Benson was born and raised in
the Hill District in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and
attended Schenley High School.
He now lives in Englewood, New
Jersey's Bergen County. Benson
started out playing
straight-ahead instrumental
jazz with organist Jack
McDuff. Benson got his first
experience playing with his
several-year stint withmore

Benson was born and raised in
the Hill District in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and
attended Schenley High School.
He now lives in Englewood, New
Jersey's Bergen County. 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. This
album showcases Benson's
talent in constructing
swinging bebop lines at
blistering tempos. Benson
followed it up with The George
Benson Cookbook, also with
Lonnie Smith and Ronnie
Cuber.
Miles Davis employed Benson's
talents in the mid 1960s;
Benson played guitar on
Paraphenalia, which appeared
on the trumpeter's 1967
Columbia release, Miles in the
Sky. He went to Verve Records
for a spell 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 his versions
of The Beatles' 1969 album
Abbey Road which he entitled,
The Other Side Of Abbey Road
(also released in 1969) and
'White Rabbit', (the best
known version of which was
recorded by Jefferson
Airplane), around this time.
By the mid to late 1970's, as
he recorded for Warner Bros.
Records (he had recently
signed 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 which became an
AM Radio staple), Benson began
to put his vocal on some
tracks, such as 'This
Masquerade,' which was the
first song to make #1 on the
Billboard pop, jazz and R&B
charts (Benson had used his
vocals on some songs earlier
in his career, notably his
rendition of 'Here Comes the
Sun' on the Other Side of
Abbey Road record).
On the strength of 'This
Masquerade' (it also won the
Grammy Award for Record of the
Year) and the electrifying
live take of the classic 'On
Broadway' recorded about a
year later (from the 1977
release Weekend in L.A. and
which also won a Grammy), he
was able to crack through via
the Pop and R&B Top Ten and as
the 1970's wound down, songs
such as the aforementioned
'Give Me The Night' (which was
produced by Quincy Jones),
'Turn Your Love Around' and
others became big hits for
Benson as well. On Warner
Bros., Benson accumulated
three other platinum LP's and
two gold albums.
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).
By the mid 1980s, Benson
cooled down a bit on the
charts and spent the rest of
the decade and the 1990s and
up till today, recording jazz
albums that once again
showcase his guitar work, and
he still tours and records
currently.
In 1992 Benson appeared on
Jack McDuff's Colour Me Blue
album.
George Benson will co-headline
with Al Jarreau on an
international tour to promote
their 2006 album 'Givin' It
Up' where they will perform in
S.Africa, Australia and New
Zealand in summer 2007.
One of his songs,
'Affirmation', was used during
the 'Gamblers and Gallantry'
episode of Samurai Champloo
during the brothel escape.

Category Entertainment

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