The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Tony and Lady Gaga — in his own words

Tony wrote about his friendship and collaboration with Lady Gaga in his book Just Getting Started.

We began our musical association by recording “The Lady Is a Tramp,” the great Rodgers and Hart song we both love, at Avatar Studios in New York City. One of the first things you see about Gaga when you work together in the studio is her utter professionalism and thoughtfulness. She doesn’t just sweep in, like some other stars, oblivious to others. She stops to shake hands and talk to the engineers, the musicians, the office personnel, and the people who run out for bagels and coffee. She is that rare, huge talent who knows that you need to nurture and encourage collaboration to become a truly big star.

Gaga and I got better together as we went along. But from the first, there were sparks, banter, and a kind of effortless back-and-forth that inspired improvisation. It was fun, and it was electric.

There is no mistaking the fact that the collaboration I’ve enjoyed with Lady Gaga has made me and the music to which I’ve devoted my artistic life appreciated by a whole new generation. They have kept me going past the age of ninety. And they have kept the music going on and on and on, into new generations.

We were being interviewed once, and I heard Gaga say that one of the things she’s learned from our partnership is that “You don’t have to fear growing older. In my generation, this is like at the center of everything, especially in celebrity culture: it’s all about staying young and staying perfect and staying youthful. . . . But Tony has remained the same, and there’s nothing hipper. There’s nothing hipper than being talented at something that you love, in having passion, and that is classic, and that is timeless.” Did you catch that? I think Lady Gaga called me hip.

Just Getting Started is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other booksellers.

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Tony Bennett’s mother — in his own words

Tony Bennett wrote movingly about his mother in his book Just Getting Started, co-written with Scott Simon.

My mother taught me the most important lesson of my life: quality lasts.

My mother, Anna Suraci Benedetto, sewed dresses. She worked in a factory by day and brought home dresses at night because she was paid by the piece and had to support my brother, my sister, and me. My father had died when I was ten. Every night, we’d meet my mother at the Ditmars Boulevard el train stop, the north terminal of the lines from Queens, when she returned from Manhattan and help her carry home a big bundle of unsewn dresses. We’d climb the stairs, and she’d start to sew as soon as she got home. She’d stop to make us dinner, and after that, while we kids read or listened to music, she would bend over her sewing machine again to continue stitching dresses.

Sometimes she’d get her thumb caught under the sewing needle. She’d cry out in pain but put on a bandage and go back to work. She couldn’t afford to stop. Watching her made me vow, in my heart, to be so good at something I loved that my mother wouldn’t have to work again.

I sat next to my mother as she worked, just to be near her, and every now and then she’d pick up a new dress to be sewn, feel the cloth between her fingers, and set it aside with a frown.

She’d say, “I only work on quality dresses.”

Just Getting Started is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other booksellers.

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Tony Bennett’s father, in his own words

Tony Bennett published his autobiography, written with Will Friedwald, in 1998. In The Good Life, Bennett wrote about his childhood, his time in the Army during World War II, and his career up to 1998.

My father was a very poetic, sensitive man, full of love and warmth, and I vividly remember being cradled in his giant arms until I fell asleep. Even to this day, when I think of my father, I see the “huge” man of my earliest memories. His arms were strong and his hands were big and his eyes were deep, dark, and soulful. When I looked into those eyes, I felt there wasn’t a problem in the world that he couldn’t solve.

My father inspired my love for music. He derived tremendous pleasure from singing to anyone who would listen, just like he did when he was a child. He had a beautiful voice. He used to sit on the front stoop of our house and singe a cappella to my brother and me, in the gentle, sensitive voice I can still hear. He loved Italian folk songs and used to sing one song written in the twenties called “My Mom,” which has always had a very special meaning for my brother and me.

Tony Bennett recorded “My Mom” in 1998 for his album for children, The Playground:

The Good Life is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other booksellers.

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CBS Sunday Morning tribute to Tony Bennett

This wonderful tribute aired on CBS Sunday Morning, with Mo Rocca and Scott Simng (who co-wrote Bennett’s 2016 book Just Getting Started).

One story about that night in Hot Springs Arkansas in 1961. A young high school student and saxophone player from Arkansas named Bill Clinton loved Tony Bennett, but was too young to be able to attend performance, so he stayed outside and listened to the show through a slightly open window.

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Tony Bennett on the Ed Sullivan Show

The Ed Sullivan Show ran on television from 1948 until 1971. Sullivan had many musical guests on his show over the years, and Tony Bennett appeared frequently. Here are some of those appearances:

November 22, 1964

June 27, 1965, with his trio and Ruby Braff on cornet

April 16, 1967, with Count Basie

April 6, 1969, with Duke Ellington

September 28, 1969