On the seventh and final day of The Tony Bennett 90th Birthday Bash, August 6, 2016, our song of the day is “Because Of You.”
About This Song
“Because of You” was written in 1940 by Arthur Hammerstein and Dudley Wilkinson.
About This Version
Tony Bennett recorded “Because Of You” in April 1951–some 65 years ago. I chose this song because it was such a turning point in Bennett’s career. His early recordings had done okay, but Columbia was concerned that their new singer hadn’t had a big, big hit yet. Bennett met with his arranged Percy Faith, who encouraged Tony Bennett to sing with his natural voice … very good advice. They were supposed to record four songs that day, but only had three ready to go. Percy Faith picked up the sheet music for “Because of You” and suggested they record it. The song reached number one on the Billboard Charts and stayed there for ten weeks.
“Because Of You,” as well as all the singles collected on The Columbia Singles, Vol. 1, is available from iTunes.
About Today
Today’s video is Tony Bennett singing today’s song, live in concert from 1991, with Ralph Sharon on piano. It’s just wonderful!
Thanks to all the readers of this blog for sharing and participating in The Tony Bennett 90th Birthday Bash. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have.
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