This is a real gem, filmed at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 2, 1966. Beside Benson who plays a beautiful Gibson Super 400 and is constantly fiddling with the knobs in search of the perfect killer tone, on Hammond B3 duties we can see a very young Lonnie Smith who passed away just recently (RIP) and an even younger Ronnie Cuber on bari sax performing a take-no-prisoners blues. As far as cinematography is concerned, this is on a par with Bert Stern's fabulous Jazz On A Summer's Day, musicians and audience are hipper than hip and beautifully filmed and edited throughout and the groove vibe is in the air and almost palpable. But this is 1966, just a year before the Summer Of Love and the Monterey Festival where things would take a different course musically. Priceless stuff, thanks for posting.
Here from the Beato interview. 😀 I first really got into GB with his massive vocal era, but nice to see the young George he spoke about in that wonderful interview. He _always_ 'sang' melodies from his head to his fingers just as he said.
Unequaled greatness, possibly the greatest soloist in the history of the instrument. Apropos of nothing, I’ve never seen a guitarist who messes with his volume and tone knobs more frequently than Benson.
Just a theory, but I think Benson is concerned with his arch-top feeding back and causing distortion. If you play jazz on that type of instrument - yeah, that's me, been there done that - they will feed back if you turn up the volume too much. Many guys stuff some foam into the sound holes to dampen the feedback or have a guitar tech install a "sound post," which is another fix for that issue. Benson later moved to playing an Ibanez which was a bit more of a hybrid in terms of being an arch-top hollow-body since I don't think it had a solid top but was partly laminated. Either way, regardless of instrument, Benson was on fire during this gig wasn't he?!
This tune is on The George Benson Cookbook- it’s called Benson’s Rider. You can even hear some of the same licks- but of course this live version is burning!
I just wish the man had played a few more jazz dates here-and-there once he had hit the big time. His pop hits are pleasing enough, but to hear him burn through some jazz is just too cool for words! I tried for years to catch him sitting in with Lou Donaldson, but no luck. That man was tough to pin down....
@@GeorgiaBoy1961 gotta make that "dough ray me"! I've never seen him live either but have been fortunate to catch a plethora of fine axemen, ( Stanley Jordan being one who particularly stands out). GB is a pioneer and legend who conveys some kool memories and stories when interviewed. # Elite and groundbreaking player...
I was 16 in 1966. I played guitar when I was 12 then, put the guitar away in favor of playing sports. Picked it back up when I was 15 and am still playing today. Boy... Am I glad I didn't see this in 1966. I might've called it quits!!! He is my favorite guitarist and is always a great source of inspiration. I mean, just to get close sometimes.....
I think that is a Super 500 - I played one of these models before owned by Mel Brown - guitar player for Bobby Blue Bland. It is a very physically large instrument - great tone - super cool.
ahhh, this is the George Benson I remember. Also found on the album George Benson Cookbook. With Gene Taylor, Lonnie Smith (at first I thought it was JImmy Smith on the organ), Billy Kay and Ronnie Cuber. This RU-vid video is so hot I think it just melted my computer!
@@fusionfan6883 There was this other kid, a year younger and not quite as funky, but nonetheless, right there with him in the chops department. George is from Pittsburgh, this other guy is from Philly but when George heard him for the first time, they were both in NY. His comment was, "just how good do you have to be to make it in NY?" Perhaps you've heard of him, his name is Pat Martino.
I'm a huge Martino fan and respect his fight back to fitness after his brain surgery, but he lacks the variety of phrasing and down right soulfulness of George to my mind.
Good lord that sounds incredible. That tempo is moving right along and is pretty rare to hear someone bring that hard that fast. Benson plays it as good as anyone I’ve heard including Wes.
No one was playing guitar like this at that time. True virtuoso. Blown away by his facility with the instrument at this young stage of his career. His funky phrasing …my goodness. Definite influence from Grant Green and the great organists of the era.
@@jorgemauriciomercado288 yes of course, and he was amazing and hugely influential for Benson as well. But just like Wes elevated the instrument, so did Benson. Another icon that elevated jazz guitar at the time was Pat Martino.
Such a cool performance by these cats, and GB working the knobs on that Super 400 like he means to find every little piece of badass tone that guitar has in it. A really inspirational piece and I'm sure I'll be borrowing licks off of this for a long time. Thanks, man! Blues cats everywhere are diggin' this.
At 23 he's very particular with his sound - the constant knob adjusting. AND you see where his voicing originates: a dynamic attack, blues infusion, style. What a treasure to guitar.
George was knockin it down at this level at 23 years of age. What ax was he playing? You tell me . He could make a guitar from Sears and Roebuck sound good. Thanks you George, you showed us how its done.
Don’t forget how killing Dr Lonnie Smith is here. So percussive and deep in the pocket. He hadn’t been playing very long either. He was definitely born to play the Hammond B3. RIP.
I FAR prefer early Benson than his later, mega-popular stuff. But when he was playing pure blues and jazz - that's GB at his finest. When this was shot, George was like the new wonder kid / upstart - as the jazz guitarists of the day were still under the giant shadow of Wes Montgomery - in fact, this was recorded about two years before Wes passed away. And the organ stuff is a perfect contrast and counterpoint. Thank God it was put on film!
I saw him playing this very theme in Paris in 1969. The concert featured K. Burrell. B. Kessel and G. Green. GB was playing as first part of the show. The audience was stunned. Unforgettable...
The amp was distorting and he was trying to find the magic spot on the volume knob of that Super 400, basically the amp was failing and he had to deal and keep playing.
Couldn't resist working that line out at 3.00 :) George Benson Line - Video Notebook #01 I think I've played this video about a thousand times now :) Thanks for uploading it!
Such a cool sounding line! He plays pretty much the same line (ends differently though) but slower at about 1:40 on ain't that peculiar if you want to get a more detailed listen of it :)
Amazing stuff, thanks for sharing! Cookin' all over with these young cats. Love Dr lonnie's playing and of course incredible what George is doing. Ronnie is also spot on!
It's the "Cookbook" band! Lonnie Smith...Ronnie Cuber.. I am embarrassed to say I can't remember the name of this tune-but it is indeed from "Cookbook".. Thanks so much for posting this! What a treat!
For all of you dropping names of other artists who may have influenced George, Thanks. I grew up listening to soul and Funk of the 70’s. I listened to GB, Grover, Joe Sample etc, but am still making many jazz and blues discoveries. So when you say, “hey listen to this guy,” others of us will benefit because we will go listen. I play piano, and I have a chance to learn so much now from RU-vid, so keep those recommendations coming. They may irritate a few,(although I can’t imagine why) but we all benefit in the long run.
Although greatly influenced by Wes (and which guitarist wasn’t??!) GB had his own distinct sound very early on… great to see footage of drummer Billy Kaye
this kid has potential, if he stays with it he might make it on to the Rolling Stone best 1000 guitarists of lal time. i mean clearly not top 250 material yet
You could really see see how raw George's playing was at this stage of his career. He had only been playing this style a couple years at this point. Before that he was been playing in R&B bands in bars, small clubs and juke joints. In this particular video you can hear it and see it. He hadn't developed his signature sound yet. Ten years later he was selling 10's of millions of albums. The "Breezing" album is quintessential George Benson but I dig this stuff much more.This is an incredible clip.
everybody on that stage is incredible. This vid is great I hear the perfect amount of blues mixed with just the right amount of jazz for my tastes. Damn is is great.
Really cool video, and the groove is amazing! But George was messing around with the volume because he was trying to find a good balance between having a decent volume, but with no distortion (the guitar was a bit distorted when the volume was full on 10). If you turn the volume too low, you loose a bit of body and dynamics. Awesome Super 400 by the way!
Yes, i think that searching for tone during the performance adds so much for the listener. That variation of volume, distortion and tone sounds so good for me. Maybe sometimes the journey's better than the destination.
Benson's cranking that Fender Showman amp. According to an interview, Wes Montgomery was using one the first time George saw him. He said he was impressed with the amp. (As well as with Wes, of course!)
Gil Parris! I just purchased your "50 Smooth Jazz Guitar Licks". I find it a masterful treasure trove of guitar lines that will keep me musically busy! Thanks for the comment on the GB that I posted--he certainly goes "outside" the blues scale on a few bars (as you duly covered in your course) & it is great to see him perform from this era.Again..many thanks :)
.Birth of a Legend !... Kyrie...Ellison !..Kyrie...Benson ! Thanks for this precious testimony .And listen to the same team of fabulous musicians on "the shadow of your smile"...a piece of anthology !!
Wow!!! Awesome rhythm and lead guitar skills from young Georgie!!! He's definitely been around for a long time before I was born, he's definitely old school playing a mean jazzy blues Wow!!!
