Song of the Day: You Took Advantage Of Me

The song of the day for Tuesday, January 24, 2017 is “You Took Advantage Of Me.”

About This Song

Today we feature great Rodgers and Hart song from 1928, “You Took Advantage Of Me.” The song was written for the musical Present Arms. The song quickly found itself a popular standard and has been recorded many times, including those by Bing Crosby with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, Anita O’Day, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this version of “You Took Advantage Of Me” in 1973 for his second album of Rodgers and Hart songs, Tony Bennett Sings More Great Rodgers and Hart, released on Bennett’s own Improv label. His two Rodgers and Hart albums featured an unusual but incredibly effective quartet of musicians: George Barnes and Wayne Wright on guitar, Ruby Braff on cornet and John Guiffrida on bass. No piano and no drums, but the recordings are really sublime.

“You Took Advantage Of Me,” as well as The Complete Improv Recordings, is available from iTunes.

About The Secret Theme

Well, we’ve reached the end of the “secret theme” for January and no one guessed (or, more likely, guessed but decided not to mention it). The so-called secret was playing songs in alphabetical order by title, one song for each letter of the alphabet, though we did have to skip X and Z. Next month will feature the first entry for our theme of the year, Tony Bennett’s great collaborators. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun!