This is one of the many GB albums I don’t yet have in a ‘hard copy’ format, yet. Indeed, I don’t think I’d ever even listened to it until now.
Having been totally blown away by the Rick Beato George Benson interview, I’ve been delving into areas of Benson’s back catalogue I’d not explored before.
And, unsurprisingly, it’s proving a rich and rewarding experience. This disc is interesting for numerous reasons. First of all it’s unusual, in popular music, for an artist to release an entire album covering just one other artist.
Secondly, later on in Benson’s career he’d get a lot of flak for ‘selling out’, as he began introducing vocal numbers. But, as he says when talking to Rick, he’d always sung, since childhood. And this album precedes the ones – Breezin, In Flight, etc – that drew certain folks’ ire.
Personally I absolutely love these recordings. What’s not to love? Excellent songs, reinterpreted by equally excellent musicians, but in a different vein. The blend of jazz, R’n’B, popular song, and terrific classical influenced arrangement, all add up to a Fab whole.