Arley Benton was born in Texarkana, Arkansas. Whilst residing in Toledo, Ohio, during the mid 1950's, and having been influenced by Sam Cooke and B.B. King, Benton began playing blues music. By 1959, he was leading his own band in Chicago. During the 1960's, local record labels, such as Melloway, Alteen, Sonic, and Twinight Records released several Benton singles, before in 1971 he joined Willie Dixon. Indeed, a lack of opportunity in the early 1960's meant that Benton gave up playing professionally for several years