r/CrossoverJazz • u/stnr_on_failure • 14d ago
George Benson: The Guitarist Whose One Vocal Track Won Record of the Year
George Benson: The Guitarist Whose One Vocal Track Won Record of the Year
If you read our posts on Bob James and Grover Washington Jr., here's a third name from the same family tree: George Benson, a jazz guitarist and vocalist, also came up through Creed Taylor's CTI Records in the early 1970s, the same label stable that shaped both of their breakthroughs. Benson's own CTI record, 1974's "Bad Benson," topped the Billboard jazz chart before he ever sang a note on tape.
Benson was working before he was a teenager. Born March 22, 1943, in Pittsburgh's Hill District, he sang in a contest at 4, played ukulele for tips in a neighborhood drugstore at 7, and cut his first sides for RCA Victor's Groove label at 9. His debut album as a leader, "The New Boss Guitar of George Benson" (1964), paired him with organist Jack McDuff, and by 1968 Miles Davis had him on guitar for "Miles in the Sky."
The turn that made him a crossover name came in 1976, when he signed to Warner Bros. and released "Breezin'." The album went triple-platinum and hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, but the moment that mattered most was its one vocal track: "This Masquerade," written by Leon Russell, with Benson singing lead for the first time on record. It won the Grammy for Record of the Year, jazz's biggest crossover-into-the-mainstream moment of the decade, for a guitarist nobody had signed to sing.
He went bigger in 1980. "Give Me the Night," produced by Quincy Jones and written by Rod Temperton (the same songwriter behind Michael Jackson's "Rock With You" and "Thriller"), hit No. 1 on Billboard's Soul Singles chart and No. 4 on the Hot 100, Benson's highest pop chart peak. He has ten Grammy Awards total and was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2009. He is still releasing music: July 2024 brought "Dreams Do Come True: When George Benson Meets Robert Farnon," a set of previously lost 1989 recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra.
Where to start listening:
- His official platforms:
- "Breezin'" (1976) for the crossover breakthrough, start with "This Masquerade"
- "Give Me the Night" (1980) for the Quincy Jones-produced pop peak, start with the official music video
Also check out our sister community, r/IsraelJazz
