The song of the day for Saturday, November 30, 2013 is “How Do You Keep the Music Playing.”
About This Song
“How Do You Keep the Music Playing” was written by Michel Legrand, with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, in 1982 for the movie Best Friends. The song has been a favorite with popular and cabaret singers, including Susannah McCorkle, Andy Williams, Frankie Laine, Maureen McGovern, Frank Sinatra and, of course, Tony Bennett.
This song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. Interestingly, three of the four songs nominated that year had lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. They did win the award for “If We Were In Love,” from the movie Yes, Giorgio.
About This Version
Tony Bennett recorded this song in 1986 for his album The Art of Excellence. Your opinionated author has been a fan of this song ever since. The first time I ever heard Tony Bennett in concert (Seattle, Washington in September, 2007), he sang this song. He also told the story of how he was attending a Frank Sinatra concert at the Hollywood Bowl and Frank Sinatra told him, during the concert, that he needed to sing this song. I’m very glad that he took Frank’s advice in this matter.
“How Do You Keep the Music Playing,” as well as The Art of Excellence, is available from iTunes and Amazon.
Our YouTube Saturday video is the wonderful video of the duet of Tony Bennett and Aretha Franklin recording this song for the album Duets II. That single tear on Tony’s cheek at the end of the song moves me each and every time.
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