George Benson

• LIMITED EDITION LP

• DELUXE 180-GRAM REISSUE

Released on the Verve label in 1968, Giblet Gravy marked jazz/soul guitarist George Benson's fourth album as a leader. It features Benson backed by an all-star group arranged and conducted by Tom McIntosh, that includes such jazz luminaries as Ernie Royal, Pepper Adams, Johnny Pacheco, Billy Cobham, Ron Carter, and Herbie Hancock.

According to AllMusic reviewer Richard S. Ginell, the label's "immediate goal was to groom Benson as the next Wes Montgomery (who was about to leave Verve) — and so he covers hit tunes of the day, playing either with a big band plus voices or a neat quintet anchored by Herbie Hancock, and the sound is contoured to give his guitar a warm mellow ambience. But the eclectic Benson is his own man, as his infectious repeated-interval rhythm trademark tells us on his self-composed title track. George's work is always tasty and irresistibly melodic."

PERSONNEL:

• Tom McIntosh - (conductor)
• George Benson - (lead guitar)
• Jimmy Owens, Ernie Royal, Snookie Young - (trumpet)
• Jimmy Owens - (flugelhorn)
• Pepper Adams - (baritone sax)
• Alan Raph - (bass trombone)
• Johnny Pacheco - (conga, drums)
• Billy Cobham, Jr. - (drums)
• Ron Carter or Bob Cranshaw - (bass)
• Carl Lynch or Eric J. Gale - (guitar)
• Herbie Hancock - (piano)
• Eileen Gilbert, Lois Winter, Albertine Robinson - (vocalists)

Recorded February 1967 in New York

TRACKS:

• SIDE A
• A1. ALONG CAME MARY
• A2. SUNNY
• A3. WHAT’S NEW
• A4. GIBLET GRAVY
• A5. WALK ON BY

• SIDE B
• B1. THUNDER WALK
• B2. SACK OF WOE
• B3. GROOVIN’
• B4. LOW DOWN AND DIRTY