazz era. He also played violin, clarinet, and saxophone. Meroff started his career in vaudeville, and put together his own ensemble in the middle of the 1920s. His sidemen included Wild Bill Davison, Al King, Vernon Brown, Frank Teschemacher, and Santo Pecora. He was principally active in Chicago in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and also played in New York into the 1940s. Meroff was noted for his showmanship as a bandleader; big band historian Leo Walker described Meroff as "a capable emcee, equally at
Benny Sims military, Benny played with The Morris Brothers, Wiley and Zeke, through which he met Earl Scruggs, a previous band mate of the brothers. Scruggs had recently formed a band with Lester Flatt, and when they found themselves in need of a fiddler in 1949, they invited Sims to join the group. After joining Flatt and Scruggs, Sims played on over 25 recordings in 1949 and 1950, including "Little Girl in Tennessee", "It's Too Late Now", "Salty Dog Blues", "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", "Pike County Breakdown" and "Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms." Sims sung lead vocals on "Old Salty Dog Blues,"