As promised in one of my previous blogs, I will be featuring some of the most prolific balladeers, whose songs I cover in my Ballads studio shows. So for this article, I would like to feature the incomparable George Benson. By the way, these blogs all reflect my personal opinions and experiences that move me to speak about the artists I feature so fondly, in these posts.
So let me take you back a little…well ok, maybe more than a little, to my high school days. As I reflect in my bio on my website, www.balladsbylamont.com, under the “Featured Artists” section, I started my first year of high school in Los Angeles. It just so happens that the family I was living with, lived directly across the street from the one and only, Mr. Billy Preston. Also, music was a constant feature in our household, as our rich African-American culture reflected this gift as a survival mechanism. So we would get up on weekends, to the sounds of Aretha Franklin, The Isley Brothers, Gladys Knight & The Pips, and so many more phenomenal singers from this generation. Oh…let me not forget that The Jackson 5, were like soulmate brothers to me, although they didn’t know that. I was around the same age as Michael, and like most young boys during that time, I would spin around and mimic his singing in front of the TV or in the mirror.
I’m getting around to George in just a few moments…I promise! So fast forward, when I relocated back to my home state of New Jersey, I met friends in my late teen years, who introduced me to a whole new world of music. The family mentioned on my website was a large family and their home was a gathering spot for music lovers and those loving to dance. There was a significant amount of talent, as some of the brothers in the family played various instruments and sang. One of the brothers actually traveled around the world with a very well-known band for quite a number of years. During these years, unbeknownst to my mother and the rest of my family, I was honing my craft of singing. My practice was as many singers profess today, that of following the sounds of artists I truly admired.
Suffice it to say, when you come to my shows, don’t be surprised if you hear a couple of George Benson favorites, from time to time! Please enjoy a couple of these YouTube videos to see just why I so love this accomplished musician and singer!
How smitten I became with the sounds of Mr. George Benson, especially when in the Spring of 1976, his award-winning album, “Breezin” was released. From that came a song entitled, “This Masquerade”. I believe that I played the grooves off that album and actually had to wind up replacing it for a fresh copy. In addition to falling in love with this ballad, his follow-up album, “In Flight”, gave me a new favorite song to sing along with, entitled “Everything Must Change”. I can tell you that everything George has made from then on, I have bought…hook, line and sinker!
My path to the singing stage started with me signing up for a chorus in California and, continuing my connection with that path in New Jersey. My high school chorus instructor extraordinaire, Mr. Ernie Scott, somehow heard me singing one day and forced me to the front of the class and asked (not really a request), me to sing a solo. Please look up the late Ernest Scott, from New Brunswick, NJ, and you will see how blessed I was to get noticed by such a phenomenal talent as he was. Ernie insisted also that I audition for the school play, so I did. I wound up playing the lead in our high school production of “Guys & Dolls. In addition, he again insisted that I sign up for the talent show in my senior year. Again, I complied. Many in school who knew me, had no idea that singing was something that I was capable of until the play and talent show ensued. For the talent show, I sang behind the beautiful accompaniment of Ernie playing, “Everything Must Change”, by George Benson.
