It was his first album released by CTI[3] and included organist Clarence Palmer, drummer Jack DeJohnette, bassist Ron Carter, and percussionists Michael Cameron and Albert Nicholson.

[6] The studio band on the album was a slightly enlarged version of the organ trio jazz groups that Benson had played in during the 1960s with organist Jack McDuff and others.

The instrumentation was a contrast to his then-recent A&M albums like The Other Side of Abbey Road (1970) and Shape of Things to Come (1969), which featured larger jazz ensembles arranged by Don Sebesky.

In the 7th edition of the Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, critics Richard Cook and Brian Morton wrote Beyond the Blue Horizon "still has the right to be one of Benson's best records".

"[7] The performance of Miles Davis's "So What" is driven by the rhythm section of bassist Ron Carter and drummer Jack DeJohnette, who provide strong support for solos by Benson and organist Clarence Palmer, according to Dan Bilawsky in All About Jazz as "constantly shifts from funk to up-tempo swing to a half-time feel".