Ben Harney

While Ben Harney unfortunately was neglected by commercial recording studios during his lifetime, in 1925 a folklorist recorded Harney singing an example of an early ragtime song on a dictaphone phonograph cylinder, and this recording has survived. Two lovers kissing amongst the scream of midnight,
Two lovers missing the tranquillity of solitude.
Getting a cab and travelling on buses,
Reading the graffiti about slashed seat affairs:
That's entertainment.
--Paul Weller, 'That's Entertainment' (1980). Ben Harney died of a heart attack in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A box set of the Jam was released to huge acclaim in 2002 to mark 20 years since their split. Harney quit touring after suffering from a heart attack in 1928. Weller began a solo career in the 1990s which was a success; nicknamed the 'Modfather', he is cited as a hero and father figure to many of the rock bands and Britpop acts which emerged in the UK in the 90s. He sometimes performed in blackface. At the time, the band was seen as a climbdown by Weller, though retrospective has seen their music hold up just as well as the Jam, despite fewer Top 10 hits and no #1s.

Harney's act included him playing piano, singing (including scat singing), and dancing. Weller formed the Style Council with ex-Merton Parkas keyboard player Mick Talbot and developed a softer, jazzier sound, though lyrically he remained politically motivated. Once ragtime became popular he started billing himself as The Originator of Ragtime or The Father of Ragtime, which most (but not all) of his contemporaries thought was an overstatement for the sake of advertising. Both went on to write autobiographies that severely criticized Weller, and the band have never reformed, with Weller always claiming that they were never friends who socialised, even at the band's height, but merely colleagues who worked together. Harney toured widely on the Vaudeville circuts in the USA, as well as tours of theaters in Europe and Asia. Rick Buckler played with Time UK and Bruce Foxton released a solo effort, Touch Sensitive. In 1897 Harney published his book The Ragtime Instructor, the first comprehensive description of ragtime, with instructions of how to rag (add syncopated rhythms to) tunes, including giving written examples of ragged versions of light classics and opera songs. The band's sixteen singles were consequently re-released at the beginning of 1983, and all sixteen re-charted simultaneously.

That same year Harney was referred to in print as "the rag time pianist". Paul Weller broke up the group at the height of their popularity at the end of 1982 as they celebrated a final #1 single with "Beat Surrender". In January of 1896 Ben Harney moved to New York City, where he appeared regularly at Tony Pastor's Music Hall. While recording the follow-up, Weller had a nervous breakdown; he quit drinking. The Gift (1982) was another successful album, reaching #1 in the UK, and showing the band moving towards an exploration of American soul and R&B. Harney's tunes "You've Been a Good Old Wagon, But You've Done Broke Down", "Mister Johnson, Turn Me Loose", and "Cake Walk In The Sky" were big hits in the mid 1890s. Sound Affects, the Jam's fifth album, was a major success, as was the single "Start", which reached #1 in the UK singles chart. Some historians still debate Harney's ethnic background. The following March, Going Underground/Dreams of Children, became their first #1 UK single when it entered the chart at the top spot, the first record to do so for seven years.

Handy referred to him as "white". The album spawned the band's first UK top ten hit, The Eton Rifles, which rose to #3 in November 1979. Johnson referred to him as a "Negro", while W.C. The album was a major success in the UK, as was Setting Sons (1979), which also charted in the US, a first for the band (it reached #137 in 1980). James P. All Mod Cons (1979) is usually considered the band's opus magnum, as well as the first album with truly great songwriting from Paul Weller occasionally eliciting comparison with The Kinks' Ray Davies. Harney was light skinned with red hair; early in his career he played with African American theater troops, but later in his career he represented himself as white. The Jam was unable to gain a significant audience in the US, though they were rapidly becoming superstars in their homeland, especially after performing at the Reading Festival in 1978.

Ben Harney is generally said to have been born in Louisville, Kentucky, although some sources put his birthplaces as Nashville, Tennessee. In 1978, the band left for another American tour, opening for Blue Öyster Cult. Benjamin Robertson "Ben" Harney (6 March 1871 - 2 March 1938) was a United States of America songwriter, entertainer, and pioneer of ragtime music. Weller was charged with assault, though he would eventually be acquitted. Download recording - "The Wagon" ragtime from the Library of Congress' Gordon Collection (http://www.loc.gov/folklife/Gordon/sideBbandB4.html); performed by Ben Harney in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on about September 9, 1925. The next tour, in Britain, ended when the band brawled with some rugby players in Leeds. The tour was a disaster.

After another successful single, "All Around the World", the Jam toured the country and recorded This is the Modern World (1977); the titular track was a minor hit and the band left to tour the United States. The sound was early punk and pub rock with strong mod influences, with Weller compositions and R&B covers. This was followed by the band's debut album, In the City. In 1977, the Jam signed a contract with Polydor Records and released "In the City", a moderate hit.

He was not replaced, leaving the band as a trio. After forming the Jam in 1975 and 1976, Brookes left the band, which soon began playing in and around London. The band originally consisted of bassist Bruce Foxton, guitarist Steve Brookes, drummer Rick Buckler, and guitarist and vocalist Paul Weller. The Jam was an early British punk band primarily active in the late 1970s.