George Benson, Weekend In L.A. (1978)

This is one of the albums of my childhood. It would be nice, in a way, to think of my folks shovelling coke up their noses and attending parties with the baddest cats on the planet, cruising around bars, burning around in cars with this album as the soundtrack. But it’s more likely they were cutting up oranges and washing jerseys for sports teams, maybe sneaking a sip on some Miami Wine Cooler and playing games of 500 with relatives and friends, watching McPhail and Gadsby on Saturday nights and taking on extra work in the weekends and nights to make money to make ends meet to raise their kids. But they did find room for Weekend In L.A. as (part of) the soundtrack for these pursuits. This was my introduction to George Benson. And it’s still the touchstone. Around the same time was Give Me The Night too. And I have both on vinyl – the originals from my folks’ record collection. Weekend In L.A. presents the best of George Benson as the everyman entertainer, one part sincere balladeer, one part jazz-guitar maestro, one part cheesy R’n’B man. And all parts are excellent – though he did get a little too much in to soft vocal cheese shortly after this. But this is him getting towards his mainstream/commercial peak – and what a wonderful groove behind him; a great band. It was a key live album for me. Still is. And it was a real treat, last year to interview George Benson. He told me that Marvin Gaye once told him he was “the baddest cat on the planet”. You can hear that here across these four sides of slickness. My folks knew it. And I thank them for the introduction.

Sample Track: On Broadway

The Vinyl Countdown is a document of every LP I listen to, brand new discoveries and old-old favourites; extremely pre-loved, previously abandoned or with the shrink-wrap having just been removed it’s all here at The Vinyl Countdown