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The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

November 24, 2015 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Once Upon A Time

The song of the day for is “Once Upon A Time.”

About This Song

Today’s song, “Once Upon A Time,” was written in 1962 by Charles Strouse (music) and Lee Adams (lyrics) for the Ray Bolger musical All American, where it was introduced by Bolger and Eileen Herlie. While the musical was not a major smash hit, the song is quite lovely. In addition to Tony Bennett’s fine recording, it was also recorded by Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, Howard Keel, Bobby Darrin and Mandy Patinkin.

About This Version

I fell in love with this song the year it was written, when I was a somewhat romantic pre-teen; my parents had this album and I think I pretty much wore it wore it out listening to the first two songs on Side 1: “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” and “Once Upon A Time.”

Tony Bennett recorded “Once Upon A Time” in January 1962 at the same session as “I Left My Heart In San Francisco”; both were arranged by Marty Manning. They were also released together on a single, with “Once Upon A Time” on the A-side and “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” on the B-side. I think we all know how that turned out. But, that said, both songs are wonderful and I’m happy to do my part to get even just one person to listen to “Once Upon A Time.”

Once Upon a Time

Listen to Once Upon a Time on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 1962.


“Once Upon A Time,” as well as I Left My Heart In San Francisco, is available from iTunes.

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Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: All American, Charles Strouse, Lee Adams, Marty Manning

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