By Thomas Cooper, contributing writer
The Rolling Stones have a famous rock anthem that states: “You can’t always get what you want… you get what you need.” Dr. James Benedict seems to be a living definition of this mantra.
“Since 1965, I’ve had two jobs. Whatever my real job was and what I wanted my real job to be, which is play music,” muses the math professor.
Dr. Benedict’s story seems to reflect the Hollywood movie Mr. Holland’s Opus, in which a young composer takes a job as a teacher in order to pay his bills while he works on his musical career. However, years pass and instead of making a mark in the history of music, the man has made a mark on the lives of all his students.
“I have played as many as 150 nights in a year. In the early 80s, my salary was about $22,000 (teaching), and I earned about $16,000 playing music,” says Dr. Benedict.
Dr. Benedict and his band, The Amazing Stranders, were quite popular in the Augusta music scene. They played their mix of rock-and-roll and shag music throughout the region for over 20 years, and even played once with Augusta’s most famous native, James Brown. However, with the exception of leading the ASU Pep Band at basketball games, Dr. Benedict decided to give up music a few years ago when his bass player, James Maples, moved on to another project.
“I somehow got old. I’ve learned nobody wants to look at an old man play anymore, unless his name is Mick Jagger or Keith Richards. Sonic Youth still plays, but they have all had face lifts,” jokes Dr. Benedict.
Dr. Benedict spends more time now in his renewed love of motorcycles.
“I started riding when I was 14. It was a little bike with 4.9 horsepower. I was trying to be like Marlon Brando, but you can’t be Brando on a Vespa. You can only be Gina Lollobrigida,” he says.
At the age of 27, he stopped riding bikes and went to Western Michigan University to obtain a doctoral degree in mathematics.
“Yeah, I love to ride. My wife and I spent 29 days last summer on the road living out of saddle bags. We did something like 8,000 miles. We went from Augusta to Grass Valley, Calif. We did Yosemite and Yellowstone, and we did the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally,” says Dr. Benedict.
“It’s been great experiencing this beautiful country on top of a motorbike with the ones I love. I have learned you don’t have to be famous to be completely happy,” he adds.
Dr. Benedict earned bachelor and master degrees in mathematics from Central Michigan University and a doctorate in mathematics from Western Michigan University.
Name: James Benedict
Position: Professor of mathematics
Years at ASU: 32
Family: Wife, Michele; children; Nathan, Laura, David, and Erin
Awards: In 2007, he and his wife received the Town and Gown Award at the Alumni Association’s annual meeting and awards celebration.
Little Known Fact: Dr. Benedict wrote a musical score for a production of Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology.
Dec 15, 2008
Profiles