In the Summer of 1976, a close friend’s eldest brother, Charlie, whom I referred to then affectionately as the “Chazzman” given his collection of jazz records, insisted that we listen to Breezin’, a new album by George Benson. I initially resisted; my tastes at the time leaned more towards Led Zeppelin and Stevie Wonder, and I wrongly assumed the album would be all instrumentals. But my friend and I ultimately relented, since the Chazzman had a state-of-the art Technics turntable and massive speakers, on which everything sounded good, and it was too hot to play one-on-one basketball that day in their driveway anyway.
In the Summer of 1976, a close friend’s eldest brother, Charlie, whom I referred to then affectionately as the “Chazzman” given his collection of jazz records, insisted that we listen to Breezin’, a new album by George Benson. I initially resisted; my tastes at the time leaned more towards Led Zeppelin and Stevie Wonder, and I wrongly assumed the album would be all instrumentals. But my friend and I ultimately relented, since the Chazzman had a state-of-the art Technics turntable and massive speakers, on which everything sounded good, and it was too hot to play one-on-one basketball that day in their driveway anyway.
40 years later, I’m still thankful to the Chazzman for his polite persistence. I spent much of that Summer lounging on the floor listening to the album repeatedly through headphones, and in particular the track “This Masquerade,” which was magical and transporting for me then and remains so now. Written by the great Leon Russell, the track is the perfect marriage of artist and song. Benson’s unique scatting along with his lead guitar lines at the track’s outset immediately create a special atmosphere, and his soulful vocal throughout is one of the finest of that decade. The track reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the album, #1, taking Benson’s career (which until then had been driven largely by his virtuoso guitar playing on instrumentals) to an entirely other level. We feature here his live performance of the song on the Midnight Special. Enjoy.
By Robb Patryk