The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Old Devil Moon

The song of the day for Saturday, August 17, 2013 is “Old Devil Moon.”

About This Song

“Old Devil Moon” was composed by Burton Lane with lyrics by Yip Harburg in 1947 for the musical Finian’s Rainbow. This musical about an Irishman named Finian who moves to the state of Missitucky and plans to bury a pot of gold (stolen from a leprechaun) near Fort Knox, thinking that the treasure will grow. The plot includes the leprechaun named Og and a corrupt American senator. It proved quite popular, running for over 700 performances with a film released in 1968, starring Fred Astaire as Finian.

About This Version

Today’s song is from the 1967 album Tony Makes It Happen! I have been listening to this album a lot lately: first of all, it’s a very fine album with some of Bennett’s best songs on it. Secondly, the entire album was arranged by the great Marion Evans, who wrote the arrangements for the jazz album that Bennett and Lady Gaga are recording. The arrangements on Tony Makes It Happen! are outstanding and the entire album is certainly worth a careful listen. After studying this album quite a bit for the last week or so, I am more excited than ever about Bennett and Lady Gaga’s new album.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4t3I5khZ6TCaoSYYW1cKms
“Old Devil Moon,” as well as the album Tony Makes It Happen!, is available from iTunes.

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: The Two Lonely People

The song of the day for Friday, August 16, 2013 is “The Two Lonely People.”

We choose this song to honor the birth of the great Bill Evans, who was born on this day in 1929 and died on September 15, 1980.

About This Song

Bills Evans wrote “The Two Lonely People” in 1971; Carol Hall wrote the lyrics. The song first appeared on Evans’ 1971 album The Bill Evans Album. The song was also recorded in 1974 on the album But Beautiful, recorded live with Stan Getz at Jazz Middelheim in Antwerp, Belgium; this album was released in 1974.

About This Version

Today’s song is from Bennett’s and Evans’ second album, Together Again, released in 1977 on Bennett’s Improv label. Both of their albums, The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album and Together Again, are both masterful jazz albums. Tony Bennett proved once again to a new generation of jazz fans that he is indeed one of the best jazz singers ever. He and Evans explore these songs without any artifice; they do what all great jazz musicians do: they found the essence of of each song and had an intimate musical conversation that reveals the truth (and beauty) of each song. It’s as good as it gets.

http://open.spotify.com/track/2xXvFPClwH2aiOi4x89pfj
“The Two Lonely People,” as well as the remastered Together Again album, is available from iTunes.

The Year of Tony Bennett blog gets many searches from people looking for the lyrics to The “Two Lonely People.” Here they are.

The two lonely people sat silently staring
Their eyes looking coldly ahead
The two lonely people once loved and were caring
But now it’s all over and dead
They don’t know what happened
They can’t think what happened
They had something fine on their own
But the two lonely people have turned into statues
Yes turned into statues of stone
The world was their moon once
The yellow ones
It held all their hopes and their dreams
But time came and broke them
Reality woke them
The world’s not so pretty as it seems
For all that once mattered
Is old now and battered
But must it be shattered in two
The two lonely people
Would give all their life
Yes give all their life
If they knew… The two lonely people sat silently staring
Their eyes looking coldly ahead
The two lonely people sat silently staring
Their eyes looking coldly ahead

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Undecided Blues

The song of the day for Thursday, August 15, 2013 is “Undecided Blues.”

About This Song

“Undecided Blues” was written by the great blues and jazz singer Jimmy Rushing. Rushing started his career as an itinerant blues singers in the midwest before moving to California, where sang with Jelly Roll Morton and other bands. In the mid 1930s, Rushing joined the Count Basie band, and sang with Basie for thirteen years. He also worked with Duke Ellington in 1959 and made an album with the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1960.

About This Version

Today’s song is from Tony Bennett’s 2001 album Playin’ With My Friends — Bennett Sings The Blues. And sing the blues he can. There’s some fine music on this album and The Year of Tony Bennett heartily recommends it.

Undecided Blues

Tony Bennett · Playin" With My Friends: Bennett Sings The Blues · Song · 2001

“Undecided Blues,” as well as the album Playin’ With My Friends, is available from iTunes.

And if you have some extra time today, here’s Jimmy Rushing …

Undecided Blues

Jimmy Rushing · Every Day I Have the Blues · Song · 1999

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Don’t Get Around Much Anymore

The song of the day for Wednesday, August 14, 2013, is “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.”

About This Song

“Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” was written in 1940 by Duke Ellington. Like many Ellington songs, it was originally an instrumental and was originally known as “Never No Lament”; Bob Russell added the lyrics in 1942 and gave the song its new name. The song is noted for having the common Mondegreen: Mister Saturday Night. Ellington’s first recording with vocals was made in 1943 and featured Al Hibbler.

About This Version

Today’s song is from the 1967 album Tony Makes It Happen! (The title of the album is answer to the fourth song on the first side of the album: “What Makes It Happen.”)

If you’ve seen the film The Zen of Bennett (and if you haven’t, why not?), you might remember that it has a scene where Tony and Michael Bublé record this song for Duets II. Daegal Bennett asks his Dad to sing the last line kind of all on one note and high like he used to sing it. His Dad replies that he never sang anything that high. I think Daegal was thinking of this recording. And it was almost that high.

http://open.spotify.com/track/491ebIOXElVbEqQgzVILO2
“Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” as well as the album Tony Makes It Happen!, is available from iTunes.

By 1 Comment

Song of the Day: They Can’t Take That Away From Me

The song of the day for Tuesday, August 13, 2013 is “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.”

About This Song

“They Can’t Take That Away From Me” was written in 1937 by George and Ira Gershwin for the movie Shall We Dance. The song was introduced by Fred Astaire, who sang the song to Ginger Rogers. However, unlike many of Astaire’s performances in his films with Ginger Rogers, he does not dance to this number in the movie; instead, he stands on the deck of a ferry and sings to a seated Ginger Rogers. George Gershwin died two months after the film’s release; it was his last score.

The song has been popular since its release and has been recorded many times, including those by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Errol Gardner, Sarah Vaughan and Charlie Parker.

About This Version

This beautiful version of “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” is from Tony Bennett’s 1967 album For Once In My Life. The very fine arrangement is by Torrie Zito.

http://open.spotify.com/track/3QKaf1BKP7Th6IQJX8FhuJ
“They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” as well as the album For Once In My Life, is available from iTunes.