Is it Just Me? I can't stand George Benson's singing - sounds like....

[JSngry]

41 minutes ago, AllenLowe said:

I think the Moody vocal sounds like the kind of bad singer who sits in at jam sessions and who you can't seem to get rid of.

Taste is subjective of course, but things like pitch and time are totally quantifiable. If you seriously think that's a "bad singer" then I question both your ears and your objective judgement. Seriously. 

28 minutes ago, rostasi said:

...grandstanding to an audience that was damn near
90% old women who were just falling all over themselves
just to get near him.

Bobby Bland shows were much like that, at least the ones with African-American audiences. 

28 minutes ago, sgcim said:

The story I heard from one of Attila Zoller's students was that at the time of Wes Montgomery's death, Creed Taylor was desperate to find another jazz guitarist to replace Wes on CTI, so he went to Attila, and every other jazz guitarist in NYC, and every one of them turned it down out of respect for Wes. The only one who agreed to do it was GB.

Good for him!

God forbid that people have both skill and ambition that find reward... 

[dicky]

GB was a monster guitarist. I have 3 CTI albums which I thoroughly enjoy. Also have him w/ McDuff, Jimmy Smith, Miles, Freddie, etc.. He chose to make money rather than continuing on the path of the albums I dig. Good for him. 

In doing so (with his not so distinguished singing), he undoubtedly brought awareness to a mass audience of "purer" jazz recordings. Good on him. What's the problem? 

[jazzbo]

dicky, I was debating whether to weigh in but I was going to point out that I too have marveled at Benson's guitar playing on Columbia, Prestige, CTI. . . . Regardless of what one might think of his singing (certainly doesn't offend me the way it seems to offend others) he earned his reputation as a player with some work that amazes me.

[sgcim]

1 hour ago, dicky said:

GB was a monster guitarist. I have 3 CTI albums which I thoroughly enjoy. Also have him w/ McDuff, Jimmy Smith, Miles, Freddie, etc.. He chose to make money rather than continuing on the path of the albums I dig. Good for him. 

In doing so (with his not so distinguished singing), he undoubtedly brought awareness to a mass audience of "purer" jazz recordings. Good on him. What's the problem? 

He was the greatest 'gateway drug' for rock guitarists getting into jazz. A lot of them never moved on, but there's no problem with that. People like what they like. I'm at peace with that. Listen to hip-hop/rap 24/7. No problem with that.

[rostasi]

I just think that his Roomba® of Innovation
got caught in the corner of Entertainment
a long time ago and I find that unfortunate.

[GA Russell]

4 hours ago, sgcim said:

The story I heard from one of Attila Zoller's students was that at the time of Wes Montgomery's death, Creed Taylor was desperate to find another jazz guitarist to replace Wes on CTI, so he went to Attila, and every other jazz guitarist in NYC, and every one of them turned it down out of respect for Wes. The only one who agreed to do it was GB.

My initial memory of Benson was that upon Montgomery's death, Benson was heavily promoted on the radio as the next Montgomery.

[danasgoodstuff]

FWIW, I don't generally care much for his singing although I don't always have quite the negative reaction Mr. Lowe does.  Mostly it's just meh for me.  I like his early guitar playing fine, pre-CTI as a sideman.  He could still play some later but lost a step or two.  He had always sung all the way back to when he started performing as a child.  To my ears he always sounded more like Grant Green than Wes, but then I listen to Grant more than Wes.

Here he is covering Chuck Berry and Fats Domino in 2019, is this the last thing he put out?  I find this mildly entertaining but that's all, the fact that he did it is more interesting than the actual result.

Edited November 27, 2023 by danasgoodstuff

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I don't get why everything these days needs to good or bad. It's all I hear about on the news. What is happening to nuance? The world is not binary.

I enjoy some of George Benson's vocals. I also dislike some of them. Some are pretty good and others are pretty bland. Do I prefer his guitar playing? Sure, but that doesn't mean that I don't play the vocal tracks.

Edited November 27, 2023 by bresna

[sonnymax]

50 minutes ago, bresna said:

I don't get why everything these days needs to good or bad. It's all I hear about on the news. What is happening to nuance? The world is not binary...

No, the world isn't binary, but I'm afraid that the country you and I live in has become so.

Edited November 27, 2023 by sonnymax

[mikeweil]

18 hours ago, JSngry said:

 

I listened to all four versions by King Pleasure last week, and Benson IMO misses the point. He makes a cute ballad out of it.

Interesting that they credit the lyrics to Eddie Jefferson on that album.

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by mikeweil

[mjzee]

I don't mind Benson.  His career blossomed when he joined Warner Bros.  Tommy LiPuma hit on a winning formula that coincided with, and helped fuel, the smooth jazz/quiet storm era.  It's hard to remember just how huge Benson was from the mid-70's to early-80's - his sales rivaled rock artists.  Breezin' was huge, and Weekend In L.A. (a double-album and priced accordingly) was massive.  His music was light, innocuous, and truly easy listening.  I've bought the two Original Album Series collections, and enjoy them when they come up in rotation.  As for his King Pleasure homage, those in the New York area understand that it's really a tribute to Frankie Crocker, a New York DJ who used the King Pleasure track as his sign-off.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

As I type this I'm spinning Benson's "Breezin'", which to me is straight-up smooth jazz. The guitar playing is smooth. The strings are smooth. The vocals are smooth.

It sold like crazy, so George made a living playing music, unlike a lot of others. I can't blame him for making a few bucks playing his guitar, though I imagine the rest of career being reduced to playing these same tunes couldn't have been great.

[gvopedz]

10 minutes ago, bresna said:

I can't blame him for making a few bucks playing his guitar, 

I also do not blame him, but I stopped listening to Benson's albums when I saw the video of him roller skating on a sidewalk with a guitar in his hands (the video for his hit song, "Give Me the Night").

[AllenLowe]

12 hours ago, dicky said:

GB was a monster guitarist. I have 3 CTI albums which I thoroughly enjoy. Also have him w/ McDuff, Jimmy Smith, Miles, Freddie, etc.. He chose to make money rather than continuing on the path of the albums I dig. Good for him. 

In doing so (with his not so distinguished singing), he undoubtedly brought awareness to a mass audience of "purer" jazz recordings. Good on him. What's the problem? 

it's been long shown that that kind of trickle down theory just does not indicate reality. And unless you can document it through personal reports, sales, audience response, I wouldn't suggest it as reality.

13 hours ago, JSngry said:

Taste is subjective of course, but things like pitch and time are totally quantifiable. If you seriously think that's a "bad singer" then I question both your ears and your objective judgement. Seriously. 

Bobby Bland shows were much like that, at least the ones with African-American audiences. 

Good for him!

God forbid that people have both skill and ambition that find reward... 

Seriously, please continue to question my ears and objective judgement. And I will question your taste. Somehow I don't think either of us will get too far.

[kh1958]

At one of those traveling Kool Jazz Festivals in the early 1990s, which I went to because Miles Davis was on the bill, George Benson also performed. For me the Benson set was an excruciating experience---one of the worst live sets I've ever heard for a musician I admire.

[clifford_thornton]

I don't care for his schlock though I did grow up around his albums. So a few cuts are kind of nostalgic for me, even if it is music that doesn't appeal overall. The singing is a bridge too far, which is kinda funny because normally an off-key vocal is hardly a deal-breaker.

[JSngry]

3 hours ago, mikeweil said:

I listened to all four versions by Kinh Pleasure last week, and Benson IMO misses the point. He makes a cute ballad out of it.

And the problem with that is....what, exactly?

On the circuits where I played it, it was always done for slow dancing, cuddle time.

[Teasing the Korean]

Refresh me:  Does he sing much on his CTI albums?  I have several, but haven't spun any in while.  My recollection is that these albums are most mostly instrumental. 

[sonnymax]

2 hours ago, AllenLowe said:

...Seriously, please continue to question my ears and objective judgement. And I will question your taste. Somehow I don't think either of us will get too far.

From what I gather from other members, no Allen, you are not alone. At the same time, you're probably the only one here who would create a thread to express your hatred of another artist. Certainly not the first time you've done this, and probably not the last. With your vast knowledge and experience, I'd much rather see a thread about musicians you really admire, artists you think I should check out. Larry K does this from time to time, and I appreciate his efforts. Then again, curmudgeons are gonna curmudge. Too bad. 

[mjzee]

55 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Refresh me:  Does he sing much on his CTI albums?  I have several, but haven't spun any in while.  My recollection is that these albums are most mostly instrumental. 

Per Wikipedia, In Concert - Carnegie Hall and Good King Bad contain vocals.  Heck, his Columbia albums had vocals!

[JSngry]

Seriously. George Benson's singing, like there's a raging battle underway for the soul of the jazz public? In 2023?

I think minds have long been made up, no matter how. 

Is this how irrelevancy eats itself into extinction? 

[Teasing the Korean]

20 minutes ago, mjzee said:

Per Wikipedia, In Concert - Carnegie Hall and Good King Bad contain vocals.  Heck, his Columbia albums had vocals!

Thanks.  So it sounds like my recollection is more or less correct. 

[MomsMobley]

22 hours ago, mjazzg said:

'On Broadway' always works for me 

**

 

[Teasing the Korean]

15 minutes ago, MomsMobley said:

For a long time, that live album was readily available at every thrift store, flea market, and yard sale.

[HutchFan]

8 hours ago, bresna said:

I don't get why everything these days needs to good or bad. It's all I hear about on the news. What is happening to nuance? The world is not binary.

I enjoy some of George Benson's vocals. I also dislike some of them. Some are pretty good and others are pretty bland. Do I prefer his guitar playing? Sure, but that doesn't mean that I don't play the vocal tracks.

Yes, @bresna!!!  The world is manifold.  Our experiences -- of both music and almost everything else -- vary. 

These sorts of binary arguments rarely -- if ever -- change people's point of view.  So it seems pointless.

Besides, comparing notes is more fun. 

 

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

Seriously. George Benson's singing, like there's a raging battle underway for the soul of the jazz public? In 2023?

Jim, we discuss all sorts of "old" music every day here on the forum.  How is this any different?

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by HutchFan