There are few artists that transcend categories and labels. George Benson is one of those elect few. He’s been on the forefront of at least 4 major eras of modern music, starting with soul jazz in the 60s, being one of the very first artists to do a Beatles tribute, almost single handedly starting contemporary jazz before it devolved into “smooth jazz” and even releasing some of the best R&B material to hit the airwaves. His last few releases have seen him return to his jazz roots, with his tribute to Nat King Cole (Inspiration) destined to be a must have for fans of both his vocals and his guitar skills.
We had a chance to catch up with the iconic artist, and he was in a wonderfully open and gracious mood. Not unlike his plethora of recordings!
I TOOK MY DAUGHTER TO THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL A FEW YEARS AGO TO SEE YOU IN CONCERT. WHEN I ASKED HER WHAT SHE THOUGHT OF IT, SHE SAID, “DAD, IT WAS BASICALLY THE SOUNDTRACK TO MY CHILDHOOD.”
I’ve enjoyed the recordings of those from years ago. I knew that one day they would become important, although at the time of the recordings I also knew that we were doing something very different, and they might not have the acceptance that we might have wished for at that time. But I’m so glad that we did them, because when Breezin’ came out, and people started to look back at what I had done earlier, we had some quality projects that they could, you know, latch on to which also picked my career up.
TELL ME ABOUT THE IMPETUS BEHIND ABBEY ROAD. AT THAT TIME, NO ONE REALLY DARED TO COVER BEATLES TUNES. WHAT MADE YOU TAKE ON THAT PROJECT?
Well, Creed Taylor called me into his office one day and said, “George, we’re in between albums, and I’m trying to think of something to do on the next project. “ And, he gave me an album by The Beatles called Abbey Road. He said, “Take this home with you and see if there’s anything on it that you like.” I thought that was pretty odd, because I knew that critics would chop anything you’d put out by The Beatles. But, I took it home and listened to it, and I said to myself “It just reaffirms why they are so big, because all of the songs were just so unique and so incredible with George Martin’s arrangements that just couldn’t miss.”
So, I came back the next day or a couple of days later and said, “Honestly, Creed, everything on this album sounds good to me.” “Good,” he said, “we’ll do the whole album.” “WHAT?!?” I was shocked. But, I like adventure; I like challenges. So, we went into the studio with a chamber orchestra. It was all done live, you know.
Freddie Hubbard was there one day, Herbie Hancock another, Joe Farrell, and then Bob James and Ron Carter. How could you miss with that, man? That’s history, and it’s also CLASS! High class; and we had a ball doing it.
THAT ALBUM WAS ALSO THE FIRST ONE IN A LONG TIME IN WHiCH YOU SANG
(Laughs) When the guys in the band, and even the other musicians, started hearing me sing, Ron Carter in his unique voice said,(imitating Carter) “Hey, man, I didn’t know you had a voice like that.” Then, one of the guys in the string section (Emanuel Vardi) hired me to do some commercials after that! He brought me into the studio and I ended up doing some Tasty Kake commercials! (laughs)
So, it was quite a period in my life. I’m glad we that album. It’s a standout.
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR DAYS WITH CTI RECORDS. THAT SEEMS LIKE THE LAST TIME THE BEST OF JAZZ WAS ALSO THE MOST POPULAR. THE ALBUMS HAD HIP COVERS, AND YOU HAD ALL THESE INCREDIBLE MUSICIANS LIKE TURRENTINE, HUBBARD, LAWS, CARTER AND COBHAM, JUST ROTATING AROUND ON EACH OTHER’S SESSIONS.
That’s right. We all liked each other, and we were all doing the same tour, the CTI Summer Jazz Tour was very very successful. Every place we played was sold out to the max. Even the Hollywood Bowl one year; it was really incredible. We were all friends, so we had great tours together. I was just looking at some of those old photos when we were on the road, and it was quite outstanding. It was a good period in our lives, and right after that, when things started breaking up, we all went our separate ways, and we all did well. We all got great offers from different record companies and we all had successful “after CTI” lives.
I have a great deal of admiration for Creed Taylor because of what he had done. He introduced bossa nova music to the world with Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd, as well as Carlos Jobim music. And with Jimmy Smith, he put the big band with Smith and with Walk on the Wild Side he made Jimmy Smith a household name. So, he knew what he was doing.
And Wes Montgomery! He also made him a household word when he pointed out to Wes how important his octaves were, and how it stood out in a world where no one was playing it except him. So, Creed knew what he was doing; he was a great A&R man and a great producer.
AND ALL OF THOSE ARRANGEMENTS BY DON SEBESKY. HE CHANGED THINGS AS WELL
Don Sebesky was great because he was in between the classics and he loved jazz. He was a classically trained musician and he knew classical music backwards. He worked very well with chamber orchestras. He made them sound big and important. He was an important element during the Creed Taylor time period. And beyond as well, as I used him for some things afterwards, and he always held us up beautifully.
YOU NEVER GOT INTO THE JAZZ FUSION SCENE WHICH WAS SO POPULAR BACK THEN
I’m like Nat Cole. I like melody. I like melodic things. I didn’t think I had to prove anything. The thing about fusion is that it allows you to go all over the place; you can get into some wild things that can take people all the way to La La land if you want. But I like the melodies! I do like to hear other cats play that stuff, you know. When John McLaughlin and a few other people play it, I really like it. It just wasn’t me.
SPEAKING OF WHAT’S YOU AND WHAT’S NOT YOU, TELL ME ABOUT YOUR SESSION WITH MILES DAVIS
Ron Carter and Herbie Hancock worked on an album of mine called Giblet Gravy and we did “What’s New?”, The next day they called Miles and said, “Look, you’ve gotta hear this album that George Benson just did. We were on it with him, and it’s a knockout!” Right after that Miles called me and invited him and asked me to play on his next recording.
I was knocked out by that. WOW! The greatest jazz artist of our time wants me to be on a record with him! Now, I didn’t know what I was going to do; it was a great challenge, but it was a great learning period too. I learned a lot about who Miles was. He was no ordinary guy! He was always teaching things, he was always expressing himself about the way he felt. He didn’t hold his tongue back. Nada. So, if you were in his presence, you were going to learn something!
DID HE GIVE SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS WHAT HE WANTED YOU TO DO?
He just started playing this song written by Wayne Shorter (“Paraphernalia”) and even Miles didn’t know what was going on. He said, “Wayne, I think you write these songs just so you can hang me up!” I didn’t know what the heck was going on, and Tony Williams tried to explain it to me, but he shut Tony up right away. He said, “Tony, play your drums, man. Don’t tell somebody else what to play. Jus t play your drums. And furthermore, take your drums over there in the corner by the wall, ‘cause you’re playing too loud!” So, Miles was a different kind of guy, but I loved him. He’d get that façade up, but everybody has their own personalities, so I don’t put them down for having one. It doesn’t have to be one that I always enjoy, but once I got past that façade, I enjoyed him a lot. He was a great teacher.
When I listen back on that one, I still don’t know what the heck I was playing, or what inspired me to play what I did. But, if I had stayed with Miles…
This is what he was trying to do; he was trying to get me to join his band. If I had joined his band, I’d be a different George Benson today. But, my manager and record company people said, “George, you can’t join Miles Davis’ band.” I said, “What? Miles Davis asked me to join his band and you say that I can’t?!?” “No,” they said, “you’re going to be BIGGER than Miles.” I laughed and asked “What fool told you that?” So they wouldn’t let me join his band!
They said, “No, George, you’re progress is ready to blow up; you’re going to be bigger than Miles.” I really didn’t believe them, but not long after Miles started opening for us! So, they knew something that I didn’t know! Those guys were my friends, and if I didn’t listen to them, I wouldn’t be standing here today. That’ the school that I came from, and I’m very proud of it.
SPEAKING OF YOUR FRIENDS. I ONCE HEARD A LONG TIME AGO JIMMY SMITH SAY THAT HE TAUGHT YOU HOW TO PLAY THE GUITAR. IS THAT TRUE, OR WAS HE JUST BLOWING SMOKE?
First, Jimmy was the greatest B3 player ever. Period. Miles once identified him as “The Eighth Wonder of the World.” That’s what Miles called Jimmy Smith, because his improvisations were just so incredible and so well put together. They had everything in them; beauty, funk, tonality, rhythm…so he identified him correctly.
But, when I first met him, he was sitting in a hotel room with Jack McDuff. I heard the music down the hall and I thought it was Jack playing, and I thought, “Wow, Jack’s playing good tonight; it certainly is improving!” So I took my guitar out and went down the hall and knocked on the door, and lo and behold it was Jimmy Smith. He was sitting at one of those keyboards that Jack had brought to his room. A little toy. I came into the room and I was awed; I was just staring at him.
So, he looked at me and he said, “Yeah, I used to play guitar too.” One of my favorite guitar players who was one of my favorite teachers used to play with Jimmy Smith. His name was Thornell Schwartz and he was one of the first guitar players to play with Smith. So, Jimmy said, “Play something for me,” so I started playing. He then told me, “One thing I told Thornell; when you play, keep your hands loose. And don’t stretch them out all of the time. Bring them back together into a ball and that way you can go into any direction. Left, right, anywhere.” And, I thought he was just jivin’ me. I thought to myself, “Well, that sounds good for keyboards, but will it work on the guitar?”
Sure enough, I started practicing like that and my speed improved tremendously. So, yeah, he was one of my teachers!! (laughs)
MOST DIFFICULT OR CHALLENGING SESSION
I can’t think of one. I’m very comfortable in the studio. I go in there with an open mind, and I know that I can’t do everything, but I try to find a spot that’s made for me in the music and that’s where I’ll feel comfortable. I’m not a reader, and the people I work with know that! My friends that work with me know that the less music they write for me, the better record they’re gonna get out of me.1523
DID YOU EVER DO A SESSION WHERE YOU FELT AFTERWORDS YOU WERE COASTING?
I never go into a studio to coast. I go in there to let out everything I know. I know a lot of things because I practice all of the time. I’m not able to let it all out in just one (recording) day! So I’m there figuring what I know that will work right here and now
YOUR CAREER HAS BEEN AN INCREDIBLY CONSTANT TRAJECTION IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. NO SCANDALS AND NO “PERSONAL PROBLEMS” HAVE EVER SIDE TRACKED YOU. WHAT DO YOU ATTRIBUTE THIS TO? A CERTAIN PHILOSPHY OR BOOK? RELIGIOUS UPBRINGING?
Well, I’m a Bible teacher. I’m also a Bible student, but I conduct Bible studies; you can’t do that if you’ve got scandals going on. If you’re involved in scandals, people won’t hear a word you’re saying. They won’t trust you. So, that’s what’s happened with me.
SO YOU STILL GO TO CHURCH EVERY WEEK.
Yes, when I’m at home I still conduct Bible studies and I still go to our meeting places as I’m still involved in learning. That’s my learning period. Our churches are also learning institutions. I read the Bible just about every day.
WHAT DO YOU GET OUT OF IT?
It teaches me to love people; to treat people as individuals as there are no two people that are alike. And, when I meet a person, that’s a special event as it’s a special relationship that happens when WE get together and talk or whatever it is we do like play. Whatever it is, it’s special. It helps me to keep a balance on things in life and keep my faith in humans. If we all concentrate and we can all get to know each other better, we’ll all get along.
ALSO, ETERNITY KEEPS YOUR PRESENT LIFE HERE IN A BETTER PERSPECTIVE
That’s for certain, because I’m not here just to please men, although that’s part of it. God asks us to love Him first with all of your soul, mind and strength, and then to love your neighbor as yourself. You’ll never convince God that you love Him if you don’t love your neighbor. I’ve never seen God, but I see my neighbor every day.
MY MOM USED TO SAY, “WHAT YOU ARE SPEAKS SO LOUD, I CAN’T HEAR WHAT YOU’RE SAYING.” NOW, TO THE NEW ALBUM. WHAT WERE THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN SINGING NAT KING COLE SONGS AT EIGHT YEARS OLD?
Well, I won a singing contest, and the reward was that they were going to take you into the studio and record you. So, that was EXCITING for a kid, you know! There were no studios around in those days in Pittsburgh PA, and this one was a very crude studio with very small rooms. I remember being in this very small booth, and I had my little ukulele and I sang a couple of songs. The one on the album (“Mona Lisa”) was one of the only two or three that I did. I’m so glad that my mother kept it. She had that tape all of those years, and she gave it to me. And when my producer John Burke heard it, he said, “George, I’m going to put this on the album.” I said, “No, man.” But he insisted, “this works great on the album,” he said. “It shows where you come from and that you are genuinely a Nat Cole fan.” And he was right; it worked out great.
WHAT WOULD TODAY’S GEORGE BENSON LIKE TO TELL THAT 8 YEAR OLD BOY?
(laughs) I’m not sure, as I was very popular at the time in my hometown. A few years later I had my own radio show. I worked in night clubs when I was doing that little ukulele trip. I worked the street corners making money with my uke or my guitar when I turned nine.
But I wasn’t a guitar player; I was a singer who happened to have a guitar in his hand. As the years went by I kept picking up more and more knowledge about the instrument until finally Jack McDuff took me on the road. No one knew that I sang for years, so I just played guitar and that helped me, as I gained another identity as a guitar player.
YOU HAVE A PARALLEL PATH WITH NAT COLE, AS YOU BOTH STARTED OUT AS A “JAZZER” AND BOTH CROSSED OVER INTO MAINSTREAM POPULARITY AND GOT SLAMMED BY THE JAZZ POLICE FOR MAKING A DECENT LIVING AND BEING WELL KNOWN BY THE PUBLIC
Well, you know how people are. If you go left they’re always say you should have gone right, and if you go right, they’ll say you should have gone left. That’s just human nature and I understand that. The reason why had such a great start, but late, when I was 33 years old and had that smash Record of the Year (Breezin’), I’m glad it happened then, because if it happened earlier, I would not have been mature enough to fight off all of the onslaught from the critics that came after me after that. And if I had not been able to fight them off I would not have been able to enjoy the kind of success that I’ve been enjoying for the last 30 years.
DID YOU EVER SEE COLE PERFORM?
No, I never met him and I never saw him in concert, but he’s always been a part of my psyche. He’s been in there, you know? I’ve always created a scenario in my mind, “How would Nat have approached this? What harmony could I use here that would best bring this specific song more class? That’s the approach that I think Nat had on music, and I’ve tried to use the same approach.
HE ALWAYS ROSE ABOVE THE CRITICS AND SIMPLY SAID, “HERE’S MY PATH”
I’m glad he did, because if I went to his show and he didn’t do “Nature Boy” or “Mona Lisa,” it would have been the most disappointing thing for me. He had a great trio. Fantastic, even without drums, because they were a cabaret band that made a living in restaurants and nightclubs that didn’t feature drums. But you didn’t miss it; he swung so hard it was ridiculous!
IT’S FUNNY, WHEN THIS NAT COLE TRIBUTE CAME OUT, YOU SOUND HAUNTINGLY LIKE HIM, BUT WHEN BREEZIN’ CAME OUT WITH THIS MASQUERADE, I REMEMBER FIRST THINKING “THIS IS A GREAT STEVIE WONDER DiSC.” HAS YOUR VOICE CHANGED OVER THE YEARS, DO YOUDO THIS SUBCONSCIOSLY, OR DOES SOMETHING OVERCOME YOU?
(Laughs) It depends on what’s in the air at the particular time. I’m pretty versatile; I’ve always been that way. And, you’ve got to remember that in the early part of my life, I was a local in Pittsburgh, and if you want to be on top, you’ve got to know everything that’s on the juke box and everything that’s on the radio. So I absorbed all of these different talents from these different forces, you know, so I was a fan of Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke and all of the other ones that were out there at the time. Little Willie John, and so I had to know how to imitate almost anybody, and so I have all of these voices inside of me, and they come out whenever they need it!
WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR LEGACY TO BE WHEN THEY PUT YOU SIX FEET UNDER?
I’m more concerned about the promise of the Resurrection! I live with that reality.
LISTENING TO THE WISDOM OF THE SAGE GEORGE BENSON IS LIKE TAKING IN A COOL DRINK OF WATER ON A HOT DRY DAY. HIS PERSPECTIVE ON MUSIC, HIS CAREER HIS FRIENDS AND EVEN ETERNITY IS WHAT HAS MADE HIM SO INFLUENTIAL TO GENERATIONS OF MUSIC FANS. FEW ARTISTS IN ANY FIELD ARE EXEMPLARY ROLE MODELS; IMBIBE DEEPLY FROM THE WISOM HE’S ABSORBED OVER THE YEARS. THiS IS WHAT MAKES JAZZ SUCH A JOY!!!