The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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On the Tenth Day of a Tony Bennett Christmas

On the tenth day of a Tony Bennett Christmas, Tuesday, December 23, 2014, Tony Bennett sings “White Christmas.”

Irving Berlin wrote “White Christmas” while living in Los Angeles in 1940. It is one of our most beloved Christmas songs. Bing Crosby recorded the song in 1942 and completely dominated the music charts for weeks. Crosby’s single of “White Christmas” is the biggest-selling single record of all time, worldwide, at over 100-million copies.

Today’s recording of “White Christmas” is from Bennett/Berlin, Bennett’s album of Irving Berlin songs, released in 1987. Tony Bennett arranged the songs on this album, accompanied by the Ralph Sharon Trio, with Paul Langosch on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums. This song features Dexter Gordon on tenor sax.

White Christmas - 1987 Version

Listen to White Christmas - 1987 Version on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett, Dexter Gordon · 1987

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On the Ninth Day of a Tony Bennett Christmas

On the ninth day of a Tony Bennett Christmas, Monday, December 22, 2014, he sings for us “Silver Bells.”

“Silver Bells” was written in 1950, with music by Jay Livingston and lyrics by Ray Evans. Lyricist Ray Evans says that the song was originally called “Tinkle Bells.” That is, until composer Jay Livingston told his wife about the new song and she reminded him that the word ‘tinkle’ had a another meaning and so it was changed to “Silver Bells.” It was first recorded in 1950 by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards.

Tony Bennett recorded “Silver Bells” for A Swingin’ Christmas, released in 2008.

http://open.spotify.com/track/3IFdgovo2BeNChD2DWBh7H
“Silver Bells,” as well as A Swingin’ Christmas, is available from iTunes.

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On The Eighth Day of a Tony Bennett Christmas

On the eighth day of a Tony Bennett Christmas, he sings for us “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was written in 1943 by Hugh Martin, with lyrics by Ralph Blane.It was introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 movie Meet Me In St. Louis. In a Twitter conversation in November 2012, Tony Bennett said that “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is his favorite Christmas song. It is also a favorite of your author, who shares both a home town (Birmingham, Alabama) and an alma mater (Birmingham-Southern College) with Hugh Martin. He was a frequent visitor to both the theater and music departments when he visited home and was always very supportive of our work. Merry Christmas, Mr. Martin.

Tony Bennett first recorded “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” in 1968 for Snowfall. Today’s version is from A Swingin’ Christmas, released in 2008.

http://open.spotify.com/track/0Z52gqfioTOy0goZIrjcNy
“Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” as well as A Swingin’ Christmas, is available from iTunes.

And who can forget the luminous Judy Garland, singing this song to a young Margaret O’Brien in Meet Me In St. Louis.

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On the Seventh Day of a Tony Bennett Christmas

On the seventh day of a Tony Bennett Christmas, Tony sings “The Christmas Waltz.”

“The Christmas Waltz” was written in 1954 by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn at the specific request of Frank Sinatra, who included it on the B-side with his recording of “White Christmas.” Like “White Christmas,” this song was written on a hot summer day. While the song has been widely recorded and is popular, it never charted until 2003, with a recording by Harry Connick Jr.

Tony Bennett recorded “The Christmas Waltz” for A Swingin’ Christmas, released in 2008.

http://open.spotify.com/track/08BhfyKUXxZrnyHrDavNHP
“The Christmas Waltz,” as well as A Swingin’ Christmas is available from iTunes.

We’re also happy to feature this kind of sweet and funny video of Tony singing this song.

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On the Sixth Day of a Tony Bennett Christmas

On the sixth day of a Tony Bennett Christmas, Tony sings us a great, jazzy version of “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.”

Written by the songwriting team of J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, “Santa Claus is Coming To Town” had a spectacular debut. The song was first sung on Eddie Cantor’s radio show in November, 1934. On the day after the broadcast, there were 100,000 orders for the sheet music; by Christmas, over 400,000 copies of the sheet music had been sold.

Tony Bennett has recorded this song twice: first for the 1968 album Snowfall and again in 2004 for A Swingin’ Christmas. The arrangement is by Bill Holman and features Andy Snitzer on tenor sax.

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (feat. Count Basie Big Band)

Listen to Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (feat. Count Basie Big Band) on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett، Count Basie Big Band · 2008


“Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” as well as A Swinging’ Christmas is available from iTunes.