The song of the day for Saturday, March 23, 2013 is Just In Time.
About This Song
Just in Time is one of the many great songs from the 1956 musical Bells Are Ringing, with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green.
The Year of Tony Bennett chooses this song in honor of Tony Bennett’s participation in the Third March from Selma to Montgomery in March 1965. The first two marches had ended poorly, with the marchers being attacked by police with billy clubs and tear gas on the first march and not being allowed to cross Edmund Pettus Bridge on the second march. Dr. Martin Luther King enlisted Harry Belafonte to encourage other celebrities to join the fight. Tony Bennett was the first person Belafonte reached out to. Other participants included Joan Baez, Paul Newman, Sammy Davis, Jr., Frankie Laine and Nina Simone.
On the morning of March 24, the march entered Montgomery County, Alabama. That night, there was a “Stars For Freedom” rally, with performances by the artists. There was no stage; a local funeral home offered the use of empty coffins to make a stage. Tony Bennett, visibly exhausted from the long march, sang Just In Time. In August, 1965, Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act.
About This Version
This version of Just in Time is from the Tony Bennett / Count Basie album, In Person!
http://open.spotify.com/track/7zYba3iNwhjnlpDTbfXK5N
Just In Time, as well as the full Tony Bennett Count Basie In Person! album, is available from iTunes.
Here’s the interview with Tony Bennett and Harry Belafonte from CNN conducted on March 21, 2013.
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