The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: The Man That Got Away

The song of the day for Monday, February 15, 2021, is “The Man That Got Away.”

About Today

Today The Year of Tony Bennett begins a week dedicated to songwriter Harold Arlen, who was born as Hyman Arluck on February 15, 1905. The song of a cantor, Harold Arlen quickly became one of America’s best songwriters. We’ll spending this week exploring some of his songs.

About This Song

“The Man That Got Away” by Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin was written for Judy Garland for the 1954 version of A Star Is Born, with James Mason. Her performance of the song is legendary in film history, with 27 takes in three days, three separate sessions, and two different directors. The filmed scene is brilliant and made the song a huge hit for Garland, who sang it in most of her concerts.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “The Man That Got Away” on October 28, 1959, with Ralph Sharon. The singer and the pianist booked the studio for themselves–no other musicians. Sharon brought in a briefcase full of sheet music. They’d look at a song and decide if they wanted to record it. After finding the right key with Bennett, Sharon would work out an arrangement in just a few minutes and then they’d record the song.They recorded 16 songs in that session, 12 of which made it to the album Tony Sings For Two, which Columbia didn’t release until February 1961.

The Man That Got Away – Remastered

Listen to The Man That Got Away – Remastered on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 1961.

“The Man That Got Away,” as well as Tony Sings For Two, is available from Apple Music.

How can I play “The Man That Got Away” with also including this video?

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Song of the Day: The Man That Got Away

The song of the day for Tuesday, December 29, 2020, is “The Man That Got Away.”

About This Song

“The Man That Got Away” was written by Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin for Judy Garland to sing in the 1954 version of A Star Is Born. Her performance of the song is legendary in film history, with 27 takes in three days, three separate sessions, and two different directors. The filmed scene is brilliant and made the song a huge hit for Garland, who sang it in most of her concerts.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “The Man That Got Away” in 1959 with just Ralph Sharon on piano. Bennett and Sharon booked the CBS 30th Street Studio for October 28, 1959, for the two of them to record songs for an album. Sharon brought along a briefcase of sheet music. They would pick a song and Sharon would work up a quick arrangement and they’d record the song, in just one or two takes. In that single session, they recorded 16 songs, 12 of which were on the album Tony Sings For Two, released in February 1961. It’s quite an extraordinary album.

The Man That Got Away – Remastered

Listen to The Man That Got Away – Remastered on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 1961.

“The Man That Got Away,” as well as Tony Sings For Two, is available from Apple Music.

And because I love Judy Garland, here’s that scene from A Star Is Born:

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Song of the Day: The Man That Got Away

The song of the day for Wednesday, June 10, 2020, is “The Man That Got Away.”

About Today

The Year of Tony Bennett is celebrating America’s greatest female entertainer–Judy Garland. Judy was born as Frances Ethel Gumm on June 10, 1922, in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. She died on June 22, 1969, in London, England from an overdose of barbiturates.

We’ve got lots of extra media of Miss Garland following our customary link to Tony’s recording.

About This Song

“The Man That Got Away” was written by Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin for Judy’s spectacular 1954 version of A Star Is Born, with James Mason. Her performance of the song is legendary in film history, with 27 takes in three days, three separate sessions, and two different directors. The filmed scene is brilliant and made the song a huge hit for Garland, who sang it in most of her concerts.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “The Man That Got Away” in 1959, with Ralph Sharon, for the album Tony Sings For Two, released in 1961.

“The Man That Got Away,” as well as Tony Sings For Two, is available from iTunes.

Here is Judy’s performance of our song from her concert at Carnegie Hall on April 23, 1961:

Of course, no topic about “The Man That Got Away” would be complete without the scene from A Star Is Born:

Judy Garland had a television program, The Judy Garland Show, that ran in 1962 and 1963 on CBS. My mother and I used to watch it every Sunday night. Tony Bennett appeared on the show and they sang about the city of San Francisco:

I love seeing their affection for each other in this clip.

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Song of the Day: The Man That Got Away

The song of the day for Tuesday, February 11, 2020, is “The Man That Got Away.”

About This Song

“The Man That Got Away,” by Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin, was written for Judy Garland for the 1954 version of A Star Is Born, with James Mason. Her performance of the song is legendary in film history, with 27 takes in three days, three separate sessions, and two different directors. The filmed scene is brilliant and made the song a huge hit for Garland, who sang it in most of her concerts.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “The Man That Got Away” on October 28, 1959, with Ralph Sharon. Bennett and Sharon recorded 14 songs that one day. The album, Tony Sings For Two, was released in January 1961.

“The Man That Got Away,” as well as Tony Sings For Two, is available from iTunes.

I must admit that I was so happy to see Renee Zellweger win the Academy Award for her portrayal of Judy Garland in the film Judy. In honor of Renee and Judy Garland, here’s the famous clip from A Star is Born.

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Song of the Day: The Man That Got Away

The song of the day for Monday, June 10, 2019 is “The Man That Got Away.”

About This Song

“The Man That Got Away” by Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin, was written for Judy Garland for the 1954 version of A Star Is Born, with James Mason. Her performance of the song is legendary in film history, with 27 takes in three days, three separate sessions, and two different directors. The filmed scene is brilliant and made the song a huge hit for Garland, who sang it in most of her concerts.

About This Version

Tony Bennett and Ralph Sharon recorded “The Man That Got Away” on October 28, 1959, released in 1961 on the album Tony Sings For Two. It was a remarkable session, as Bennett relates in his autobiography, The Good Life:

We booked time in the studio and pored through music books, trying one tune after another. The arrangements were spontaneous, and we finished each song in one or two takes. In one afternoon we laid down sixteen tunes–which must be some kind of record–twelve of which made it onto the album, which became 1961’s Tony Sings For Two. Mitch Miller showed up at the start of these sessions, furious that I was really going through with it. When he saw there no dissuading me, he turned to Frank Laico and said, “I’m leaving. I can’t support this.” Tony Sings For Two turned out to be one of my finest records ever.

The Man That Got Away – Remastered

The Man That Got Away – Remastered, a song by Tony Bennett on Spotify

“The Man That Got Away,” as well as Tony Sings For Two, is available from iTunes.

About Today

Today marks the anniversary of the birth of Judy Garland, born as Frances Ethel Gumm in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, on June 10, 1922. In her short life of just 47 years, she left us with a body of work that will never be forgotten. Her performance in 1954’s A Star Is Born was legendary, as shown in this clip of her singing “The Man That Got Away.”

The Man That Got Away – A Star Is Born (1954)

Of course this is the original version that was written for Judy by Harold Arlen for the film A Star Is Born in 1954. Judy Garland is 32 years old here.

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