GEORGE BENSON
George Benson (born March 22, 1943) is a ten-time Grammy Award-winning American musician, guitarist and singer-songwriter. He began his professional career at twenty-one, as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, playing soul jazz with Jack McDuff and others. His concerts were well attended through the 1980’s, and he still has a large following. He has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (More from Wikipedia)
Winelight by Grover Washington, Jr. was Ernie Guyton’s curve ball in his birthday present to me; I had only vaguely heard of him but later read that he is one of the nation’s leading saxophone players. I liked the album so much that I picked up a two-album retrospective by another of the smooth-jazz pioneers, George Benson that I enjoyed just as much. There were other albums as well, but these are some highlights that I remember. And that is just the kind of eclectic mix of albums that I gather myself on the too-few occasions that I go out shopping for records.
(November 2012)
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The name of the Greg Shaw magazine called Who Put the Bomp is taken from “Who Put the Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)”, a Top-40 hit by Barry Mann. This was basically a one-hit wonder, but Mann always concentrated mostly on his songwriting, and he is well known for numerous songs that were co-written with his wife Cynthia Weil. Others that he co-wrote with others include two hit duets by Linda Ronstadt, “Don’t Know Much” (with Aaron Neville) and “Somewhere out There” (with James Ingram); “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feelin’” by the Righteous Brothers and also Daryl Hall and John Oates; and “On Broadway” by the Drifters and later by George Benson. Barry Mann’s songwriting credits include an astounding 635 songs.
(May 2013)
