The song of the day for Monday, February 18, 2013 is Pennies From Heaven.
About Pennies From Heaven
Pennies From Heaven was written in 1936 by Arthur Johnston, with lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was introduced by Bing Crosby in the film of the same name in 1936. This recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004.
It was a popular song during the Great Depression and remains popular to this day with jazz and popular singers including Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington and Frank Sinatra.
About This Version
Today’s version is from Tony Bennett’s 1959 album In Person! with the Count Basie Orchestra. Originally intended as a live album, engineering difficulties caused fake audience applause to be spliced into the original vinyl record; the re-released CD is free of this artifice. What remains is a wonderful recording of a very fine song by Bennett with the Count Basie Orchestra. It is also a reminder of how truly wonderful it is when singers sing the verse.
http://open.spotify.com/track/6fq9zlFcvgcOKkZqOzgfMs
Pennies From Heaven, as well as the full In Person! album, is available from iTunes.
I love Tony’s version of this timeless song. He also sang it live on tv in one of his earliest appearances. He sang it to a group of children and it was unforgettable !