We’d get a tune together, and then he’d show up, take his horn out of the case, play three or four notes, and then he’d put it back in the case and walk out. “For this record, I’d get together with the band to rehearse before Miles came to the studio. I was honored that Miles liked my guitar playing, but he could be tough. I played on two or three cuts with Miles, but only one track made it on the record. It was a fabulous guitar designed by Johnny Smith.” “Paraphernalia“ – Miles Davis, Miles In The Sky (1968)

I played an X-500, but on this record I used the Guild Artist Award. 'I got really good sounds with those guitars. I was very proud that they liked what I did and gave me guitars, so I played the crap out of their instruments. Sometimes I played D’Angelicos, but I was really into the Guilds at this time. “I had developed a nice relationship with the people at the Guild Guitar Company. I played pretty much the standard chord changes with no real harmonies – that was just my mindset at the time. He knew all about the substitutions a player can use to make a song more interesting. “Herbie played some beautiful harmonies, and he forced me into thinking more along those lines. On this track we had Ron Carter on bass, Billy Cobham on drums, and Herbie Hancock on keyboards. The first side of the album was R&B, and the second side was jazz. “I didn’t have the musicianship that I would have loved to have had, but that eventually came. Sometimes I made it more, but most of the time… well, let’s just say I made it. Every song came to me the way it came to me, and I tried to live within the context of the song. I didn’t have anything special going on, but I was growing quickly. I was pretty much a flat-out guitar player at the time. “What's New?“ – George Benson, Giblet Gravy (1968) I’m a mixed bag of all those people.”īelow, Benson shares some stories about the recording of five especially noteworthy tracks from his remarkable career. Wes Montgomery was a big favorite of mine.

King, Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker, Barney Kessel… And of course, there’s Tal Farlow, Hank Garland, and Grant Green. “I studied everybody – Charlie Christian, B.B. “I kind of take from everybody and it comes out like me,” he says modestly. Starting in the mid ’70s, Benson’s golden singing voice – he actually started out as a vocalist, performing in clubs at the age of eight – landed him on AM radios, but nearly a decade before, he established his reputation as a supremely tasteful instrumental craftsman whose warm tone, effortless speed, (you never got the feeling he was sweatin’ it) and hook-filled phrasing combined to form an instantly recognizable signature sound. “They said, ‘Man, we loved what you did with our music.’ After that, I was glad I made the record.” He adds that his wounds healed quickly once he heard from the Beatles themselves.

Breezin george benson youtube