George Benson, Bobby Martin (The Granddaddy of R&B), Larry Graham

The Granddaddy of R&B (Bobby Martin) was one of the first African American executives to produce, arrange, compose and publish songs in the music industry! Bobby Martin took over the music scene in Philadelphia in the late 1950's with a new urban sounding music that was different from Soul and Rock and Roll. Bobby Martin was born on May 4, 1930 in Ohio. He was mentored and taught by Jazz legends Frank Foster and Lionel Hampton, and Martin began playing the vibraphones professionally throughout the late 1940's with The Lynn Hope Orchestra, a Rhythm and Blues group. By the year 1950 Bobby Martin had made a name for himself in music as a famous vibraphonist (vibraphone player) and as an arranger for The Lynn Hope Orchestra. Bobby Martin signed a recording deal with The Lynn Hope Orchestra in Philadelphia, and the group moved to Philadelphia before Motown existed in the mid 1950's. Motown was founded in 1959, and Soul music was acknowledged a few years later. Rhythm and Blues music came after Soul and Rock and Roll music, and Rhythm and Blues was acknowledged in the late 1960's. However, Bobby Martin had been recording Rhythm and Blues music professionally with The Lynn Hope Orchestra long before Motown and Motown Soul music existed. Martin was often ridiculed, persecuted, and disliked for his strange new sounding music that was so different from Jazz and from Rock and Roll. In 1956 Bobby Martin made and attempt to produce Rhythm and Blues groups in Philadelphia, but lacked the funding to promote and record artists, but in 1958 he was given the opportunity to produce, arrange and compose Rhythm and Blues music. And so he did just that, under different name titles since he was known as Robert L. Martin, Robert L., R. L. Martin, B. Martin, Robert Martin, Bobby Martin and Robert M. at the time. And so he built up a great success with his artists until he discovered Patti LaBelle in 1959. After producing, arranging, composing and publishing the Rhythm and Blues legend's (Patti LaBelle's) first album, Bobby Martin's career took off. Everything Bobby Martin touched turned to gold, as far as music was concerned. Yet Rhythm and Blues was not acknowledged as music yet, Bobby Martin's music was Rhythm and Blues music without a title, and Motown's Soul music was just starting to get popular. After Motown and Soul music made big names for themselves in the early 1960's, Rhythm and Blues came about, around the year 1970. This was when Bobby Martin, Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell teamed up to form Philadelphia International Records. Bobby Martin produced or arranged all of Philadelphia International Records biggest hit songs. Not only was Bobby Martin playing, producing, composing and publishing Rhythm and Blues before any one else, he was good at what he was doing! This is what made Bobby Martin the king of R&B. Bobby Martin produced and arranged platinum hits on all of the top Rhythm and Blues artists, including Michael Jackson and The Jackson's. Bobby Martin eventually changed American music with his signature sound, and producers and arrangers began copying Bobby Martin's sound. He eventually took his Rhythm and Blues to Hollywood and to the major league record labels. He then formed his famous production company named Bobby Martin Productions. The multi Grammy winner and ex bandleader of the legendary MFSB had become much more than only a legend in the music world that changed music, he had become a celebrity producer and household name. And he was the top Rhythm and Blues producer in the world by the late 1970's, while working at A&M records in Hollywood with Quincy Jones. Bobby Martin remains active with music productions in 2013. He was named The Granddaddy of Rhythm and Blues because he definitely is The Granddaddy of Rhythm and Blues music. If it weren't for Bobby Martin and his contributions to music, we would not have Rhythm and Blues.

 

 

"The Greatest Love of All" for the 1977 Muhammad Ali bio-pic, The Greatest, which was later covered by Whitney Houston as "Greatest Love of All". During this time Benson recorded with the German conductor, Claus Ogerman. The live take of "On Broadway", recorded a few months later from the 1978 release Weekend in L.A., also won a Grammy. He has worked with Freddie Hubbard on a number of his albums throughout the '60s, '70s and '80s. He joined the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1979, where he is still active to date. The Qwest record label (a subsidiary of Warner Bros., run by Quincy Jones) released Benson's breakthrough pop album Give Me The Night, produced by Jones. Benson made it into the pop and R&B top ten with the song "Give Me the Night" (written by former Heatwave keyboardist Rod Temperton). More importantly, Quincy Jones encouraged Benson to search his roots for further vocal inspiration, and he re-discovered his love for Nat Cole, Ray Charles and Donny Hathaway in the process, influencing a string of further vocal albums into the '90s. Despite returning to his jazz and guitar playing most recently, this theme was reflected again much later in Benson's 2000 release Absolute Benson featuring a cover of one of Hathaway's most notable songs, The Ghetto. Benson accumulated three other platinum LPs and two gold albums. Later and current careeredit: In 1985 Benson and guitarist Chet Atkins went on the smooth jazz charts with their collaboration "Sunrise", one of two songs from the duo released on Atkins' disc Stay Tuned. In 1992, Benson appeared on Jack McDuff's Colour Me Blue album, his first appearance on a Concord album. Benson signed with Concord Records in 2005 and toured with Al Jarreau in America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand to promote their 2006 multiple Grammy winning album Givin' It Up. He played during the second Monsoon Cup in Terengganu in 2006 and also Malaysia's 50th Merdeka celebration alongside Jarreau in 2007. In May 2008, for the first time Benson took part in Mawazine Festival in Morocco. To commemorate the long-term relationship between Benson and Ibanez and to celebrate 30 years of collaboration on the GB Signature Models, Ibanez created the GB30TH, a very limited edition model featuring a gold foil finish inspired by the traditional Japanese Garahaku art form. In 2009, Benson was recognized by the National Endowment of the Arts as a Jazz Master, the nations highest honor in Jazz. Benson performed at the 49th issue of The Ohrid Summer Festival in Macedonia on July 25, 2009, and his tribute show to Nat King Cole "An Unforgettable Tribute to Nat King Cole" as part of the Istanbul International Jazz Festival in Turkey on July 27. In the fall of 2009, Benson finished recording a new album titled Songs and Stories, with Marcus Miller, producer John Burk, and session musicians David Paich and Steve Lukather. As a part of the promotion for his recent Concord Music Group/Monster Music release Songs and Stories, Benson has appeared and/or performed on The Tavis Smiley Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Benson toured throughout 2010 in North America, Europe and the Pacific Rim, including an appearance at the Singapore Sun Festival. He performed at the Java Jazz Festival March 4-6, 2011. In 2011, Benson released the album Guitar Man--revisiting his '60s/early-'70s guitar-playing roots with a 12-song collection of covers of both jazz and pop standards overseen by producer John Burk. In June of 2013, Benson released his fourth album for Concord Records, Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole, which featured Wynton Marsalis, Idina Menzel, Till Brönner, and Judith Hill.

 

 

 

Larry Graham & Graham Central Station was a showcase for the revolutionary pop-and-slap bass guitar of Larry Graham, an alumnus of Sly & the Family Stone largely responsible for originating the percussive groove which typified the progressive funk sound of the '70s. Born August 14, 1946 in Beaumont, Texas, Graham was raised in Oakland, California; by his teens he was adept not only on bass but also guitar, harmonica, and drums, and at the age of 15 began performing with the Dell Graham Trio, his mother's lounge act. While attending college, he served as a supporting musician with the likes of John Lee Hooker, Jackie Wilson, Jimmy Reed, and the Drifters; in 1968 he joined Sly & the Family Stone, appearing with the group during the halcyon period which gave rise to such classic albums as Stand! and There's a Riot Goin' On, as well as smash singles like "Dance to the Music" and "Everybody Is a Star," both of which prominently feature Graham's cavernous baritone in addition to his enormously influential thumping bass style. In the wake of behind-the-scenes turmoil, Graham exited the group in late 1972; after initially agreeing to produce a band named Hot Chocolate (not the same act famed for hit singles like "Emma" and "You Sexy Thing"), he eventually joined their lineup, renaming the unit Graham Central Station. A propulsive, infectious funk ensemble, their original roster also included guitarist David "Dynamite" Vega, keyboardists Robert "Butch" Sam (formerly with Billy Preston), and Hershall "Happiness" Kennedy, percussionist Patryce "Chocolate" Banks, and drummer Willie "Wild" Sparks. The debut Graham Central album, an eponymously titled effort released in 1974, proved highly successful, launching a minor pop hit with "Can You Handle It." Another hit, "Feel the Need," emerged from Release Yourself, issued later that same year; the third GCS LP, 1975's Ain't No Bout-A-Doubt It, yielded the single "Your Love," a Top 40 pop hit which also topped the R&B charts. Mirror followed a year later. With 1977's Now Do U Wanta Dance, Graham Central Station scored another R&B smash with the title track; by the release of 1978's My Radio Sure Sounds Good to Me, Graham's wife Tina had signed on as a vocalist, but pop crossover success remained elusive, and after Star Walk the following year, the group disbanded. Graham then turned solo, moving from funk to soulful ballads; his debut effort, 1980's One in a Million You, reached the Top 30, the title track becoming a Top Ten hit. 1981's Just Be My Lady yielded another hit with its own title cut, while 1982's Sooner or Later was also successful. However, after 1983's Victory, Graham's career took a downward turn, with 1985's Fired Up released solely in Japan. Aside from 1987's "If You Need My Love Tonight," a minor hit duet with Aretha Franklin, he was largely out of the public eye in the years to follow, instead working as a songwriter and sideman. By the early '90s, Graham was leading Psychedelic Psoul, a nine-piece band which toured with comedian/singer Eddie Murphy; he also toured with the Crusaders. Following Sly & the Family Stone's 1993 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, he re-formed Graham Central Station, eventually bringing into the fold former Family Stone bandmates Cynthia Robinson on trumpet and Jerry Martini on saxophone. Throughout Graham's lean years, one of his most vocal supporters remained the Artist Formerly Known as Prince, who readily acknowledged the influence of GCS not only on his music but also on his flamboyant stage show; by 1997, Graham Central Station was ensconced as the regular supporting act on Prince's extended Jam of the Year tour, with the group also issuing a Japanese album titled By Popular Demand. Sessions with Prince at Paisley Park yielded GCS 2000 (1998), released during Graham's stint as the purple one's bassist. While he wrote and toured on and off for several years, he didn't release another album with Graham Central Station until 2012, when Raise Up arrived on the Moosicus label.

 

Done