I like to sing because my mother was a singer. She sang to me all the time, so I learned to love singing. I did have a career as little 10-year-old George Benson. I made my first record as a vocalist, but I’ve been playing guitar since I was 9. George Benson Read Quote
I think I’m more entertainer than musician. I like to get with the crowd, make this night special for them. George Benson Read Quote
I haven’t done anything with Chick Corea. He had a group called Return to Forever, and everyone in the group became a superstar. I would really like to work with him. George Benson Read Quote
One thing all the way through the show to me is boring. I don’t care how great the artist is. I find that if my audience is very young, and they want to hear very young songs, my show will be dominated by that. But there’ll be some ballads here and there and some swing tunes. George Benson Read Quote
The jazz rhythm won’t be understood by the bulk of my audience. That’s the problem. We can get away with maybe one tune a night. It depends on where we place it. A song like ‘Beyond the Sea,’ the fans love that. It’s fresh. George Benson Read Quote
Life isn’t all me. I have a family to support. I can’t rob them of a good life simply because I want to play something. George Benson Read Quote
We don’t live in a jazz world, unfortunately. I think if I had lived in a jazz world, I would have done OK. I’m not sure I would have done great. I’m a lover of jazz music, so I would have been happy, don’t get me wrong. I go to jazz concerts like the biggest jazz fan in world. The drag is that I don’t play jazz for a living. George Benson Read Quote
I actually got discovered in my hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by a man who worked at a place that sold barbecue sandwiches! George Benson Read Quote
I’ve done two albums for Concord Records; one was with Al Jarreau and it did very well for us. The second album was called ‘Songs And Stories,’ and it had good songs and good performances, but I promised them I would do an album that was more jazz-oriented. George Benson Read Quote
