In 1980,George Benson was riding high.That's the year he released one of the most vibrant albums of his career,the hit-filled 'Give Me The Night'.Produced by Quincy Jones,the album is a soul/pop/jazz masterpiece,with one highlight after another.There's the catchy title track,which packed many dancefloors back in the day.With it's light disco beat and infectious hook ("cause there's music everywhere...lots of lovin' everywhere,so give me the night"),it became an instant classic.There's the haunting remake of the 1978 Heatwave song "Star Of A Story".There's the sexy,jazzy duet with Patti Austin "Moody's Mood" (a remake of a 1967 James Moody classic).But the song that really impressed me was the opening track "Love X Love",which was beautifully written by Rod Temperton.It features a breezy,hypnotic groove and lush background vocals that soar during the chorus.Released as a a single,it quickly caught on with the same listeners who couldn't get enough of the hit title track.This song was further proof that the Quincy Jones/Rod Temperton pairing was a match made in heaven...


"LOVE X LOVE"

(written by Rod Temperton)


Remember the days when we never had a dime
And our dreams seemed a million milies away
But we made it baby,facin' the bad times with a smile
Here we are,and we're growin' stronger day by day


(chorus)
Cause we got love times love,it's always there for us to share
And girl,it sure feels good to know you're by my side
Cause we're just two high hearts that beat as one,forever on
with love times love to keep us satisfied...every night

So my lady,whisper the words I love to hear
Cuddle up,and I'll make you feel alright
Cause I need you baby,to carry me on through all the years
So come on,baby,close the door and dim the lights

(chorus)
Cause we got love times love,it's always there for us to share
And girl,it sure feels good to know you're by my side
Cause we're just two high hearts that beat as one,forever on
with love times love,to keep us satisfied

And there ain't no one in the world tonight
can change my point of view
So come on girl and hold me tight
the way you always do
with love times me and you


(repeat chorus)

AAAAA LOVE THIS JOINT! Played this on the way to work yesterday!

~~~~~brainwaves transmitting to the funky types

CinisterCee said:

I notice that there's alot of "mind-reading" going on in this forum....lol...Finess always picks songs that I've been listening to lately.Weird,isn't it?

DavidEye said:

you name it! Top album!!

Dancelot said:

absofugiinlutely looooove this album.... LoveX Love is the cut oh man..

I ordered George Benson's GH the other day! Remember how when "Breezin'" came out it was the bomb!? I think everybody in my neighborhood owned a copy. And gosh, did I love me some "On Broadway!"

UptownDeb said:

what about "This Masquerade"? That song kills me everytime.

DavidEye said:

Yeah! How could I forget that? I tell you, to me that song was grown people's music. When I was young I took those type of somber songs for granted. I couldn't relate at the time. But, it's still a great record.

Do you guys have this album?

The Best of George Benson


1. Give Me the Night
2. Love Ballad
3. This Masquerade
4. Love X Love
5. I Just Wanna Hang Around You
6. Turn Your Love Around
7. Inside Love (So Personal)
8. 20/20
9. Everything Must Change
10. Never Give up on a Good Thing
11. Kisses in the Moonlight
12. Lady Love Me (One More Time)
13. Lady Blue
14. On Broadway

I love this album because I can listen to the entire thing. Lady Blue is my absolute favorite George Benson track. It's missing Breezin' and Star of a Story and his version of Moody's Mood for Love but I just downloaded those cuz he recorded my favorite versions of those songs. This is one album that I could never part with. Hmmmm...gives me an idea for a thread.

TheOrgerFormerlyKnownAs said:

I do, I'm not too pleased with it tho cuz its VERY short and got no liner notes(I'm longing to buy a 2 CD-set anthology from him reissued by RHINO cuz they're the best in making GH albums and with liner notes from David Nathan wouldn't hurt at all).


My father played the HELL out of "Breezin'" when I was young, "The Masquerade" is my FAVE song from him too

cuz love...tiiiiimes love...

That's one of my all-time favorite George Benson songs. I wanna listen to it now. I have that Best of collection on tape. I don't get how these compilations are made but somehow the biggest hits are excluded.

funkyslsistah said:

Because it should be called The Best of George Benson on Warner Brothers.

Happens all the time. Sorta like how Janet's Design Of A Decade only had one song licensed from Virgin ("That's The Way Love Goes") because it was presented by A&M, so it was basically the best of Control and Rhythm Nation.

TheOrgerFormerlyKnownAs said:

I have that CD! It's cool,but there is a 2-CD set from Rhino Records that came out several years ago.That's the one I gotta get my hands on.

Interesting pick Dave!!!! Many consider this album to be Benson's last great album.....In some ways I agree with that....This teed off a lot of jazz purist who felt that Benson had once again sold out by making yet another pop record with jazz sensibilities. Two more albums that were released a year later received the same kind of response within the jazz community. Those two records that I happen to think were great even though it wasn't pure jazz/pure fusion per se.....

Stanley Clarke And George Duke-Clarke/Duke Project(1981)
Quincy Jones-The Dude(1981)

Oh one more.....

Patrice Rushen-Straight From The Heart (1982)


Even though these records were R&B oriented in a strong kind of way. These albums contained very good music. At least these records like Benson's Give Me The Night had select songs that allowed the musicans to lay down solos on their instruments.

After Give Me The Night, Benson hasn't been the same to me....Brotha has been on serious cruise control. He's more like smoooooth jazz.....and of course authentic jazz fans such as myself despise this kind of plazzzzz(as I call it sometimes.....LOL!!!)

Fans of his post 1976 work don't even know about the great pre-1976 CTI albums he made great stuff like the gem Beyond The Blue Horizon. Pure jazz stuff there.
I'm waiting for him to return to form again on records.....His playing has always been great..Benson IMO is one of the greatest living guitarists out there.....The music world and especially the jazz world need him to make a TRUE record showcasing his amazing virtuosity on the six-string fretboard.....Well Tenderly was sort of a return to form. That one came out in 1989. Having said all of that...I got me a blank CDR and I'm putting together my own Benson compilation of some of my favorite Benson songs.....Pre-1976 Breezin and Post- 1976-Breezin stuff.....The set list will be something like this...

1. C-Smooth

2. Valdez In The Country

3. Sky Dive

4. Porquito Spanish, Porquito Funk

5. Love X Love

6. Deeper Than You Think

7. My Latin Brother

8. Benson's Rider

9. Theme From Summer Of 42

10. Turn Your Love Around

11. Take Five

12. Summertime (Live)

13. The Greatest Love Of All

14. Return Of Prodigal Son

15. Keep Rollin

16. One Rock Don't Make No Boulder


Should be a interesting CD. The songs should flow together well.

Brother 9/15
[This message was edited Fri Feb 27 15:09:30 2004 by BRO915]