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George Benson (born March 22, 1943 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)[allmusic Biography] is an American musician, whose recording career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist
. He is however, better known to the public at large as a Pop and R&B singer, famous for such hits as "Give Me the Night", "Lady Love Me (One More Time)", "Turn Your Love Around", "Inside Love(So Personal)", "In Your Eyes", and "This Masquerade", among others. Benson is an accomplished scat singer, often developing intricate melodic voice phrases alongside his guitar, accurately parallelling it in pitch, accent, tempo, and syncopation.
BiographyEarly careerBenson was born and raised in the Hill District in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and attended the defunct Connelly High School before dropping out. He now lives in Bergen County's Englewood, NJ. Benson started out playing straight-ahead instrumental jazz with organist Jack McDuff. Benson got his first experience playing with his several-year stint with McDuff's group. At the age of 21, Benson recorded his first album as leader, The New Boss Guitar, with Brother Jack McDuff on organ.
Benson's next recording was ''It's Uptown with the George Benson Quartet'' with Lonnie Smith on organ and Ronnie Cuber on baritone sax.
Miles Davis employed Benson's talents in the mid 1960s; Benson played guitar on "Paraphernalia", which appeared on the trumpeter's 1967 Columbia release, Miles in the Sky. He went to Verve Records afterwards. Then, Creed Taylor signed him up for his CTI label, where he recorded numerous albums with jazz heavyweights guesting to limited financial success. Benson also did versions of The Beatles's 1969 album Abbey Road called The Other Side of Abbey Road, released in 1969, and "White Rabbit", originally written and recorded by San Francisco rockgroup Jefferson Airplane, around this time.
1970s and 1980s
By the mid to late 1970s, as he recorded for Warner Bros. Records after recently signing with them, a whole new audience began to discover Benson for the first time. With the 1976 release ''Breezin', also the name of a memorable instrumental on the album which became an AM Radio staple, Benson began to put his vocal on tracks such as "This Masquerade", which was the first song to make number one on the Billboard pop, jazz and R&B charts. Benson had used his vocals on songs earlier in his career, notably his rendition of "Here Comes the Sun" on the Other Side of Abbey Road'' album. He was part of psychedelic soul group Harlem Underground Band during the 1970s, whose song "Smokin' Cheeba Cheeba" was featured in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.[Breezin album information]
"This Masquerade" won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year and the live take of the classic "On Broadway", recorded two years later from the 1978 release Weekend in L.A., also won a Grammy). Benson made it into the Pop and R&B Top Ten and the song "Give Me the Night", produced by Quincy Jones, was his biggest U.S. pop hit, peaking at number four in 1980. "Turn Your Love Around" and others became big hits for Benson as well. On Warner Bros., Benson accumulated three other platinum LPs and two gold albums.[VH1 - Artists bio]
He also recorded the original version of "Greatest Love of All" for the 1977 Muhammad Ali bio-pic, The Greatest, which was later recorded successfully as a cover by Whitney Houston.
During this time Benson recorded with the German conductor, Claus Ogerman.
Later and current careerUnreferencedsection
From the mid 1980s up until today Benson has continued to tour and record music.
In 1985 Benson and guitarist Chet Atkins succeeded on the smooth jazz charts with their collaboration "Sunrise", one of two songs from the duo released on Atkins' disc Stay Tuned.
In 1992, Benson appeared on Jack McDuff's Colour Me Blue album.
George Benson toured with Al Jarreau in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand to promote their 2006 album ''Givin' It Up.
He played during the second Monsoon Cup in Terengganu in 2006 and also Malaysia's 50th Merdeka celebration alongside Al Jarreau in 2007.
In May 2008, for the first time Benson took part in Mawazine Festival in Morocco
Apart from a few low-profile performances, Benson lives a private life in Southern Florida, where he is an active member of the Jehovah's Witnesses.
DiscographyAlbumscol-break width=40%
- 1964: George Benson/Jack McDuff (Prestige)
- 1964: The New Boss Guitar (Prestige)
- 1965: Benson Burner (Columbia)
- 1965: ''It's Uptown (Columbia)
- 1966: The George Benson Cookbook (Columbia)
- 1966: Willow Weep for Me (CBS)
- 1967: Blue Benson (Verve) - Jazz #23
- 1968: Giblet Gravy (Verve)
- 1968: Goodies (Verve)
- 1969: Shape of Things to Come (A&M) - R&B #38, Jazz #11
- 1969: Tell It Like It Is (A&M) - US #145, R&B #43, Jazz #16
- 1969: The Other Side of Abbey Road (A&M) - US #125, R&B #18
- 1970: I Got a Woman & Some Blues (A&M)
- 1971: Beyond the Blue Horizon (CTI) - Jazz #15
- 1972: White Rabbit (CTI) - Jazz #7
- 1973: Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon, Vol. 1 (Accord)
- 1973: Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon, Vol. 2 (Accord)
- 1973: Witchcraft (Jazz Hour)
- 1974: Body Talk (CTI) - Jazz #10
- 1975: Bad Benson (CTI) - US #78, Jazz #1
- 1976: Good King Bad (CTI) - US #51, R&B #18, Jazz #3
- 1976: Benson & Farrell (CTI) - US #100, R&B #27, Jazz #3
- 1976: ''Breezin' (Warner Bros.) - US #1, R&B #1, Jazz #1
- 1977: In Concert-Carnegie Hall (CTI) - US #122, R&B #43, Jazz #6
- 1977: In Flight (Warner Bros.) - US #9, R&B #2, Jazz #1
- 1978: Space Album (CTI)
- 1978: Weekend in L. A. (Warner Bros.) - US #5, R&B #1, Jazz #1
- 1979: ''Livin' Inside Your Love (Warner Bros.) - US #7, R&B #4, Jazz #1
- 1979: Take Five (CTI)
- 1980: Cast Your Fate to the Wind (CTI)
- 1980: Give Me the Night (Warner Bros.) - US #3, R&B #1, Jazz #1
- 1981: GB (CTI)
- 1981: The George Benson Collection (Warner Bros.) - US #14, R&B #5, Jazz #1
- 1983: In Your Eyes (Warner Bros.) - US #27, R&B #6, Jazz #1
- 1983: Pacific Fire (CTI)
- 1984: 20/20 (Warner Bros.) - US #45, R&B #20, Jazz #3
col-break
- 1984: Live in Concert (Design)
- 1985: The Electrifying George Benson (Affinity)
- 1986: While the City Sleeps... (Warner Bros.) - US #124, R&B #21, Jazz #8
- 1987: Collaboration (with Earl Klugh) (Warner Bros.) - US #59, R&B #28, Jazz #1
- 1988: Twice the Love (Warner Bros.) - US #76, R&B #17, Jazz #10
- 1989: Tenderly (Warner Bros.) - US #140, Jazz #1
- 1990: Big Boss Band (Warner Bros.) - Jazz #3
- 1991: Midnight Moods (Warner Bros.)
- 1992: The Essence of George Benson (Columbia)
- 1993: Love Remembers (Warner Bros.) - R&B #50, Jazz #1
- 1994: The Most Exciting New Guitarist on the Jazz Scene (Sony)
- 1995: The Best of George Benson (Warner Bros.) - Jazz #14
- 1996: California Dreamin (Sony)
- 1996: Lil Darlin (Thunderbolt)
- 1996: ''That's Right (GRP) - US #150, R&B #33, Jazz #1
- 1998: Standing Together (GRP) - R&B #47, Jazz #1
- 1998: Masquerade (Thunderbolt)
- 1999: The Masquerade Is Over (Jazz Hour)
- 2000: Live at Casa Caribe (Columbia River)
- 2000: Absolute Benson (GRP) - US #125, R&B #24, Jazz #1
- 2001: All Blues (Bianco)
- 2002: Blue Bossa (Prestige Elite)
- 2002: After Hours (Universe)
- 2003: Irreplaceable (GRP)
- 2003: The Greatest Hits of All (Rhino) - US #138, R&B #74, Jazz #3
- 2004: Golden Legends Live (St. Clair)
- 2005: Jazz After Hours with George Benson (Performax)
- 2005: Best of George Benson Live (GRP) - Jazz #4
- 2006: ''Givin' It Up (with Al Jarreau) (Concord) - US #58, R&B #14, Jazz #1
- 2007: Live from Montreux (Immortal)
Singlescol-break width=40%
- 1975: "Supership" - UK #30
- 1976: "This Masquerade" - US Pop #10, US R&B #3
- 1976: "Breezin'" - US Pop #63, US R&B #55
- 1977: "Everything Must Change" - US R&B #34
- 1977: "Nature Boy" - UK #26
- 1977: "Gonna Love You More" - US Pop #71, US R&B #41
- 1977: "The Greatest Love of All" - US Pop #24, US R&B #2, UK #27
- 1978: "On Broadway" - US Pop #7, US R&B #2
- 1978: "Lady Blue" - US R&B #39
- 1979: "Love Ballad" - US Pop #18, US R&B #3, UK #29
- 1979: "Unchained Melody" - US R&B #55
- 1980: "Give Me the Night" - US Pop #4, US R&B #1, UK #7, NLD #8
- 1980: "Love X Love" - US Pop #61, US R&B #9, UK #10
- 1981: "Love All the Hurt Away" (with Aretha Franklin) - US #46, R&B #6
- 1981: "Turn Out the Lamplight" - US R&B #33
- 1981: "What's On Your Mind" - UK #45
col-break
- 1981: "Turn Your Love Around" - US Pop #5, US R&B #1, UK #29
- 1982: "Never Give Up on a Good Thing" - US Pop #52, US R&B #16, UK #14
- 1983: "Inside Love (So Personal)" - US Pop #43, US R&B #3 UK #57
- 1983: "Lady Love Me (One More Time)" - US #30, R&B #21, UK #11
- 1983: "Feel Like Makin' Love" - UK #28
- 1983: "In Your Eyes" - UK #7
- 1984: "Late At Night" - UK #86
- 1984: "20/20" - US #48, R&B #15 UK #29
- 1985: "Beyond The Sea (La Mer)" - UK #60
- 1985: "I Just Wanna Hang Around You" - R&B #24 UK #93
- 1985: "New Day" - R&B #87
- 1985: "No One Emotion" - UK #76
- 1986: "Kisses in the Moonlight" - R&B #13 UK #60
- 1986: "Shiver" - R&B #16 UK #19
- 1987: "Teaser" - UK #45
- 1988: "Twice the Love" - R&B #23 UK #91
- 1998: "Standing Together" - R&B #62
- 2004: "Cell Phone"
Copyright Citations
This article is licensed under the GNU License
Click here for original article: George Benson
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