And he managed successes in both endeavors.
The barbering came about because the Aiken family had operated barber shops in the city since 1940, and Ben enjoyed the work.
But he was also fascinated by music from an early age and took up the guitar to accompany his smooth tenor voice.
Ben Aiken, an Army veteran and dedicated family man, whose gospel and R&B groups made a name for themselves performing in various area venues in the '60s, died of cancer Oct. 20 at the age of 71.
His father, the Rev. George D. Aiken Sr., was a well-known pastor who gave his five children their religious education. Ben and his brother, Gilbert, were founders of Mount Pleasant Memorial Baptist Church on Germantown Avenue, where Ben served as minister of music and chairman of the trustee board.
Ben and Gilbert, along with another brother, Joseph, joined fellow singers Gene Drew and Wallace Millsaps to form the gospel group Welcome Travelers.
The group performed at churches throughout the region, and also played the Club Harlem in Atlantic City, where such artists as Sam Cooke, Sarah Vaughn and Sammy Davis Jr. were often in the audience.
When the group switched to rhythm and blues, contracts were signed with Philly International Records, Warner Bros. and RCA.
The group's most popular song was "Stay Together Young Lovers," released in 1965. It received a lot of airtime in the city and the group made appearances on radio shows, including Georgie Woods'.
One day in the late '60s, Ben and some friends were playing a pickup game of football in Fairmount Park when a comely young lady caught his eye.
Perhaps an omen of the future was the fact that he found a four-leaf clover that memorable day. He and the former Deborah Duval began dating and were soon married.
Ben was something of a philosopher. He stuck little phrases on the mirror of his barbershop:
"There are none so blind as those who don't wish to see."
"He who knows and knows not that he knows is asleep. Wake him. He who knows not and says he knows is a fool. Shun him. He who knows and knows that he knows is wise. Follow him."
Ben was born in Philadelphia to the Rev. George D. Aiken Sr. and Lessie Estella Gray Aiken. He attended Murrell Dobbins High School and, while there, worked in the family barber shop, then on 16th Street near Oxford, where he learned hair styling.
He served in the Army after high school, stationed at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.
The barber shop moved to other locations before its present site on Germantown Avenue near Somerset Street. Customers have included Chubby Checker, Lou Rawls, Doug "Jocko" Henderson and Joe Frazier.
Tragedy struck the shop on April 22, 2006, when two men came in with guns and attempted to rob it. A gunbattle ensued and Ben was hit twice, once in the chest and in the arm.
After hospital treatment, Ben arrived home and asked for, of all things, pig's feet.
He was diagnosed with cancer in July, but he continued to work at the shop, never complaining.
Besides his wife and brothers Gilbert and Joseph, he is survived by three sons, Tyrone, Benjamin and Brian; a sister, Marian, and three grandchildren.