George Washington Benson was born on March 22, 1943, and as a child prodigy he first played the ukulele in a corner drug store, for which he was paid a few dollars, then at the age of eight he was playing guitar in an unlicensed nightclub on Friday and Saturday nights, before the police closed the club down. At the age of nine he cut his first recordings, and of the four sides he recorded, two were released as the 1954 'She Makes Me Mad'/'It Should Have Been Me' single on RCA Victor in New York. He first came to prominence in the early 1960's, starting his professional career at age 19 by playing soul jazz with Jack McDuff, and at the age of 21 he recorded his first album as leader, with 'The New Boss Guitar' featuring McDuff on organ. He followed this with more albums as leader of The George Benson Quartet, with 'It's Uptown' in 1966 and 'The George Benson Cookbook' the following year. At the same time as having his own band, he was also playing in other groups, with such jazz luminaries as Hank Mobley, Jimmy Smith, Larry Young, and Stanley Turrentine, and he was even employed by Miles Davis to add guitar on 'Paraphernalia' from Davis' 1968 Columbia release 'Miles In The Sky'. Benson then signed with Creed Taylor's jazz label CTI Records, where he recorded several albums with some jazz heavyweights guesting on them, and his solo career really began to take off, culminating in him signing to Warner Brothers Records for his Grammy Award-winning breakthrough album 'Breezin''. This collection showcases some of his best work from the early 60's to early 70's on other artist's albums, and fans of his later smooth-jazz output might be astounded to hear what an excellent straight jazz guitarist he was in the early part of his career. It's a double disc set, as some of these tracks are quite lengthy, but I just couldn't bear to edit them down, so we end up with an hour and a half of superb mid-60's jazz.
Track listing
Disc One
01 This Can't Be Love (from 'Cookin' Together' by Red Holloway 1964)
02 It Ain't Necessarily So (from 'Live!' by Brother Jack McDuff 1963)
03 Alligator Bogaloo (from 'Alligator Bogaloo' by Lou Donaldson 1967)
04 Sideman (from 'Finger-Lickin' Good' by Lonnie Smith 1967)
05 Music To Watch Girls By (from 'Jaki Byard With Strings!' by Jaki Byard 1968)
06 Paraphernalia (from 'Miles In The Sky' by Miles Davis 1968)
07 Up, Over, And Out (from 'Reach Out' by Hank Mobley 1968)
08 Some Of My Best Friends Are Blues (from 'The Boss' by Jimmy Smith 1968)
Disc Two
01 The Infant (from 'Heaven On Earth' by Larry Young 1969)
02 Mellow Blues (from 'Mellow Blues' by Willis Jackson 1970)
03 How Long Will It Be (from 'Crying Song' by Hubert Laws 1970)
04 Sunshine Alley (from 'Sugar' by Stanley Turrentine 1970)
05 Straight Life (from 'Straight Life' by Freddie Hubbard 1971)
