If you’re a fan of jazz, George Benson will likely already be a part of your repertoire. And if he isn’t? Well, the time has come to remedy that. How prolific a jazz artist is Benson? Well, he has ten Grammys to his name, a Triple Platinum album under his belt and even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! Three of those aforementioned Grammys were awarded to Benson for this album, Give Me The Night, so if you’re looking to expand your LP collection into the jazz/funk realms, this is a very good place to start.
Released in 1980, Give Me The Night reached a number one position on both the Jazz and Soul charts, and hit number three on the main chart, and was both a commercial and a critical success. And despite Benson releasing 36 studio albums in his time (and he is still recording and touring at the age of 71 – so there may well be more!), Give Me The Night is still regarded as one of his finest, and certainly one of the finest jazz albums ever recorded.
Why do you need this LP?
Benson is one of those artists who had jazz, and music in general, in his very bones. Regarded as a child prodigy, he grew up playing the ukulele and performed in corner drug stores for a few dollars a time at the age of seven. By eight he was playing the guitar in unlicensed clubs and by ten, he had recorded his first single. His is a talent that was meant to flourish, and this is one of the LPs which encapsulates that raw, unadulterated talent. Produced by the legendary Quincy Jones, vinyl is regarded as the best source for the detailed, intricate and emotional genre of jazz – so what better way to hear it?