Take Five George Benson

[Brad Little]

Heard this on my way to my doctor this morning, reminded me what a great guitarist he is. He got some flack from jazz purists when he had a top 40 hit or two, but I remember an interview with Rolling Stone when he responded that "His family liked it, he liked it and his Mercedes dealer liked it." (Paraphrase from a 40+ year old remembrance). He also was a Guild player early in his career, but I think he was using an Ibanez by the time this was recorded.

 

[walrus]

God forbid jazz artists sell some records! LOL! I was working at a record store when this came out. Funk? Jazz? Disco? Who cares? Great song!

And just maybe a few "jazz purists" sold some albums thanks to GB making it more mainstream.

 

[Brad Little]

God forbid jazz artists sell some records! LOL! I was working at a record store when this came out.

I was, too! Not your average record store, though. We sold no 45s and half our sales were in classical recordings, high percentage of jazz, too.

 

[HeyMikey]

Love Benson. He was one of my guitar heroes. I’ve seen him a couple times and what always amazed me was how he could improvise and both play and sing the notes at the same time. So, so smooth. If he could think it he could play it. My desert island album is Beyond the Blue Horizon.

 

[jp]

Benson is such a monster player and hugely influential. I will say this about his pop stuff -- Breezin' has lead a ton of players over the years to his jazz music.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

I saw him live at the SF Keystone during the early 1970s, back before he recorded "Breezin'". Incredible talent. Also enjoyed him before that during his stint in Brother Jack McDuff's band.

As far as any notion of his having "sold out" with his "poppier" hits goes? I don't fault him one bit. Plenty of great jazz "purists" have had trouble paying the bills because they refused to stray.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

My desert island album is Beyond the Blue Horizon.

I bought that one back when it came out too. CTI put out some killer stuff.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

While in his early twenties in 1966:

 

[GAD]

I love George Benson. A depressingly long time ago I was in Princeton Record Exchange and picked up a George Benson album that quickly became my favorite but I’ve never seen it digital and I never extended the effort to rip it so it only gets played on the turntable, which has its own charm of course.

 

[Westerly Wood]

Heard this on my way to my doctor this morning, reminded me what a great guitarist he is. He got some flack from jazz purists when he had a top 40 hit or two, but I remember an interview with Rolling Stone when he responded that "His family liked it, he liked it and his Mercedes dealer liked it." (Paraphrase from a 40+ year old remembrance). He also was a Guild player early in his career, but I think he was using an Ibanez by the time this was recorded.

That is such a classic excellent version of this song, Brad, thanks for posting. The guitar is perfect.

 

[Westerly Wood]

God forbid jazz artists sell some records! LOL! I was working at a record store when this came out. Funk? Jazz? Disco? Who cares? Great song!

And just maybe a few "jazz purists" sold some albums thanks to GB making it more mainstream.

One of the grooviest tunes of all time.

 

[Brad Little]

I love George Benson. A depressingly long time ago I was in Princeton Record Exchange and picked up a George Benson album that quickly became my favorite but I’ve never seen it digital and I never extended the effort to rip it so it only gets played on the turntable, which has its own charm of course.

Which album?

 

[GAD]

Which album?

I knew someone would ask. I don’t remember. I’ll have to go check.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

Another great album from 1964:



Stay tuned after first song ends: entire album will play.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

 

[Harp Tail]

Praise to Benson always, except maybe for the plastic surgery.

Many may forget he's been Miles Davis first guitar player, and his disco stuff still makes me want to dance after all these years.

My favorite "desert island" album of his is "The other side of Abbey Road".
Creed Taylor production, fabulous orchestration, some of the best Beatles tunes and George with Guild on the cover - what's not to like?
Incidentally, I bought it during my first stop in NYC (over half a life ago), and mistakenly assumed the cover pic had been shot in the Village, whereas it's East 53rd Street.

Check out the mean bass line by Jerry Jemmott in "Come together" keeping in mind how hard it would have been to do any better than Sir Paul.

 

[chazmo]

Praise to Benson always, except maybe for the plastic surgery.

Many may forget he's been Miles Davis first guitar player, and his disco stuff still makes me want to dance after all these years.

My favorite "desert island" album of his is "The other side of Abbey Road".
Creed Taylor production, fabulous orchestration, some of the best Beatles tunes and George with Guild on the cover - what's not to like?
Incidentally, I bought it during my first stop in NYC (over half a life ago), and mistakenly assumed the cover pic had been shot in the Village, whereas it's East 53rd Street.

Check out the mean bass line by Jerry Jemmott in "Come together" keeping in mind how hard it would have been to do any better than Sir Paul.

Anyone else notice (or agree) that the bass is pretty sharp to George's guitar, especially at the entrance to Come Together? That kind of thing bugs me. Maybe it's the speakers on my Mac.