In 1976, the year of the USA's bicentennial, guitarist - vocalist George Benson released his album  "Breezin'." "Breezin'," a liltingly smooth flowing instrumental track, might be called "yacht rock" by today's standards. Thankfully, I don't create nonsensical popular culture music genre names about softer mellow grooves.

I happened to be in New York City for the USA 200th anniversary (1976). Those vintage tall ships in the Hudson River between the coastlines of New York and New Jersey left a lasting, powerful impression. This is one of the many pictures I shot.

The view is from a high-rise in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, looking west toward the Hudson River.

1976 bicentennial photo by Kingsley H. Smith

The break out song from "Breezin'" was the vocal "This Masquerade." 50 years later, for the 250th anniversary of the U-S Declaration of Independence, 83 year old George Benson is still with us to celebrate the 2026 Semiquincentennial.

"This Masquerade," written by Leon Russell, was a #3 R&B hit, and a #10 pop chart smash for Benson. George made his name as a sideman playing guitar with a ton of group/band leaders. Al Young, writing the liner notes on Breezin', explains that Benson started playing guitar at 8. By 19, he joined organist Jack McDuff's group.

The great artists start early, and last a long time, excelling in their craft. Here is a 1989 album re-released by Benson's record company in 2024 with Canada's composer, conductor, musical arranger and trumpet player Robert Farnon (with his orchestra).

If you visit GeorgeBenson.com, you will see almost every album in the official discography he has dropped into the market going back to his record with Brother Jack McDuff in 1964!

The second record next to Breezin' above is a special 12 inch promotional pressing of George Gershwin's "Summertime" by Benson on CTI Records released in 1982. Benson recorded lots of material on CTI before breaking out big for Warner Brothers. Hear a version of "Summertime" performed Philly style by MFSB.

Once Benson became extremely popular, CTI pushed their back catalogue of mostly George Benson instrumental tracks. One CTI vocal that didn't connect for the guitarist was "Supership," an up-tempo danceable track with lots of ocean liner horn sound effects.

It was released as a single only, but was included in an early to mid 1970s album Fire Into Music that also included songs from Esther Phillips, Deodato, Freddie Hubbard, Hubert Laws, Bob James, Stanley Turrentine, Hank Crawford, and Grover Washington Jr.

Discover George Benson's official YouTube channel featuring audio and visual treats.

When thinking about the 250th USA Declaration of Independence 2026 celebration, I wanted to write about an artist that was successfully poppin' during the 200th anniversary in 1976, witnessed before my own young eyes all those years ago. 

Lots of false information has been recently circulating about George Benson, so it was easy to select him for this spotlight based on the real facts about his career.

George Benson, back cover of Breezin'

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