George Benson is no joke! You seriously need to check his stuff out. Gimme The Night, Breezin’, and his cover of On Broadway are classics I still listen to today.
Absolutely! And I think I did request On Broadway once, way back when... so, Jamel, George also did cover versions, lol (it was originally done by the Drifters -- both versions are excellent).
He definitely heard his song/songs before. I'm sure Jamal knows "give me the night" by George Benson, Written by Rod Temperton from England. ROD rip has written some of the most songs for some of the most famous singers of all time. "boogie nights " (heatwave) "Rock With you" (michael jackson), "off the wall" (michael jackson), "Thriller" (michael jackson) "burn the disco out" (michael jackson), "yah mo b there" (james ingram), "Sweet Freedom "(michael Mcdonald), and many more..... I don't like to gloat, but we're not half bad in UK when it comes to music. Whether song writers or singers. When it comes to music we are right up there :)
When Otis Redding heard Aretha Franklin's recording of "Respect," he reportedly said "That little girl done stole my song." Talent recognizes talent. RIP to them both.
Fun Fact: Elvis was actually given permission by Carl Perkins to record his Blue Suede Shoes song. Carl Perkins and Elvis would also record songs with Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash! Carl Perkins is also a distant cousin of mine!
That’s cool, I hear all the rockabilly people were friends. The million dollar quartet is interesting to read about with jerry lee lewis, elvis, carl perkins, and roy orbison.
George Benson has a huge catalogue of hits, but I know him more for his jazz guitar. On several of his instrumental guitar songs he would skat, this led to a singing and writing career. The evidence of quality is clear.
@@colinvandenberg3446 The Drifters "original" is a cover too!! It was first recorded by the girl group The Cookies. The song had different words then ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jOQ9egPQU9Y.html However, The Drifters' version is the definitive one to me.
I love Roger Miller, but I never felt like this song fit him. Growing up, heard Janis's version first on my parent's jukebox, so maybe that ruined me on all other covers...hard to love a Chevy when your first ride was a Rolls....
This is all confusing, Although Kristofferson wrote the song, Roger Miller recorded it first in1969, how can a cover song be the first one recorded? Also, Kristofferson was the fourth artist to record the song, in 1969 it was recorded by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, Gordon Lightfoot, and in 1970, the Statler Brothers.
@@brenthenderson3983 You bring up such an interesting point ..if a songwriter writes a song that is recorded by someone else, then a year later decides to record his own version, is the latter a cover of the first recorded version or is it just the original? Can't be the original, as it is the second version recorded, although it is the original vision of the songwriter?...Jesus Christ, aren't semantics awesome? 😀
“ Cover” means something different now than in the 50s and even the 60s...back then , you had professional songwriters who wrote songs and many artists would record their version of the song ...lots of times several versions of the same song were on the charts at the same time ...
Good example: Bruce Springteen & Manford Mann/Earth Band - "Blinded By The Light" and "Spirits In The Night". (Personally, I prefer the Manford Mann versions) But both were hits for each artist.
I found that out as a kid when I asked my mom for a copy of a fifties song, she asked me by which artist, and rattled off five names. Yeah. Five. All in the fifties.
If they are being released at the same time would any of them be performing a cover of another person's song? They would be performing the same song in the same timeframe for it to be exposed to a larger demographic of people. Technically, any person that releases any song is "covering" the song even the first person. By the way, doing a cover of a song originated in the 50s in the music industry as a major part of business hence Elvis's career.
@@jameshelm2847 Doing covers originated long before Elvis did them and Elvis recorded hundreds of original songs and hundreds of covers. He did a lot of covers for his first album, but in the 50s, the singles market was the main focus and Elvis had many hits and was the original singer on most of his No1 hits.
Also, "Money Changes Everything". "When You Were Mine" was actually written by Prince (credited under the pseudonym "Christopher"). "She's So Unusual" is also a cover from the 1920s.
@@jeffzachritz8879 Yes he did. Originally written to be used with Applonia 6, which didn't work out. So, being good close friends with Suzanna Hoffs (probably dated her, too), he gave the song to her and she had her band make their own cover of it, which turned into a huge hit song.
There's a whole history behind that song, that goes way further back than 1998. 99% Invisible did a podcast on it, which you can find here: 99percentinvisible.org/episode/whomst-among-us-let-the-dogs-out/ Pretty interesting stuff, as is most of the content of 99%.
I think some of these songs, like "Achy Breaky Heart", "Who Let the Dogs Out", and "Pass the Dutchie", are such quick turn arounds from the originals, which themselves seem like such unlikely songs to be covered, that it feels like someone saw some potential in someone's else song, and figured with a bit of polish and marketing it could be a cash cow.
Thinking the same thing. Not a hundred years old... one of those songs was from the '20s! But did know Elvis did mostly covers.. my parents had the old 78s of some of those songs and it was a shock to me as a little kid.
@@missd9785 Yeah, both Elvis and Whitney were heavy reliant on cover songs for their biggest hits. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It just comes as a surprise to many people who only know those songs through those very popular artists.
@@Music-tg5is You're so right. Also most reactors only pick one version so we suggest the best or the only one we know. I knew about Elvis but not so much Whitney. That was interesting. Also seems like a lot of Everly Bros covers? I knew of Gone Gone Gone by Plant and Krauss...
Lol, right! "I always get requests for the most popular stuff." Of course you're going to get more of those than the stuff that most people don't know about. It's not people intentionally trying to keep stuff from you. I think it's awesome that there are people who know about the originals and point it out so the rest of us can check it out.
I request all kinds of stuff that isnt well known, but the songs with the most thumbs up get noticed and THOSE are always the ones everyone knows. So I'll again throw out Long John Baldry "Dont Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll" and my 2 year mission to get any song by The Cat Empire reacted to.
I love George Benson! I first got to know his music as a jazz guitarist, he's amazing, but then I had my mind blown by all the great soul r&b he's made!
I remember being a teen in the 80's telling my mom, oh you've got to hear this song, and she'd say that's a remake from a song in the 60's haha 20 yrs later I found myself saying the same to my kids 🙃🙃
I remember telling my daughters (after watching the movie "Top Gun" with them) that No, Hall & Oates were NOT the originators of "You've Lost That Loving Feelin'" !!! lol
@@wendylynn4318 Also Albert Hammond had been covered a lot. The three we comment are strangely well known and at the same time rediscovered once and again.
Neil Diamond was a professonal songwriter before he started to play his own material. As was Neil Sedaka and Carol King. So he wrote for other people, i don't consider that covering.
Video just popped up on my recommended today and damn am I glad I checked it out. Some I knew who did the original, some I thought I knew did the original ("Lady Marmalade" being one), and some I had no idea were covers. Your genuine reaction to tracks you obviously have a fondness for and / or the ones that you were surprised by was great to see. On to the second part...
I think the very first CD I ever bought was George Benson "The Silver Collection" back when compact discs were still in their infancy. It remains a favorite to this day.
@@robbzphone81 Written by : Rokusuke Ei, Nakamura, Stellman(english lyrics) (1963) UK by the Blue Diamonds, I think the original was Kyu Sakamoto (written by Hachidai Nakamura, Ei Rokusuke )
George Benson was huge in the late 70’s and 80’s. That’s why his songs became covers to other well known musicians. Each artist simply gives their variation of an already established hit
George Benson: incredibly great guitarist, and an equally great vocalist. Became part of mainstream consciousness with the album Breezin’, speaking of covers he does an incredible cover of Leon Russell’s This Masquerade. Weekend In L.A. provided another big cover hit with The Drifters’ On Broadway as well as The Greatest Love Of All…later on (I’m skipping a ton of awesome material) he sung the absolute perfect version of Bobby Darin’s Beyond The Sea. Talk about smooth, George is as smooth as it gets. Check out his version of The World Is A Ghetto. Supremely talented musician.
Interesting fact. Carl Perkins and Elvis were friends back at Sun Records. When Carl recorded Blue Suede shoes, it went no where. Elvis got Carl's permission to do it and the rest is history. Carl later said that his only regret was that Elvis didn't sing all of his (Carl's) songs.
Brother George Benson is one of the greatest guitarists of the seventies. Also a Gifted singer and all round nice guy. Check out Masquerade written by Leon Russell or On Broadway . Flawless .
I met George Benson on a flight back around 2009 or so and he was super nice. As a musician, he was amazing!! Well worth pulling up his repertoire and listening to it ALL.
Maller...a lot of us are learning this stuff with you. I knew quite a few of these, only because of my age. But a few shocked me too. Keep up the great work!
This Masquerade was a great cover of the Leon Russell classic and Breezin was one of the most successful jazz albums of the 70s to cross over on the pop charts. Give me the Night in 1980 was probably GB most popular hit. In the 80s, GB ruled the pop/R&B charts with many hits, love x love, Turn your love around, In your eyes and many more along with Give me the night.
I really enjoyed this video, and I totally get what you mean! It's always eye-opening to hear the real original versions, and then see what made the cover versions become so famous. The original artists must never be forgotten. Yes, please do all the parts if you can! 👍👍👍👍
Whitney Houston was all about the cover songs. She got so into it she said she’d made I Will Always Love You her own and actually fought Dolly Parton to stop performing it while her version was on the charts.
This was a FANTASTIC video. I learned so much. Who knew that some of the biggest artists we know and love--Whitney and Elvis--were the greatest cover artists of all time. Fascinating. Shout outs to all the original artists (dating back to the 20's) for their contributions and inspiration for what ultimately shaped modern pop and rock!! Thanks for doing this reaction! Good stuff.
The Whitney cover of George Benson's song (Movie theme for Ali's movie 'The greatest') was a lawsuit because it really was 24 bars of a Gordon Lightfoot song 'If you could read my mind'
George Benson, his later years more pop vocals, but this jazz musician is considered by many as greatest guitarists in the world (not just jazz but all genres).
oh Glen Campbell was a really really great on the guitar ...he was a session player then went to singing heck him out here on the you tube...no disrespect to George
There was a magic time in the 60s , when a whole collection of Black girl singing groups gave us some of the best songs ever recorded . They were beautiful .
You can't go wrong with any George Benson tune. Turn Your Love Around, Lady Love Me (One More Time), In Your Eyes and Give Me The Night are a few of my favourites. Enjoy. Much love from Scotland. x 😊
Couple little bits of trivia here: 1) It's In His Kiss (The Shoop Shoop Song) was originally done by Merry Clayton, not Mary Clayton. Merry Clayton sang on the Stones' Gimme Shelter. She is the one singing "Rape! Murder!" toward the end of the song. Interesting story behind that studio session, worth googling. 2) George Benson is best known as a jazz guitarist, but happens to have a pretty decent singing voice. He grew up in Pittsburgh's Hill District, and had a rock/r&b group as a teen which I believe was called the Altairs. 3) The Stones' Time Is On My Side is not the original. The original was done by Irma Thomas. 4) The Beach Boys cover of I Can Hear Music was done originally by The Ronettes. 5) Janis Joplin's Piece Of My Heart was originally done by Erma Franklin. There are hundreds of tunes that never made it the first time around. Whether it was a non-receptive audience, poor promotion by the record labels, DJs that didn't have an ear for music, or whatever, but if you have a favorite song, spend a few minutes researching the title. Who knows? You might even like what you hear.
I met Merry Clayton and asked her what was she singing at the end of "Gimme Shelter" I knew the "rape, murder" part but couldn't get the rest. She stood there thinking for a few seconds and finally said "How in the world am I supposed to remember something I did in 1968!?" (This was 1994). We both laughed heartily! She was a doll.
George Harrison came to the US before the Beatles' first tour to visit his sister in Illinois. While there, he bought a 45rpm and years later had a big hit covering that song, "I Got My Mind Set on You" originally sung by James Ray.
I had no idea that Elvis covered so many songs that to be honest I thought he made. For me it was a shocker! Blue suede shoes, Are you lonesome tonight, wow I was really surprised. This is why I watch you Jamel you help educate me and I am 58. Still lots to learn. THANKS.
Nervous Night is an excellent album. Another request for ...And We Danced. Eric and Rob have written songs for many artists. Time After Time, Cyndi Lauper for one.
Jamel I had a Autistic Son, who loved music from the 40/50/60/70's I have a lot of music because he liked it. Plus he used to listen to the Time Life Music Infomercials... He's in Heaven now, but he opened my eye's to a lot of music that was new when I was born in 62.
When I was first dating my wife I played her "I've Got You Under My Skin" by Frank Sinatra and she thought it was a U2 song. I had to tell her Frank wasn't the first singer to record it but that it was written by Cole Porter back in 1936.
I don't know what else is in the other 3 videos but Whitney Houston's "I will always love you" was written by Dolly Parton and Dolly did sing it in "Best Little Whorehouse In Texas"
George Benson, you need to visit this man's work. His great hit - This Masquerade. Whitney covered alot of George's stuff. He originated "Greatest Love of All" - good listen
Wahaha, yes, that´s it! Any song-covers I know, but not all here i.e. "the air that I breath" ? (I wonder). Thanx for this Part 1 reaction... rush to the 2nd Part. Best regards from Berlin / Germany to L.A./ US?
The man is in a class of his own. I have so much of George Benson's music. Saw him in concert once. Loved his music since the around 1976 - 77, when I first heard his Breezin album. Pure class. Still listening today 😊 Cool reaction too
George Benson is a fabulous jazz guitarist who helped make jazz more accessible. The incredible thing is that he started out as a lead singer BEFORE learning to play the guitar. Talent!!!
3 really big hits of his are "the breeze" covered by skynyrd. and clapton covered 2 of them "after midnight", and "cocaine". a lot of unrecognizable names have covered him too, but those are the very famous 3 songs.
Great channel you got. Greetings from a sunny Netherlands. BTW Robert Johnson Love in Vain vs The ROlling Stones would make a good one too, I love both versions.
Rodney, you’re so right! I’m 55 and I’m going back, going deep, listening to 60’s and 70’s blues, funk and r&b that I missed as a kid. You didn’t by chance play soccer in college did you? Had a Rodney Griffin as a teammate back in the 80’s.
It's all Fleetwood Mac if Mick Fleetwod and John McVie are in it. Peter Green named the group that when he left John Mayall's Bluesbreakers as he wanted Fleetwood and McVie as the rhythm section
I've requested George Benson numerous times on your channel. I guess my comment was one of the ones you've looked 's over. He is one of my favorite artist's. He held his own in the late 70's and early 80's when pop, rock and disco ruled. A WICKED, WICKED, WICKED man. He's earned the name BAD Benson.
