title: Benny Spellman
text: Benny Spellman (December 11, 1931 – June 3, 2011) was an American R&B singer, best known for the 1962 single "Lipstick Traces (on a Cigarette)" and its B-side "Fortune Teller", both written by Allen Toussaint (credited as Naomi Neville).
  
  "Lipstick Traces" reached #28 on the U.S. Billboard R&B singles chart and #80 on the Billboard Hot 100, while "Fortune Teller" was later performed many other artists including The Who and The Rolling Stones. Spellman variously worked with Toussaint, Earl King ("Trick Bag"), Huey "Piano" Smith, Ernie K-Doe, Wilson Pickett, The Neville Brothers and The O'Jays.
  
  Spellman was born in Pensacola, Florida.  He sang backing vocals on Ernie K-Doe's number one hit record, "Mother in Law". He recorded a single, "Word Game", on Atlantic Records in 1965, but later semi-retired from music to work in the beer industry.
  
  In 1988, Collectables Records issued a retrospective album of 16 of Spellman's recordings from the 1960s. In 2009, he was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
  
  Spellman died of respiratory failure in June 2011, at the age of 79.
  
  Personal life 
  Spellman was Catholic.
  
  References
  
  External links
  Louisianamusichalloffame.org
  Rockabilly.nl
  
  1931 births
  2011 deaths
  20th-century American singers
  Ace Records (United States) artists
  20th-century African-American male singers
  American rhythm and blues singers
  Deaths from respiratory failure
  Musicians from Pensacola, Florida
  Singers from Florida
  20th-century American male singers
  African-American Catholics
  21st-century African-American people
  Burials at Barrancas National Cemetery