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The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

June 16, 2016 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: I Get A Kick Out Of You

The song of the day for Friday, June 17, 2016 is “I Get A Kick Out Of You.”

About This Song

“I Get a Kick Out of You” was written for Cole Porter’s 1934 musical Anything Goes, where it was introduced by Ethel Merman. It’s been popular since then and has been recorded by artists including Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Anita O’Day, Max Roach and many more. The original lyrics reference the use of cocaine (I get no kick from cocaine), and that particular line in the lyric is often rewritten, often to champagne.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “I Get a Kick Out of You” for his 1957 jazz album The Beat of My Heart. The cut was not on the original LP release, but was added to the first CD release in the early 1990s. The arrangement is by Ralph Sharon and features Art Blakey on drums.

I Get a Kick out of You

Listen to I Get a Kick out of You on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 1957.


“I Get A Kick Out Of You,” as well as The Beat of My Heart, is available from iTunes.

And because I love Ethel Merman, here’s one of her recordings of today’s song.

I Get A Kick Out Of You - From "Anything Goes"

Listen to I Get A Kick Out Of You - From "Anything Goes" on Spotify. Ethel Merman · Song · 2006.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: 50th Anniversary March on Washington, Anything Goes, Art Blakey, Cole Porter, Ralph Sharon, The Beat of My Heart

January 29, 2014 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: The Good Life

The song of the day for Wednesday, January 29, 2014 is “The Good Life.”

About This Song

“The Good Life” (originally known as “La Belle Vie”) was written in 1962 by Sacha Distel, with lyrics by Jack Reardon, for the movie The Seven Capital Sins. Tony Bennett is the singer most widely identified with “The Good Life;” other good recordings include those by Betty Carter, Carmen McRae and Stephane Grappelli. It has been said that Distel wrote this song about Bridgette Bardot, who refused Distel’s marriage proposal in 1959.

We choose this song today in memory of Sacha Distel, who was born on this day, January 29, 1933 in Paris, France. He was a prominent French singer and guitarist. Distel’s uncle, Ray Ventura, was a jazz promoter and so the young Distel was exposed to jazz music at an early age. He worked with Dizzy Gillespie and other American jazz artists in France in the late 1940s. Sacha Distel had a notable career as a composer and entertainer in Europe and America.

Sacha Distel died on July 22, 2004 at the age of 71.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “The Good Life” for his 1963 album I Wanna Be Around. Though recorded by many singers, the song is strongly identified with Tony Bennett.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4MVvSNPOUd2z70vkkNCbLr
“The Good Life,” as well as the album I Wanna Be Around, is available from iTunes.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: 50th Anniversary March on Washington, I Wanna Be Around, Jack Reardon, Sacha Distel

August 24, 2013 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Just In Time

On the day of the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington, there can be no other song of the day than “Just In Time.”

About This Song

“Just In Time” was written by Jule Styne with lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green for the 1956 musical Bells Are Ringing, starring Judy Holliday and Sydney Chaplin.

About This Version

Today’s version is a live version from Bennett’s wonderful 1962 Carnegie Hall Concert.

http://open.spotify.com/track/3Ag1NsVAYJrZeIYmWibzYH
“Just in Time,” as well the full 1962 Carnegie Hall Concert is available from iTunes and Amazon.com.

Why Just In Time

In 1965, Harry Belafonte asked his friend Tony Bennett to join him and Martin Luther King on the march from Selma, Alabama to the state capital Montgomery and Bennett agreed.
This march was the third march. The first march started on March 7, 1965, day that came to be called Bloody Sunday; one of the leaders of that march was John Lewis, now a congressman from Georgia. The marchers got as far as the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where they were met by state troopers. The marchers were attacked by the troopers, who beat them with night sticks, threw tear gas into the crowd and even charged the crowd on horseback. John Lewis had his skull fractured, among the many injuries to the marchers. Congressman Lewis was interviewed about the march by NPR on the 45th anniversary of Bloody Sunday; you can listen to that interview here.

The second march occurred on Tuesday, March 9. The marches proceeded to the same Edmund Pettus Bridge and began to pray. A judge had put a restraining order on King to forbid the march and King complied. In spite of that, three white ministers were attacked by Klan and beaten. The public hospital in Selma refused to treat the ministers, one of whom, James Reeb, died two days later.

The third, and final, march occurred on March 21, after a judge ruled that the protesters had a First Amendment right to march in protest. The march started with 8000 marches, including Tony Bennett, Harry Belafonte, Frankie Laine and Nina Simone. On the night before they made it to Montgomery, Bennett and the other celebrities performed in an ad hoc concert for the marchers. There was no stage; a local funeral parlor provided coffins which were placed together to form a stage.

That night, Tony Bennett sang “Just In Time.”

When it was time to leave, Tony Bennett and Billy Eckstine were driven to the airport by a Michigan housewife named Viola Liuzzo, who believed strongly in voting rights, saying that “it was everybody’s fight” and came to Alabama to help. On her return from taking Bennett and Eckstine to the airport, she was attacked and killed by the Ku Klux Klan. NPR did a wonderful story about Mrs. Liuzzo and her family, which you can listen to here.

President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law on August 6, 1965.

Harry Belafonte and Tony Bennett discuss the march in this video:

I am personally very grateful to Tony Bennett for his lifelong fight against racism. Thank you. In his autobiography The Good Life, Bennett speaks about his father as being “… a real humanist. Astoria had quite a diverse population, and we learned at an early age to respect people for who they are, and not to judge them by the color of their skin or the way they looked.”

I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama when all of this was happening and saw much of it first-hand. My late parents were active in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s; much like Viola Luizzo, they felt it was “everybody’s fight.” I learned the same lesson from my parents that Tony Bennett learned from his father. I am proud to be their daughter.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: 50th Anniversary March on Washington, Adolph Green, Bells Are Ringing, Betty Comden, Jule Styne, Martin Luther King

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