The song of the day for Saturday, December 2, 2017 is “Fly Me To The Moon.”
About This Song
“Fly Me To The Moon” was written by Bart Howard in 1954. It was originally titled “In Other Words,” but the song was not doing that well, in spite of several recordings. In 1962, Howard renamed the song to “Fly Me To The Moon,” and the song began to catch on. Tony Bennett’s 1965 recording for If I Ruled The World was a big hit for Bennett. There have been many recordings of the song, including those by Frank Sinatra, Kaye Ballard and many more. However, Bart Howard told Bennett that his 1965 recording was “the definitive performance of this song.” No argument from me–it’s one of Tony Bennett’s best recordings.
About This Version
I’m featuring that best-ever recording from 1965 for the album If I Ruled The World: Songs for the Jet Set and featured Al Cohn on tenor sax. Don Costa wrote the excellent arrangement.
“Fly Me To The Moon,” as well as If I Ruled The World: Songs for the Jet Set, is available from iTunes.
About Today
I found a delightful recording of “Fly Me To The Moon” from 1999 on a television program called “Live By Request – An All Star Tribute.” On the violin is Joel Smirnoff, who played on Bennett’s 1999 album Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot & Cool.
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