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The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

February 7, 2015 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: If I Ruled The World

The song of the day for Saturday, February 7, 2015 is “If I Ruled The World.”

About This Song

Today’s song, “If I Ruled The World, ” was written by Cyril Ornadel and Leslie Bricusse for the 1963 West End musical Pickwick, based on Dicken’s The Pickwick Papers. Harry Secombe, the British actor, originated the role of Pickwick and his version of this song charted at #18 in the UK. The production opened in New York in 1965 on Broadway. Tony Bennett’s was one of the earliest American recordings and the song reached #34 on the US pop singles charts.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “If I Ruled The World” in 1965 for If I Ruled The World: Songs for the Jet Set, our album of the month. As the world tour goes, we move from Brazil to London.

In his autobiography The Good Life, Bennett relates:

I had the honor of singing “If I Ruled The World” at a command performance for the Queen Mother of England. After the song, Bobby Hackett, who was playing with me at that time, leaned over to me and whispered, “What do you mean ‘if’?”

Exactly.

If I Ruled the World

Listen to If I Ruled the World on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 1965.

“If I Ruled The World,” as well as If I Ruled The World: Songs for the Jet Set, is available from iTunes.

About Today

Yes, it’s Saturday and it’s our day for a video. I was able to find this video of Tony Bennett singing today’s song on television in 1966. I hope you enjoy it!

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Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Cyril Ornadel, If I Ruled The World: Songs For The Jet Set, Leslie Bricusse, Pickwick

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