George Benson ”In Flight”

George Benson

”In Flight”
( LP Warner Bros. Records, 1977 )
Catalog # BSK 2983

Tracklisting:
A1 Nature Boy (5:58)
A2 The Wind And I (5:04)
A3 The World Is A Ghetto (9:41)
B1 Gonna Love You More (4:37)
B2 Valdez In The Country (4:29)
B3 Everything Must Change (8:07)

Personnel & Credits:
Arranged By [Orchestra], Conductor [Orchestra] – Claus Ogerman
Bass – Phil Upchurch (tracks: B2, B3) , Stanley Banks
Drums – Harvey Mason
Electric Piano, Synthesizer [Minimoog] – Ronnie Foster
Engineer, Mixed By – Al Schmitt
Guitar [Lead], Vocals – George Benson
Guitar [Rhythm] – Phil Upchurch
Mastered By – Doug Sax
Percussion – Ralph MacDonald
Piano [Acoustic], Clavinet – Jorge Dalto
Producer – Tommy Lipuma

Notes:
Recorded at Capitol Records, Hollywood, August – November 1976
Mastered at The Mastering Lab, Hollywood
Format:Vinyl, LP
Country: Brazil
Released: 1977

Review:
In the wake of “This Masquerade,” the balance of power shifted for the first time toward George Benson’s suddenly marketable voice; four of the six tracks on In Flight are vocals. By this time, Benson was tailoring his tenor toward soulful pitch-bending à la Stevie Wonder on tunes as diverse as “Nature Boy” and “The World Is a Ghetto,” and the unison scatting with the guitar that caught fire with the public on Masquerade is now pulled out whenever possible. Benson’s backing band from Breezin’, still set in its funk mode, is intact, and Claus Ogerman again contributes gentle orchestral cushions. The two instrumentals, particularly Donny Hathaway’s “Valdez in the Country,” prove that Benson remained a brilliantly inventive melodist on guitar, in full possession of his powers. Yet there is every indication here that Benson was set upon becoming primarily a pop star.
By Richard S. Ginell (AMG)

By Pier