Similarity?

**SandraDee** · July 11th, 2009, 01:32 PM

Don't you think these tracks sound similar at the beginning? I know that if you play'em back to back they aren't that similar but when I play one of them I always think of the other. Surely Van was slightly influenced by Quincy?:icon_confused:

**kdavid13** · July 11th, 2009, 02:59 PM

Yep. I hear it too.
:icon_cool:

**Disco Funk** · July 11th, 2009, 08:09 PM

They definitely do have similarities. There's no doubt, though, that James Brown liberally borrowed from Van McCoy's tune when he recorded this one with the JBs

I've always found the chord progression in the chorus on this Vicki Sue Robinson song was similar to Breezin. I'm not 100% sure which came first, since both were released in '76, maybe '75 for Vicki Sue's track, if I'm not mistaken. I think Benson's track may have come after.

Disco Funk

**SandraDee** · July 12th, 2009, 06:58 AM

Wow, those similarities are blatant DF! I s'pose imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

**Disco Funk** · July 12th, 2009, 08:58 AM

Originally Written by SandraDee

Wow, those similarities are blatant DF! I s'pose imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

I guess so, as long as imitation doesn't generate millions of dollars more in profit than the original. Then it's no longer just flattery, it's lawsuit time! :)

Disco Funk

**markydefad** · July 12th, 2009, 03:14 PM

Originally Written by Disco Funk

I've always found the chord progression in the chorus on this Vicki Sue Robinson song was similar to Breezin. I'm not 100% sure which came first, since both were released in '76, maybe '75 for Vicki Sue's track, if I'm not mistaken. I think Benson's track may have come after.
Disco Funk

"Breezin' " was originally recorded by Bobby Womack & Gabor Szabo in 1971 .....Benson's version was a cover

[From my coverlist of 1976 hits:]

35) THIS MASQUERADE/BREEZIN' - George Benson
(a) Leon Russell composition, also recorded by The Carpenters.)
(b) Bobby Womack & guitarist Gabor Szabo recorded Womack's composition; peaked #43 R&B in 1971)

So it would seem that "Never Gonna Let You Go" was "inspired" by "Breezin'"....no?

**Disco Funk** · July 12th, 2009, 05:55 PM

Oh yeah, I think I remember seeing the writing credit for Breezin at one time, and it was Bobby Womack. So definitely Vicki's cut must have been inspired by Womack's composition.

Here's a version done by Gabor Szabo, sometime in the late 70s. I believe the guys he's playing with were members of the jazz funk group Pleasure