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George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, playing soul jazz with Jack McDuff and others. He then launched a successful solo career, alternating between jazz, pop, R&B singing, and scat singing. His album '' Breezin''' was certified triple-
platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...
, hitting no. 1 on the ''Billboard'' album chart in 1976. His concerts were well attended through the 1980s, and he still has a large following. Benson has won ten
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
s and has been honored with a
star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth make ...
on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.


Biography


Early career

Benson was born and raised in the
Hill District The Hill District is a grouping of historically African American neighborhoods in the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Beginning in the years leading up to World War I, "the Hill" was the cultural center of black life in the city and a major cen ...
of
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...
. At the age of seven, he first played the ukulele in a corner drug store, for which he was paid a few dollars. At the age of eight, he played guitar in an unlicensed nightclub on Friday and Saturday nights, but the police soon closed the club down. At the age of nine, he started to record. Out of the four sides he cut, two were released: "She Makes Me Mad" backed with "It Should Have Been Me", with RCA Victor in New York; although one source indicates this record was released under the name "Little Georgie", the 45rpm label is printed with the name George Benson. The single was produced by Leroy Kirkland for RCA's rhythm and blues label, Groove Records. As he has stated in an interview, Benson's introduction to showbusiness had an effect on his schooling. Benson attended and graduated from Schenley High School. As a youth he learned how to play straight-ahead instrumental jazz during a relationship performing for several years with organist Jack McDuff. One of his many early guitar heroes was country-jazz guitarist Hank Garland. At the age of 21, he recorded his first album as leader, '' The New Boss Guitar'', featuring McDuff. Benson's next recording was '' It's Uptown with the George Benson Quartet'', including
Lonnie Smith Lonnie Smith may refer to: * Lonnie Smith (baseball) (born 1955), American baseball player * Lonnie Smith (boxer) (born 1962), American boxer * Lonnie Smith (organist) (1942–2021), American organist * Lonnie Liston Smith (born 1940), American jaz ...
on organ and Ronnie Cuber on baritone saxophone. Benson followed it up with '' The George Benson Cookbook'', also with Lonnie Smith and Ronnie Cuber on baritone and drummer Marion Booker.
Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...
employed Benson in the mid-1960s, featuring his guitar on "Paraphernalia" on his 1968
Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
release, '' Miles in the Sky'' before Benson went to
Verve Records Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simon ...
. Benson then signed with Creed Taylor's jazz label CTI Records, where he recorded several albums, with jazz heavyweights guesting, to some success, mainly in the jazz field. His 1974 release, ''
Bad Benson ''Bad Benson'' is a 1974 studio album by American guitarist George Benson, released on CTI Records. Track listing # "Take Five" (Paul Desmond) - 7:08 # "Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams" (Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Johnny Mandel) - 2:56 # "My La ...
'', climbed to the top spot in the '' Billboard'' jazz chart, while the follow-ups, '' Good King Bad'' (#51 Pop album) and '' Benson & Farrell'' (with Joe Farrell), both reached the jazz top-three sellers. Benson also did a version of
The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...
's 1969 album '' Abbey Road'' called '' The Other Side of Abbey Road'', also released in 1969, and a version of " White Rabbit", originally written and recorded by San Francisco rock group Great Society, and made famous by
Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ach ...
. Benson played on numerous sessions for other CTI artists during this time, including Freddie Hubbard and Stanley Turrentine, notably on the latter's acclaimed album ''Sugar''.


1970s and 1980s

By the mid-to-late 1970s, as he recorded for Warner Bros. Records, a whole new audience began to discover Benson. On 1976's '' Breezin''', Benson sang a lead vocal on the track " This Masquerade" (notable also for the lush, romantic piano intro and solo by Jorge Dalto), which became a huge pop hit and won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year. (He had sung vocals infrequently on albums earlier in his career, notably his rendition of " Here Comes the Sun" on '' The Other Side of Abbey Road'' album.) The rest of the album is instrumental, including his rendition of the 1975 Jose Feliciano composition "
Affirmation Affirmation or affirm may refer to: Logic * Affirmation, a declaration that something is true * In logic, the union of the subject and predicate of a proposition Law * Affirmation (law), a declaration made by and allowed to those who conscienti ...
". In 1976, Benson toured with soul singer Minnie Riperton, who had been diagnosed with terminal breast cancer earlier that year and, in addition, appeared as a guitarist and backup vocalist on
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, sou ...
's song " Another Star" from Wonder's album '' Songs in the Key of Life''. During the same year, 1976, the top selling album '' Breezin''' was released on the Warner Brothers label featuring the Bobby Womack penned title track and the Leon Russell penned " This Masquerade" which is now a jazz standard. Both tracks won Grammy Awards that year, and the album put Benson into the musical limelight both in the US and in Europe. Ironically, Benson had been discouraged up until this time, from using his singing skills, mainly as the company decision makers felt he was not competent enough vocally, and he should stick to playing the guitar. He also recorded the original version of " The Greatest Love of All" for the 1977 Muhammad Ali bio-pic, '' The Greatest'', which was later covered by
Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...
as "Greatest Love of All." During this time Benson recorded with the German conductor Claus Ogerman. The live take of " On Broadway," recorded a few months later from the 1978 release '' Weekend in L.A.'', also won a Grammy. He has worked with Freddie Hubbard on a number of his albums throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The Qwest record label (a subsidiary of Warner Bros., run by Quincy Jones) released Benson's breakthrough pop album ''Give Me The Night'', produced by Jones. Benson made it into the pop and R&B top ten with the song " Give Me the Night" (written by former Heatwave keyboardist Rod Temperton). He had many hit singles such as "Love All the Hurt Away," " Turn Your Love Around," "Inside Love," " Lady Love Me," "20/20," " Shiver," "Kisses in the Moonlight." More importantly, Quincy Jones encouraged Benson to search his roots for further vocal inspiration, and he rediscovered his love for Nat Cole, Ray Charles and
Donny Hathaway Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and arranger whom ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto", "This Christmas ...
in the process, influencing a string of further vocal albums into the 1990s. Despite returning to his jazz and guitar playing most recently, this theme was reflected again much later in Benson's 2000 release '' Absolute Benson'', featuring a cover of one of Hathaway's most notable songs, " The Ghetto." Benson accumulated three other platinum LPs and two gold albums.


1990s to present

In 1990, Benson was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from the
Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cou ...
. To commemorate the long relationship between Benson and Ibanez and to celebrate 30 years of collaboration on the GB Signature Models, Ibanez created the GB30TH, a limited-edition model with a gold-foil finish inspired by the traditional Japanese Garahaku art form. In 2009, Benson was recognized by the National Endowment of the Arts as a Jazz Master, the United States highest honor in jazz. Benson performed at the 49th issue of the Ohrid Summer Festival in
North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
on July 25, 2009, and his tribute show to Nat King Cole ''An Unforgettable Tribute to Nat King Cole'' as part of the
Istanbul International Jazz Festival The Istanbul Jazz Festival, formerly Istanbul Festival, ( tr, İstanbul Caz Festivali) is a cultural event held every July in Istanbul, Turkey. It offers a selection of jazz music performances with the participations of famous artists from all o ...
in Turkey on July 27. In the fall of 2009, Benson finished recording an album entitled ''Songs and Stories'' with Marcus Miller, producer John Burk, and session musicians David Paich and Steve Lukather. As a part of the promotion for his album ''Songs and Stories'', Benson has appeared or performed on ''The Tavis Smiley Show'', ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' and ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon''. He performed at the
Java Jazz Festival Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival (JJF) is one of the largest jazz festivals in the world and arguably the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere, held in Jakarta, Indonesia. The annual jazz festival is held every early March and was designed to ...
March 4–6, 2011. In 2011, Benson released the album '' Guitar Man'', revisiting his 1960s/early-1970s guitar-playing roots with a 12-song collection of covers of both jazz and pop standards produced by John Burk. In June 2013, Benson released his fourth album for Concord, '' Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole'', which included Wynton Marsalis, Idina Menzel, Till Brönner, and Judith Hill. In September, he returned to perform at Rock in Rio festival, in Rio de Janeiro, 35 years after his first performance at this festival, which was then the inaugural one. In July 2016, Benson participated as a mentor in the Sky Arts programme ''
Guitar Star ''Guitar Star'' is a talent show that has aired on Sky Arts from 9 June 2015 to 2 August 2016 and is presented by Edith Bowman, with judges Huey Morgan, Nitin Sawhney and Helen Sanderson, as they scour across the UK to unearth a world-class ...
'' in the search for the UK and
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...
's most talented guitarist. In May 2018, Benson was featured on the Gorillaz single " Humility". On July 12, 2018, it was announced that Benson had signed to Mascot Label Group.


Personal life

Benson has been married to Johnnie Lee since 1962 and has seven children. Benson describes his music as focusing more on love and romance, due to his commitment to his family and religious practices, with Benson being a Jehovah's Witness. Benson has been a resident of Englewood, New Jersey.


Discography


Awards


Grammy Awards

List of
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
s received by George Benson


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, George 1943 births Living people 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century American guitarists African-American guitarists African-American jazz guitarists African-American songwriters American funk guitarists American jazz composers American jazz guitarists American jazz singers American Jehovah's Witnesses American male guitarists American male jazz composers American male singer-songwriters American rhythm and blues guitarists American soul guitarists Columbia Records artists Concord Records artists Converts to Jehovah's Witnesses CTI Records artists Grammy Award winners Groove Records artists GRP Records artists Guitarists from Arizona Guitarists from Pennsylvania Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania Lead guitarists Musicians from Phoenix, Arizona Musicians from Pittsburgh People from Englewood, New Jersey Prestige Records artists Schenley High School alumni Singer-songwriters from Arizona Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania Smooth jazz guitarists Verve Records artists Warner Records artists