Guitar Licks Ahoy! Face It Boy, It's Over

George Benson - Face It Boy, It's Over
taken from Shape Of Things To Come (A & M, 1969)

DJ Jazzy Jeff - For Da Love Of Da Game feat. Baby Blak & Pauly Yamz
taken from The Magnificent (Rapster, 2002)

Abstract Tribe Unique - Switch The Station
taken from Mood Pieces (Massmen, 1998)

Brand Nubian - Step Into Da Cipher
taken from Everything Is Everything (Elektra/Wea, 1994)

Ed O.G. & Da Bulldogs - Love Comes And Goes
taken from Roxbury 02119 (Polygram, 1994)

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - I Get Physical & In The Flesh
taken from The Main Ingredient (Elektra/Wea, 1994)

Apologies for the lack of posts this week people, work has been beating my arse like you wouldn't believe. This post has been in the pipeline since Wednesday, and although it's been frustrating lacking the time/energy to update FDB, in some ways I'm glad that I'm covering George Benson's 'Face It Boy, It's Over' today rather than earlier in the week. You see, the weather in the UK has been diabolical for almost a month now, and yet as I write the sun is shining and summer is definitely in the air. The lazy, sun-soaked afternoon feel of this sample felt at odds with the climate here on Wednesday, but not today: it's like it was meant to be.

This particular track has been mined on several occasions, and it's easy to see why. Although I'm not sure how much I actually like this track itself (it verges precariously on the corny), there is little doubt that Benson understands how to craft a catchy guitar lick and create a mood that allows the listener to lose themselves in memories of sunny days from the past with 'Face It Boy It's Over'. The section to focus on comes after the initial eight bar introduction, the subsequent six providing the inspiration for no less than four of the tracks listed above. If you are familiar with 'Love Comes And Goes', 'For Da Love Of Da Game' and 'I Get Physical' then listening to this section is almost somewhat unnerving, as you jump immediately from one lick to the next, leaving you little time to soak up the sample before being thrown into another field of musical association. The Abstract Tribe Unique joint also finds its inspiration here, utilising bars two and three of this section and applying some filters to distort the sound.

Other sections of Benson's composition bear fruits as well. On 'Step Into Da Cipher', Lord Jamar and Sadat X combine their production talents and select two separate licks and splice them together, the first at 2.24 and then the two notes at a higher pitch are lifted from the 2.31 mark. I think it works particularly well, and despite reservations about 'Everything Is Everything' as a whole, this cut shines with its heavy drum track and Benson's melody laid over over the top. Finally, Pete Rock plumbs the depths of the track for a second time on 'In The Flesh', chopping up a sample that appears later on in 'Face It Boy, It's Over' (3.05 onwards). I think that this is actually one of the less inspiring songs on 'The Main Ingredient', but needless to say, I still think it's great (you're not gonna get a bad word out of me when it comes to the Chocolate Boy Wonder).

The fact that Benson's composition has spawned a number of certified classics is reason enough to give it some of your precious listening time, and apart from the Abstract Tribe Unique track, I would argue that this is one of the strongest selections of songs from a singular source since I have been putting posts like these together. The bright, uplifting guitar licks work exceptionally well in their newfound contexts, providing a contrast with the grittier percussive elements of the majority of the tracks here. Crack open a brew, take a seat in your garden and let 'Face It Boy, It's Over' and streaming rays of sunshine wash over you: the summer is here.

Links to check out:

George Benson @ Wikipedia
Official website