The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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63 Years Ago Today

On December 6, 1950, Tony Bennett headed into the studio to record “Once There Lived a Fool.” The song was arranged by Marty Manning and produced by Mitch Miller.

The Interactive Tony Bennett DiscographyAbout Once There Lived a Fool “Once There Lived a Fool” was written by Jessie Mae Robinson, who was the first female African-American member of ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers). Tony Bennett was one of the first artists to record this song, as was Anita O’Day.

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Click the link to the Interactive Tony Bennett Discography above  to view the entire topic and listen to this song via Spotify.

 

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Happy Birthday Douglass Cross

Songwriter Douglass Cross was born on May 4, 1920 in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Douglass Cross, partnered with George Cory, wrote I Left My Heart In San Francisco in 1954. The song was originally written for a performer named Claramae Turner, who did sing it, but never recorded it. Turner suggested that the songwriters pitch it to Tennessee Ernie Ford, who turned it down. They gave a copy of the sheet music to Ralph Sharon, who promptly stuck it in a drawer.

While packing for a tour that would take Sharon and Bennett to San Francisco, he came across the song and packed it, thinking it might be a nice song to perform to the locals in San Francisco. And so in December, 1961, in the Venetian Room at the Fairmont Hotel, Tony Bennett first sang the song that became his trademark. And he hasn’t stopped singing it since.

San Francisco loves Tony Bennett. February 14, 2012 (Valentine’s Day) was declared Tony Bennett Day. The song is played over the public address system after every home game won by the San Francisco Giants. Last year, when the Giants won the World Series, Bennett attended the parade and sang I Left My Heart In San Francisco at their celebration at City Hall.

The song is probably Tony Bennett’s most loved song and he sings it at each and every concert. In the concerts I’ve attended, the feeling from the audience when he sings the song is palpable.

This version is the original, from the album of the same name.

(I Left My Heart) In San Francisco

Listen to (I Left My Heart) In San Francisco on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1962

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That Old Black Magic bossa nova style

One of the great Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer songs, That Old Black Magic was sung in the Tony Bennett – Dave Brubeck concert that will be released in May on Bennet & Brubeck: The White House Sessions Live 1962 CD. To my knowledge, this recording of Old Black Magic is the only song from that concert that has ever been released.

Here’s that recording of That Old Black Magic – bossa nova style.

That Old Black Magic

Listen to That Old Black Magic on Spotify. Song · Dave Brubeck, Tony Bennett · 2003

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Song of the Day: You Don’t Know What Love Is

The song of the day for Wednesday, February 20, 2013 is You Don’t Know What Love Is.

About You Don’t Know What Love Is

This song, a major jazz standard, did not have a promising start. Written by Don Raye and Gene DePaul, You Don’t Know What Love Is was written for the 1941 Abbott and Costello film Keep ‘Em Flying, but was cut from the film. It turned up in a 1942 short B musical movie, Behind the Eight Ball.

In spite of this, the song is a true jazz masterpiece, beginning with the 1954 Miles Davis recording on Walkin’. Other notable recordings are by Chet Baker, John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O’Day and Billie Holiday among many others.

About This Version

Last summer, some tweeted that he was listening to Tony Bennett and Bill Evans and that the music was “bruised and beautiful.” I had much the same feeling today listening to Together Again, specifically You Don’t Know What Love Is.

All of the songs in Together Again, their second album after The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album, were recorded in September 1976. Critics are split on which of their albums is the best. I love them both, but Together Again is my favorite.  For me, it has deeper, less guarded and more emotional substance from both artists.  When I really listen to this song, as I did today, the pain of the loss is so raw and every nerve is exposed.

I have read that Evans and Bennett did some eighteen takes of this song. Wow.  Just wow.

You Don"t Know What Love Is - Remastered 2003

Listen to You Don"t Know What Love Is - Remastered 2003 on Spotify. Song · Bill Evans, Tony Bennett · 2004

You Don’t Know What Love Is, as well as the remastered Together Again, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Exactly Like You

The Song of the Day for October 29, 2012 is Exactly Like You.

About Exactly Like You

Exactly Like You was written for the 1930 Broadway show Lew Leslie’s International Review by Jimmy McHugh, with lyrics by Dorothy Fields.  They also wrote On The Sunny Side Of The Street for the same show. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and went on to become a jazz and popular standard. It has been recorded by everyone from Cab Calloway to Frank Sinatra to Django Reinhardt and Anita O’Day.

About This Version

Exactly Like You is the first track on Tony Bennett’s and k.d. lang’s celebration of the songs of Louis Armstrong, A Wonderful World. The album won the  2003 Grammy award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.