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The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

January 26, 2016 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: The Right To Love

The song of the day for Tuesday, January 26, 2016 is “The Right To Love.”

About This Song

Today’s song, “The Right To Love,” was written in 1963 by composer Lalo Schifrin with lyrics by Gene Lees. According to the website filmscoremonthly, this song has an interesting history. It was first recorded, without lyrics, in 1963 on an album called Reflections by Stan Getz and Lalo Schifrin. Tony Bennett liked the song from the beginning and suggested that Gene Lees write the lyrics. The resulting song is an anthem for “forbidden” love. At that time, most people associated the song with interracial relationships; in later years, it has been sung by gay singers. In addition to Bennett’s recording, this song has been recorded by Peggy Lee, Carmen McRae and k.d. lang.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “The Right To Love” in 1965 for his very wonderful album If I Ruled the World: Songs for the Jet Set.

In the past couple of years, this song has become, next to “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” the song most often search for by people who reach either this site and/or our sister site, The Interactive Tony Bennett Discography. And most of those searches are coming from internet addresses associated with school districts from across the country. I’m quite touched by the numbers of young people wanting to learn about this song. I am happy that they are able to find out about it here and enjoy Mr. Bennett’s wonderful singing of it.

The Right To Love

Listen to The Right To Love on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 1965.


“The Right To Love,” as well as If I Ruled the World: Songs for the Jet Set, is available from iTunes.

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Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Gene Lees, If I Ruled The World: Songs For The Jet Set, Lalo Schifrin

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