Given his superior talents, David Foster became a fixture on all the Quincy Jones’ productions released between 1978 and 1983. The Hitman co-wrote, arranged and/or played on chart-toppers like Off The Wall and Thriller by the late Michael Jackson (1958-2009), Q’s own The Dude, Patti Austin’s Every Home Should Have One, the late James Ingram’s (1952-2019) debut album It’s Your Night, The Brothers Johnson’s Blam and the late Donna Summer’s (1948-2012) self-titled release.

George Benson’s milestone record, Give Me The Night, was released August 9, 1980. Give Me The Night had Foster’s name in the liner notes. The Canadian Wizard arranged two tracks for that record, “Midnight Love Affair,” written by “Hawk” Wolinski of Rufus and Chaka fame, and the pick for this week, the breezy and irresistible “Love x Love.”

Written by the late, great composer Rod Temperton (1949-2016), “Love x Love” was a gorgeous mid-tempo that was the second single off Give Me The Night after the huge success of the title-track. The personnel on the song included giants like Greg Phillinganes on keyboards, John Robinson on drums plus Jerry Hey on trumpet and horn arrangements. Foster and Hey styled the silky strings while Temperton crafted the spectacular instrumental and vocal tracks. George Benson was in his prime and delivered one masterful performance after another on the entire album. His vocals and guitar dominate Give Me The Night by verging on perfection. The complete creation was one of Jones’ best productions ever. “Love x Love” became a solid top ten hit in the UK and was in the top ten on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles. For some unknown reason, “Love x Love” didn’t perform well on Billboard’s Hot 100 and only reached #61. Its parent album was quickly certified platinum. Give Me The Night was a crossover hit by reaching the top position on the Jazz, Soul and Pop charts.

Listen

• Lead Vocals & Guitar: George Benson
• Keyboards: Greg Phillinganes
• Bass: Abraham Laboriel & Louis Johnson
• Drums: John Robinson
• Percussion: Paulinho da Costa
• Trumpet: Jerry Hey
• Saxophones: Larry Williams & Kim Hutchcroft
• Background Vocals: Diva Gray, Jim Gilstrap, Jocelyn Allen, Patti Austin & Tom Bahler

• Strings Arranged by David Foster & Jerry Hey
• Horns Arranged by Jerry Hey

Lyrics

Remember the days when we never had a dime
And our dreams seemed a million miles away
But we made it baby
Facin’ the bad times with a smile
Here we are and we’re growin’ stronger day by day

Cause we got love times love
It’s always there for us to share
And girl it sure feels good to know
You’re by my side
Cause we’re just two high hearts
That beat as one forever on
With love times love to keep us satisfied every night

So my lady whisper the words I love to hear
Cuddle up and I’ll make you feel all right
Cause I need you baby to carry me on through all the years
So come on baby close the door and dim the lights

Cause we got love times love
It’s always there for us to share
And girl it sure feels good to know
You’re by my side
Cause we’re just two high hearts
That beat as one forever on
With love times love to keep us satisfied every night

And there ain’t no one in this world tonight
Can change my point of view
So come on girl and hold me tight
The way you always do with love times me and you

Cause we got love times love
It’s always there for us to share
And girl it sure feels good to know
You’re by my side
Cause we’re just two high hearts
That beat as one forever on
With love times love to keep us satisfied every night

Written by Al Jarreau, David Foster & Jay Graydon

Released in October 2006, Givin’ It Up was an event for contemporary jazz and R&B audiences. It marked the first collaboration between two legends, guitarist and vocalist extraordinaire George Benson and iconic vocalist Al Jarreau. John Burk, who went to the Grammy podium in 2005 for his work on the late Ray Charles’ Genius Loves Company cd, produced Givin’ It Up. The record was a listening pleasure for music lovers who appreciated the classic, sophisticated sounds of two gifted performers. Both Jarreau and Benson were in fine form and gave noteworthy performances throughout the project.

The cd opens with the one-two punch of “Breezin’” and “Mornin’,” two gems from their respective repertoires. To spice things up, Jarreau added his trademark vocals and lyrics to “Breezin’” while Benson returned the favor with a showstopper guitar performance on the Al Jarreau/David Foster/Jay Graydon masterpiece “Mornin’.”

The new cover of “Mornin’” from Givin’ It Up is the Song of the Week. Given that it was impossible to top the beauty of Jarreau’s 1983 original take, Burk and arranger Michael Broening took the song in another direction. They added a fresh, contemporary jazz spin to the timeless melody. Jarreau contributed some evocative vocals to embellish the mood while Marion Meadows enriched the atmosphere with his tasteful saxophone licks. This new rendition of “Mornin’” kept the superior rhythmic and melodic appeal of the Jay Graydon-produced original and was rightly awarded a Grammy as “Best Pop Instrumental Performance.”

Givin’ It Up presented more covers of timeless gems including “God Bless The Child,” popularized by Billie Holiday and featuring Jill Scott that was another Grammy winner for Givin’ It Up. Another highlight was a soothing rendition of John Legend’s “Ordinary People.” And don’t forget the superb, quality pop cover of Seals & Croft’s “Summer Breeze.” The top level of the cd was enhanced by the presence of special guests including Sir Paul McCartney, Patti Austin, trumpeter Chris Botti and piano legend Herbie Hancock. The expertise shown on Givin’ It Up harkened back to a glorious era where great, song-oriented music was made by true musicians. The cd stands as a textbook in terms of song selection, musical arrangement, vocal and instrumental execution. Due to its extraordinary appeal, Givin’ It Up showed good success by reaching #1 on the Contemporary Jazz chart, #14 on the R&B chart and #58 on Billboard’s Top 200.The cd opens with the one-two punch of “Breezin’” and “Mornin’,” two gems from their respective repertoires. To spice things up, Jarreau added his trademark vocals and lyrics to “Breezin’” while Benson returned the favor with a showstopper guitar performance on the Al Jarreau/David Foster/Jay Graydon masterpiece “Mornin’.”
The new cover of “Mornin’” from Givin’ It Up is the Song of the Week. Given that it was impossible to top the beauty of Jarreau’s 1983 original take, Burk and arranger Michael Broening took the song in another direction. They added a fresh, contemporary jazz spin to the timeless melody. Jarreau contributed some evocative vocals to embellish the mood while Marion Meadows enriched the atmosphere with his tasteful saxophone licks. This new rendition of “Mornin’” kept the superior rhythmic and melodic appeal of the Jay Graydon-produced original and was rightly awarded a Grammy as “Best Pop Instrumental Performance.”
Givin’ It Up presented more covers of timeless gems including “God Bless The Child,” popularized by Billie Holiday and featuring Jill Scott that was another Grammy winner for Givin’ It Up. Another highlight was a soothing rendition of John Legend’s “Ordinary People.” And don’t forget the superb, quality pop cover of Seals & Croft’s “Summer Breeze.” The top level of the cd was enhanced by the presence of special guests including Sir Paul McCartney, Patti Austin, trumpeter Chris Botti and piano legend Herbie Hancock. The expertise shown on Givin’ It Up harkened back to a glorious era where great, song-oriented music was made by true musicians. The cd stands as a textbook in terms of song selection, musical arrangement, vocal and instrumental execution. Due to its extraordinary appeal, Givin’ It Up showed good success by reaching #1 on the Contemporary Jazz chart, #14 on the R&B chart and #58 on Billboard’s Top 200.

Listen

[audio:https://www.fozfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/george-benson-all-jarreau-mornin.mp3|titles=Mornin’|artists=George Benson]

Guitar: George Benson
Vocals: Al Jarreau
Bass: Mel Brown
Drums: Michael White
Guitar: Freddie Fox
Keyboards: Michael Broening
Saxophone: Marion Meadows

Arranged by Michael Broening
Produced by John Burk & Michael Broening

Lyrics

No Lyrics

“Love All The Hurt Away,” released in 1981, was Aretha Franklin’s second project for Arista. It marked another collaboration with L.A. session kings like David Foster, Robbie Buchanan, Greg Phillinganes and the guys of Toto under Arif Mardin’s brilliant production. After the good success one year earlier of the “Aretha” album, this new offering went even further in setting the Queen Of Soul’s spectacular voice into the refined moods of the new masters of pop. This record is along the lines of those Quincy Jones’ productions of the same era like George Benson’s “Give Me The Night.” Benson himself is a special guest singing the sweet title track with Franklin. The vocal interplay between the two is super fine with their distinctive voices blending beautifully, trading emotional lines and jazzy scats. David Foster added the golden touch with his sublime performance on the electric piano and the tasteful use of synthesizers. The rest of the spectacular rhythm section included Jeff Porcaro on drums, Louis Johnson on bass, Buzzy Feiten on guitar, plus a smooth sax solo played by Eddie Daniels. Both this song and its parent album became top ten hits on the r&b charts and entered the pop charts as well.
There are other fine songs on this collection including the cover of Sam & Dave’s “Hold On I’m Comin'” that brought Franklin another Grammy Award. The danceable “Living In The Streets,” was written by hitmaker Rod Temperton and includes Foster on electric piano. Finally, let’s mention a couple of solid ballads; “Truth And Honesty” co-written by Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager and Peter Allen and the intense “There’s A Star For Everyone” by David Lasley, Don Yowell and Allee Willis. All these songs are stamp by Franklin’s unique voice for impressive results.

Listen

[audio:https://www.fozfan.com/archives/clips/love_all_the_hurt_away.mp3|titles=Love all the hurt away|artists=Aretha Franklin & George Benson]

Lead Vocals: Aretha Franklin & George Benson
Drums: Jeff Porcaro
Bass: Louis Johnson
Electric Piano & Synthesizers: David Foster
Percussion: Paulinho Da Costa
Guitar: Buzzy Feiten
Alto Sax: Eddie Daniels
Backing Vocals: Marcy Levy & Mark Stevens
Produced & Arranged by Arif Mardin

Lyrics

NO LYRICS