• Home
  • About
    • About This Blog
    • About the Authors
  • Song of the Day
  • Videos
  • Album of the Week
  • Music and Art
    • Tony Live!
    • Music
      • Viva Duets
      • Songs
      • Albums
    • Art
  • And More
    • Collaborator of the Month
    • Songwriter of the Month – 2016
    • News
      • Cheek To Cheek
      • Bennett & Brubeck -The White House Sessions Live 1962
      • Life is a Gift
      • Viva Duets
      • Zen of Bennett
      • Other News
    • About His Collaborators
    • Musings
    • Extras
      • Books
      • Interviews
      • Media
  • The Interactive Tony Bennett Discography

The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

December 6, 2014 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: I Wanna Be Around

The song of the day for Saturday, December 6, 2014 is “I Wanna Be Around.”

About This Song

“I Wanna Be Around” was written in 1959 by Johnny Mercer and Sadie Vimmerstedt. Ms. Vimmerstedt, a housewife from Ohio, was a huge Johnny Mercer fan. A line came to her: “I wanna be around to pick up the pieces when somebody breaks your heart.” She thought it sounded a like Johnny Mercer and so she sent it to him. And the rest, as they say, is history. Mercer wrote the melody himself and completed the lyrics. He paid Ms. Vimmerstedt 50% of the royalties, which were considerable, as the song was a huge hit.

About This Version

Mercer offered the song to Tony Bennett, who recorded it in 1962 and released it on his 1963 album I Wanna Be Around. It was arranged and conducted by Marty Manning. The recording is a real classic.

About Today

Once again, it’s Saturday and once again, it’s time for a video. Today, we offer the video of Tony Bennett and Bono recording this song for Duets: An American Classic. We wish Bono a very speedy recovery from his bicycle accident from last month.

I Wanna Be Around...

Listen to I Wanna Be Around... on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1963


“I Wanna Be Around,” as well the album of the same name, is available from iTunes.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Bono, I Wanna Be Around, Johnny Mercer, Sadie Vimmerstedt

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Home
  • About
  • Song of the Day
  • Videos
  • Album of the Week
  • Music and Art
  • And More
  • The Interactive Tony Bennett Discography

Copyright © 2025 The Year of Tony Bennett · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · WordPress