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| George Benson George Benson George Benson George Benson |
| George Benson got his love of music from his stepfather. Born in Pittsburgh, Pa. on March 22, 1943 he started on the road to fame at the tender age of 8. Like most great vocalists he began singing in his local church and by the age of 10 he was already mastering the ukulele and guitar. Among George's early musical influences were Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery, Django Reinhardt and Hank Garland. But as a teenager he first joined a rock and roll band doing double duties as vocalist and guitar player. He then caught the ears of Jack McDuff and quickly joined the organists trio as a featured member from 1962-1965. His first recordings were in 1964 with McDuff on the Prestige jazz label. His powerful guitar licks forced Prestige to offer him his own recording contract and later that year he released his debut album "The New Boss Guitar." It lived up to its title. Benson's tone was juicy, and his blues solos sparkled with a carefully honed logic. A jaunty funk and swing aesthetic prevailed throught the album. By the time legendary talent scout John Hammond signed Benson to Columbia in 1965, the guitarist's name was bubbling throughout the industry. His work for the label proved Hammond's hunch to be on-target: brains and flash were in perfect synch. Between 1965-1966 George cut four highly acclaimed albums for Hammond and Columbia. "Benson Burner," "It's Uptown," 'Willow Weep For Me" and "The George Benson Cookbook" showed his amazing talent and versatility and brought him to the forefront of the jazz scene. In 1967 he switched labels for a one-off release, "Blue Benson, " for Polydor. The label and the artist were mismatched and he quickly moved on to the more conducive Verve label where he cut "Giblet Gravy" and "Goodies" both in 1968. The next seven years were spent recording 15 albums for several labels including A&M, Columbia/Legacy and CTI. His work at CTI brought him into a fold of like minded musicians/singers who melded pop, jazz, R&B and blues into commercial successes. The label spawned several artists that would crossover (Patti Austin and Eumir Deodato both recorded for CTI) into the disco market eventually. In 1976, after a move to Warner Bros. under the production of Tommy LiPuma, Benson finally broke through as a singer with his crossover smash cover of Leon Russell’s “This Masquerade,” which sent the album ("Breezin'") to multi-platinum sales status (a rare feat for a “jazz” album). From that point on, George Benson has managed to enviably surf the chart tops of the jazz, R&B and pop worlds, defying categorization year in, year out. Later that year he followed his success with "In Flight" which spawned his hit version of the "World Is A Ghetto." 1977 had two albums, "Livin' Inside Your Love" and "Weekend In L.A." both of which were excellent but didn't produce any crossover hit-singles. Neither did 1978's "In Your Eyes." But Benson was far too busy touring, honing his talent and appearing on albums by everyone from Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard and Dexter Gordon to Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Minnie Riperton. In 1980 George released the album "Give Me The Night." The title track 12" single along with a 12" single of "Love X Love" gave him two of his biggest hits to date. The fact that they crossed over into the dance clubs made them that much more remarkable considering disco's death the previous year. He followed those successes with a powerful hit duet with Aretha Franklin in 1981 of "Love All The Hurt Away." His stature as a premier soulful vocalist was cemented. Having gained respectability in the dance music field he continued to court clubgoers with 12" single hits like "Turn Your Love Around," "20/20," "Twice The Love" and "Shiver." Throughout the 1980's Benson scored pop, R&B and dance hits and toured the globe delighting fans worldwide. In the mid-1990's Benson followed LiPuma to the GRP label. Their association had proven artistically and commercially fertile; both wanted to sustain it. Together they cut the 1996 gem "That's Right." It offered a modern version of contemporary jazz that reminded its listeners that Benson was one of the genre's forefathers. These days Benson's interests are many. He's often spotted out at Manhattan jazz clubs, checking the action of fledgling guitarists. The most impressive of the lot are sometimes invited back to Benson HQ for jam sessions and stylistic pow wows. The guitarist is resolute about keeping the sparkle in his playing. In 2004 he has released "Irreplacable" a fresh and invigorating release. The 61 year old talent shows no signs of ever slowing doing and still keeps an active touring schedule. To read more about his latest releases and to check his concert schedules visit his website and enjoy! |
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