George Benson
George Benson
For other people named George Benson, see George Benson then signed with Creed Taylor's jazz label CTI
Benson (disambiguation).
Records, where he recorded several albums, with jazz
heavyweights guesting, to some success, mainly in the
[3]
George Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz eld. His 1974 release, Bad Benson, climbed to the
top spot in the Billboard jazz chart, while the follow-ups,
musician, guitarist and singer-songwriter. He began his
professional career at 21 as a jazz guitarist. Benson uses Good King Bad (#51 Pop album) and Benson and Farrell
(with Joe Farrell), both reached the jazz top-three sellers.
a rest-stroke picking technique similar to that of gypsy
Benson also did a version of The Beatles's 1969 album
jazz players such as Django Reinhardt.
Abbey Road called The Other Side of Abbey Road, also
A former child prodigy, Benson rst came to prominence released in 1969, and a version of "White Rabbit", origin the 1960s, playing soul jazz with Jack McDu and oth- inally written and recorded by San Francisco rock group
ers. He then launched a successful solo career, alternat- Great Society, and made famous by Jeerson Airplane.[3]
ing between jazz, pop, R&B singing, and scat singing. Benson played on numerous sessions for other CTI artists
His album Breezin' was certied triple-platinum, hitting during this time, including Freddie Hubbard and Stanley
no. 1 on the Billboard album chart in 1976.[4] His con- Turrentine, notably on the latters acclaimed album Sugar.
certs were well attended through the 1980s, and he still
has a large following.[4] He has received a star on the
1.2 1970s and 1980s
Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1
1.1
Biography
Early career
made it into the pop and R&B top ten with the song "Give
Me the Night" (written by former Heatwave keyboardist
Rod Temperton). More importantly, Quincy Jones encouraged Benson to search his roots for further vocal inspiration, and he re-discovered his love for Nat Cole, Ray
Charles and Donny Hathaway in the process, inuencing
a string of further vocal albums into the 1990s. Despite
returning to his jazz and guitar playing most recently,
this theme was reected again much later in Bensons
2000 release Absolute Benson, featuring a cover of one
of Hathaways most notable songs, The Ghetto. Benson accumulated three other platinum LPs and two gold
albums.[11]
REFERENCES
2 Discography
1.3
1990s to present
3 Awards
3.1 Grammy Awards
List of Grammy Awards received by George Benson[25]
4 References
[1] Australian ABCTV Flashez interview January 1, 1977.
[2] 45 Discography for Groove Records
[3] allmusic Biography
[4] Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th
ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 54.
ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
5 External links
George Benson at AllMusic
Ocial website
6.1
Text
6.2
Images
6.3
Content license