The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: The Shining Sea

The song of the day for Monday, August 12, 2013 is “The Shining Sea.”

About This Song

“A Shining Sea” was written by Johnny Mandel and Peggy Lee for the 1964 movie The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming.

About This Version

Today’s song is from Tony’s 1966 album A Time For Love. The song was arranged and conducted by the composer, Johnny Mandel, and features Bobby Hackett on cornet.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4fBISkPgggFlRoW9sCN9KX
“The Shining Sea,” as well as the entire A Time For Love album, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Fly Me To The Moon

The song of the day for Sunday, August 11, 2013 is “Fly Me To The Moon.” The Year of Tony Bennett dedicates the song of the day to Eydie Gorme, who died today at the age of 84. “Fly Me To The Moon” was recorded by Eydie in 1958 for her album Eydie In Love, which was nominated for a Grammy award.

About This Song

“Fly Me To The Moon” was written by Bart Howard in 1954. The song was originally published as “In Other Wordsx” but since most people came to know it by the lyric Fly Me To The Moon, the official name was changed.

About This Version

Tony Bennett first recorded “Fly Me To The Moon” in 1965 for the album If I Ruled The World: Songs For the Jet Set. He sings it regularly in concert; in concert halls with good acoustics, he sings the song a cappella and still fills the auditorium.

If I Ruled the World

Tony Bennett · If I Ruled The World: Songs For The Jet Set · Song · 1965

“Fly Me To The Moon,” as well as the album If I Ruled The World: Songs For the Jet Set, is available from iTunes.

In tribute to Eydie Gorme, we present her version. Rest in Peace, Eydie.

Fly Me to Moon

Listen to Fly Me to Moon on Spotify. Song · Eydie Gormé · 2012

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Song of the Day: One Lie Leads to Another

The song of the day for Saturday, August 10, 2013 is “One Lie Leads to Another.”

About This Song

“One Lie Leads To Another” was written by singer, pianist and songwriter Tommy Edwards. Born in Virginia, Edwards moved to New York in the mid-1940s; one of his early songs was “This Chick’s Too Young To Fry.” He is best known for his 1958 song “It’s All In the Game.”

About This Version

Last evening, I was wearing my discographer hat while working on the song topics for our sister site, The Interactive Tony Bennett Discography. When I came across this song, my jaw completely dropped. Bennett recorded this song and “Don’t Cry Baby” by James P. Johnson in 1950 and the two songs were released as a single in that year. While I love and admire the singles that Tony Bennett first recorded at Columbia, these two really stand out for me, as in them you hear a singer that has definitely found his voice in the material. This song is from the first volume of the Columbia Singles from the Tony Bennett Complete Collection and is available as well on iTunes. The swinging arrangement is by Norman Leyden.

To learn more about Tommy Edwards and this song and to view the lyrics, see One Lie Leads To Another on our sister site.

http://open.spotify.com/track/0xHJMGJXro44xwHK0rpYQ3
“One Lie Leads To Another,” as well as all the other songs on The Columbia Singles, Vol. 1, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Crazy Rhythm

The song of the day for Friday, August 9, 2013 is “Crazy Rhythm.”

About This Song

“Crazy Rhythm” was written in 1928 for the musical Here’s Howe by Irving Caesar, Joseph Meyer and Roger Wolfe Kahn. True to its title, the song is quite rhythmic and soon became a jazz classic, with well over a hundred different versions including those by Stan Getz, Harry James, Miles Davis, Les Paul and Chet Atkins. While mostly recorded as an instrumental, the song’s lyrics are quite clever and enjoyable, at least in Tony Bennett’s fine recording.

About This Version

Today’s song is from Tony Bennett’s third album, The Beat of My Heart. Tony Bennett, who had just brought in Ralph Sharon as his pianist, had a strong vision for this album: a jazz album featuring great percussionists. “Crazy Rhythm” features Chico Hamilton. This album also featured Jo Jones, Candido, Sabu, Art Blakely, and Billy Exiner (who would play with Bennett and the Ralph Sharon Trio for many years).

http://open.spotify.com/track/4QtftZeekTIyen4G12d529
“Crazy Rhythm,” as well as the album The Beat of My Heart, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: She’s Funny That Way

The song of the day for Thursday, August 8, 2013 is “She’s Funny That Way.”

About This Song

“She’s Funny That Way” was written in 1929 by Neil Moret, with lyrics by Richard Whiting, father of the singer Margaret Whiting. It was the only time that Whiting wrote lyrics for any songwriter other than himself. The song was one of the early “crooner” songs and was originally recorded by Gene Austin, who, along with Cliff “Ukulele Ike” Edwards, were two of the first crooners using that new invention of the condenser microphone.

About This Version

Today’s song is from Tony Bennett On Holiday: A Tribute to Billie Holiday, released in 1997. Bennett won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance for this album. The cover features Bennett’s portrait of Billie Holiday.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4vXfn1ld04YZNBLdXKx5l9
“She’s Funny That Way,” as well as the album Tony Bennett on Holiday: A Tribute to Billie Holiday, is available from iTunes.