Song of the Day: There Will Never Be Another You

The song of the day for Tuesday, August 15, 2017 is “There Will Never Be Another You.”

About This Song

Today’s song, “There Will Never Be Another You,” was composed in 1942 by Harry Warren, with lyrics by Mack Gordon.

I’ve always found it interesting that one of Harry Warren’s most beautiful songs was written for a Sonja Henie vehicle called Iceland, starring Miss Henie and John Payne as a U.S. Marine stationed in Iceland during World War II. The song was introduced in the movie by Joan Merrill. Amazingly, this beautiful song was not nominated for an Academy Award. No matter. The song has become a serious jazz standard and has had many fine recordings, including Bennett’s 1959 recording with Count Basie and his 1962 improvisation with Dave Brubeck at the White House Sessions. Other significant recordings include those by Lionel Hampton, Chet Baker, Nat King Cole and Sonny Rollins.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this beautiful arrangement of “There Will Never Be Another You” by Ralph Sharon in 1958 with Count Basie and His Orchestra for the album In Person!

What’s interesting about the album In Person! is that, in the end, it wasn’t live at all. Tony Bennett tells the story in his book The Good Life:

It was always my dream to perform with Count Basie and Duke Ellington, the greatest bandleaders of all time. I was particularly keen to do an album with Count Basie, and in 1958 I got my chance to make not only one album with him, but two.

…

We decided to do the live album for Columbia first, and worked out the details with the Latin Casino in Philadelphia. Ralph orchestrated and arranged the entire album. … We opened at the Latin Casino in Philadelphia on November 28, 1958, and did tremendous business. There was barely room in that tiny club for Frank Laico to set up his console, and he finally had to rig it up in the basement kitchen. I thought the recording came out wonderfully, but stereo recording had just been discovered and Al Ham, the producer, was unhappy that we had recorded in mono. It was his call, so the following month, we re-recorded the album in the studio in stereo, adding the crowd noise and applause to make it sound “live.” But of all things, Ham put the audience applause in the wrong places. What a mess! We titled the album In Person! and released it in early 1959. I never understood why we didn’t release the live version. The whole attempt at fabricating an audience was in bad taste.

“There Will Never Be Another You,” as well as In Person!, is available from iTunes.